AI Recruiting

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Spend A Day With A Tech Recruiter During Campus Hiring

“Interns are the bottom of the surgical food chain” — Dr. Bailey, Grey’s Anatomy

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with this quote from the popular medical drama, where surgical interns are made to do all the grunt work. They are treated as nobodies—but interns in the tech industry are a whole other ball game! Tech companies compete with each other to hire freshers, interns, and students. They want to build and nurture relationships with the next generation of workers as early as possible.

Consequently, campus recruiting becomes the holy grail for companies and their big chance to snap up tomorrow’s top talent!

With campus hiring coming up in a few months, we thought it would be a great idea to go behind the scenes for this event. Come, spend a day with our campus recruiters from HackerEarth, and see for yourself!

A special shoutout to our Talent Acquisition Manager, Preethi Saakre for all the insider information that shaped this blog and allowed us to go into great detail about the workings of a recruiting team during campus recruitment!

Preethi Saakre's Linkedin

P.S. This article is an extension of the first part, Spend A Day With A Tech Recruiter, where we debunk plenty of misconceptions floating around about tech recruiters. If you haven’t read it already, here you go.

What is campus recruiting?

Campus recruitment (not to be confused with mass hiring) involves attracting, sourcing, engaging, and hiring young talent for entry-level positions. Companies with high-volume recruiting needs opt for campus hiring. Moreover, whether it’s on-campus recruiting, virtual, or hybrid, the responsibilities of campus recruiters stay more or less the same.

On the other hand, mass hiring, while interchangeably called campus hiring varies in the type of candidates companies look for. Mass hiring drives are mainly to recruit experienced candidates and are generally not open to fresh college graduates.

How HackerEarth can spice up your campus recruiting strategy

 4 Ways HackerEarth’s Campus Hiring Solution Can Help Campus Recruiters Hire Better

Unlike traditional campus hiring, which happens once a year, a virtual campus recruitment drive can take place in phases throughout the year. That gives you many options to take your remote hiring strategy up a notch –

#1 Encourage students to become brand ambassadors

Invest time in students even before they graduate. Offer mentorship and networking opportunities through a student brand ambassador program. This helps you create targeted brand awareness as well as show the students that you care about them.

The HackerEarth Campus Ambassador program offers free mock interviews along with a certificate of appreciation, the opportunity to network with leading coders, and to be taught by engineering leaders at our company. Join our campus ambassadors to experience the HackerEarth advantage.

#2 Host hackathons to better engage with students

Instead of relying only on 1:1 interviews, conduct hackathons as well. Those students who couldn’t perform well in interviews might outdo themselves in a practical setting.

If you’re looking for a hands-off experience when organizing a hackathon, then HackerEarth is your best bet. All our online hackathons and hiring challenges are fully curated managed services. To put it simply, you get the engagement you need, without any bandwidth drain.

#3 Invest in a remote-ready campus recruitment platform

Virtual campus recruitment can open so many doors in terms of a wider, bigger talent pool, lesser costs, and better returns. To fully capitalize on this, you need a trusty platform to dot the i’s for you.

Enter HackerEarth’s campus hiring solution that has helped hundreds of companies ease the burden of remotely assessing students from universities across the globe. Be it assessing students through coding assessments or interviewing them with our tech video interview tool, FaceCode, we’ve got you covered.

There’s more where that came from. Bake in extra innovative elements as part of your tech recruitment strategy to capture the attention of your potential talent pool. 👇

Also read: Create The Perfect Virtual Recruiting Strategy For Universities With These Tips

A typical day for campus recruiters looks like…

Create a core team of campus recruiters and hiring managers

You need a dedicated recruiting team to drive the best results from your campus hiring drive. Put together a mix of campus recruiters and hiring managers to carry out the different stages of the process including screening, interviewing, and shortlisting candidates.

The next crucial step is to pinpoint your hiring goals and requirements. Some questions to ask that will help you identify your needs –

  • Who is your ideal candidate for this exercise?
  • Which team would need to add new employees in the next six months?
  • What departments (for instance, engineering or sales) are short-staffed currently?

Make a list of suitable colleges and universities

Now that you have your ideal candidate persona, figure out what colleges and universities you need to target.

  • Are you looking at tier 1 universities or tier 2 and tier 3 universities as well?
  • Are you looking to hire students from any engineering field including computer science, electronics and communications or are you looking for purely technical candidates, etc?
  • How many tech roles and non-tech roles are you hiring for?
  • What businesses in your company need fresh talent?

Try and target a diverse range of universities to build an inclusive pipeline of fresh talent.

Reach out to the respective placement coordinators

Here’s an important part of campus recruitment that has nothing to do with attracting potential candidates. Bonding with the university placement coordinators!

If you want your pick of the season, you need to begin your recruitment right at the beginning. And who is in charge of that? Yes, you guessed it, the placement coordinators. To even get on their pre-selected list of companies, you need to woo them first.

Along with offering competitive salary packages and benefits (which almost every company would do), you need to stand out. This is where campus recruiters can shine. Use all the experience you’ve gained building and maintaining relationships with candidates and channel that here.

Create and nurture strong long-term bonds with the placement cell and build trust with the colleges well before the campus hiring season begins. So when it starts, they know whom to reach out to.

Sidebar:

The first three steps are carried out ahead of the campus recruiting season. This ensures you are prepared to tackle this head-on and deliver the best outcomes possible.

Once the campus drives begin, reach out to the respective campus placement coordinators with the job descriptions for roles, EVPs, relevant company data, if you have any cutoff percentage for students, etc. This will make it easier for them to select those students who are eligible and invite them to participate in the selection process.

Get a list of students who applied

Ask your coordinators to share a list of students who have applied for your company. Depending on the pre-defined criteria, filter the list further based on their academic performance in school and college, core specialty, etc.

Then let the placement coordinator know that this is your final list and you would like to send them a screening test post conducting your pre-placement talks.

Conduct pre-placement discussions

Why campus recruiters should improve their pre-placement talks

Send the students who’ve applied to your company relevant company information like roles/responsibilities, salary range, location of the role, etc.

Arrange for your HR lead or the engineering department head to hold a pre-placement talk for these students. Trying to get potential students hooked about working for your company by holding one single discussion can only take you so far. Especially on a day when students are under immense pressure to perform well during interviews.

Additionally, do this. For having a better shot at keeping your brand top of mind for students, plan and host several informative virtual events throughout the year. Online hackathons, virtual career fairs, and QnAs with the leadership team can all shine a light on your workplace culture, career paths, and so on.

Also read: 5 Best Practices For An Effective Hybrid Campus Hiring Strategy

Assess all the candidates who applied

If it’s an on-campus hiring drive, then the next step is to shortlist candidates through a group discussion round (which is quickly becoming outdated) and a skill assessment test.

The best part of a virtual/hybrid campus recruiting process is it is extremely candidate-friendly. Instead of rushing through the screening phase to quickly run coding assessments for students and then reveal the final selection can be tedious to carry out in a day.

When you’re remotely assessing students, you can check when they are available to take the test and send them an assessment invite, accordingly.

With an advanced campus hiring solution like HackerEarth, you get to assess students remotely through accurate online coding assessments and robust proctoring.

Also read: Importance Of Online Proctoring In University Hiring

Schedule interviews with the shortlisted candidates

During an on-campus recruitment process, the students are interviewed on the same day. Those who cleared the assessment round will have 3-4 rounds of interviews, depending on what the hiring team decides. Students who don’t meet the criteria are eliminated after each round.

The first two rounds are technical, the third round will be the managerial round with the engineering head, and the final round is the HR round. Here the student is evaluated based on culture fit and is rarely eliminated at this stage.

In a virtual or hybrid setting, if there is bandwidth the interviews take place on that day itself. Otherwise, they are scheduled within the next two days.

Set up, invite, and conduct coding interviews on a collaborative, real-time code editor such as FaceCode. This is a smart remote interviewing tool that helps you make objective, data-driven decisions thanks to AI-powered insights.

How L&T Infotech Partnered With HackerEarth To Hire Freshers | CASE STUDY

You know what happens next! Announce who made the cut

How campus recruiters feel when rolling out the offer letter

But wait…The day is not over yet

If you think you’re done for the day and you get to put your feet up, then you’re wrong 😛 Tieing up loose ends after wrapping up can be the most important step of all, especially in the traditional way of conducting campus hiring.

There is documentation to take care of, carefully putting together lists of shortlisted candidates from each panel, sending out feedback forms, and closing emails.

And you have to prepare to do this all over again, the next day, until the campus hiring season comes to an end.

Drink lots of coffee, you’re going to need it!

Also read: The Biggest Challenges Faced By Recruiters In University Hiring (+ Perfect Solutions)

There you have it…Campus recruitment simplified

As seen in this article, it takes a village to maneuver campus hiring season. Be it in-person or online, running a successful campus recruitment drive is a Herculean task.

Campus recruiters have their work cut out for them. They shoulder a lot of responsibility to do right by their company and their candidates.

With support and a solid campus recruiting strategy, it is possible to run the show seamlessly. Moreover, it is a straightforward way to engage and nurture fresh, undiscovered talent!

As always, happy hiring 🙂

5 Reasons Why Tech Recruiters Are Hiring Managers’ Best Friends

As a recruiter, I want to send a message to all the busy hiring managers out there: some of us want to be your new best friend.

No, seriously! No one gets it quite like us. We understand the frustration that comes with sifting through hundreds of resumes, all with the added pressure of trying to find the perfect candidate for your team.

And let’s face it, you have a lot on your plate already. You’re running a team, managing projects, and making sure everything is running smoothly. To put it bluntly, you simply don’t have the time to dedicate to the hiring process that it deserves.

We are well aware that recruiters and hiring managers have a long-standing relationship with some mixed reviews. We might not see eye to eye but at the end of the day, we’re working towards similar goals—filling a position correctly and placing the perfect candidate.

Like any healthy relationship, for this bestie match to be successful, there has to be immense trust between both parties.

What’s with the disconnect between recruiters and hiring managers?

Recruiters and hiring managers share the same goal—to hire top-tier candidates for their company. But each of them goes about it in a different way, which is where the problem arises.

They tend to have a strained relationship due to a number of reasons, such as:

  • Vague job descriptions are given by the hiring manager
  • Hiring managers are unsatisfied with the quality of candidates the recruiter brings
  • Recruiters are given unrealistic hiring expectations and timelines by hiring managers
  • Recruiters and hiring managers have differing opinions on how they should hire or how long it should take to hire someone
  • No proper communication between both parties

Let’s face it. There’s no way recruiters can source and hire candidates alone as they need a hiring manager’s approval. And there’s no way hiring managers can source, attract, and recruit candidates as they simply do not have that kind of time.

To foster better teamwork, both recruiters and hiring managers have to tackle the most common differences and start building stronger relationships. As Katrina Collier says in her newsletter,

Get behind the superficial to the REAL cause of why it’s difficult to work with hiring managers.

Also read: How Engineering Managers Can Help Recruiters Improve Developer Hiring

Recruiters and hiring managers need each other. Here’s why

Why Recruiters And Hiring Managers Need To Become Best Friends!

It’s high time recruiters and hiring managers started getting along. To put it simply, it improves productivity and helps bring in better-qualified candidates. A few more benefits include –

1. Recruiters can fill the role with a candidate that will fit on every level

Recruiters understand that you’re not looking for just anyone to fill a role. You’re looking for the right person with the right set of skills, experience, and personality. When you bring us on during the hiring process, we become an extension of your hiring team.

We as recruiters research not only your company’s specific needs and requirements for the position, but also immerse ourselves in your company’s culture and see what types of personalities are already thriving.

You don’t have to waste time with the “wrong” people because we rigorously screen for and identify candidates that fit your ideal profile.

2. We promise to scale your organization quickly if needed

As tech recruiters, we get that the world of tech is constantly evolving. One minute you’re fully staffed, the next you need to fill a bunch of roles ASAP. That’s where we come in— invite us to your events, introduce us to your team, and let us soak up your company culture. Leverage us in a way that benefits your company. That way, when you need to bring on new talent, we’ll have a pool of candidates ready to go who is a perfect match for your organization.

I’ve seen this work wonders firsthand with a local company. They brought me in, we got to know each other, and when it was time to scale up, I successfully placed over twenty candidates. And the best part? Most of them have stuck around because I knew the company and knew they’d be a great fit.

Also read: Spend A Day With A Tech Recruiter

3. We help you cut down on the time and resources you spend on the hiring process

It’s called a process for a reason, right? Step one is looking at an inbox with 200 resumes, and it only gets more time-consuming from there. Imagine a world where you only have to review 5 perfectly curated resumes and show up for the interview calls.

As your hiring BFF, recruiters are there to walk you through the entire hiring process. This means we can take over screening candidates, sending out calendar invites, preparing for interviews, and all the other parts that tend to take up a little more time than you expect.

Not only that, but recruiters are there to follow up with you, assess how the interviews are going, and pivot accordingly. We know all your other tasks don’t stop when hiring starts, so use our services to your advantage. If you’re looking for a space to prove our value— utilization of time is a great space to start.

4. Allow us to keep you on track with market trends

If it’s been a while since you last had an open position or if you’re looking to fill a new type of role, tech recruiters can provide valuable insights into the current job market and how your company is perceived within it.

We keep a close eye on recruitment trends and can offer objective feedback on your hiring practices. Whether it’s identifying areas for improvement or simply providing a neutral sounding board, recruiters can help you get the most out of your hires.

We also have a deeper understanding of what top talent is looking for in their next job and what drives them.

Also read: Forecasting Tech Hiring Trends For 2023 With 6 Experts

5. We promise to not poach your employees

That may be sounding like one of those “unlikely friendship” videos of a snake and a hamster or an elephant and a sheep, but if you bring on a recruiter we can sign a contract to not pull from your company.

In the spirit of recruiting, the same can’t really be said otherwise. This also doesn’t mean that you need to bring on tons of recruiters to retain your people. What’s most important is that you find a recruiter that’s doing things differently in a way that you like. There are tons of recruiters out there, so it’s important to find someone that’s successful in going about things from a different angle. If they’re standing out to you as a recruiter, they’re most likely standing out to potential candidates as well.

Finally, we’re not just here to fill a role and then disappear. We want to build a lasting relationship with you, one that is built on trust, honesty, and mutual respect. We’re here to help you succeed, and we’ll work tirelessly to ensure that you get the results you’re looking for.

5 Hiring Tactics That Recruiters Use To Break The Mold | FREE GUIDE

Ways Recruiters Can Improve Their Relationship with Hiring Managers

Building a strong, collaborative relationship between recruiters and hiring managers is crucial for the success of any organization’s hiring process. Here are several strategies recruiters can use to improve their relationship with hiring managers, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective recruitment outcomes.

1. Establish Clear Communication Channels

  • Set Regular Meetings: Schedule periodic check-ins to discuss open positions, candidate profiles, and other recruitment-related updates.
  • Use Collaborative Tools: Leverage technology like shared documents, project management software, and communication platforms to stay aligned and transparent.

2. Understand the Hiring Manager’s Needs

  • Deep Dive into Job Descriptions: Work closely with hiring managers to understand not just the job requirements but the soft skills and team fit that would make a candidate successful.
  • Tailor the Recruitment Process: Customize the recruitment strategy based on the specific needs of each position, taking into account the hiring manager’s preferences for candidate qualifications and experience.

3. Provide Constructive Feedback

  • Feedback Loop: Encourage a two-way feedback loop where both parties can express their views on the recruitment process, candidate quality, and interview outcomes.
  • Actionable Insights: Offer insights into market trends and candidate expectations to help hiring managers adjust their expectations or offers accordingly.

4. Educate on Best Practices

  • Training Sessions: Organize workshops or training sessions on the latest hiring trends, effective interview techniques, and diversity hiring practices.
  • Policy Updates: Keep hiring managers informed about changes in recruitment policies, labor laws, and compliance requirements to ensure a smooth hiring process.

5. Demonstrate the Value of Recruitment Analytics

  • Share Metrics: Regularly share key recruitment metrics such as time-to-hire, quality of hire, and candidate sourcing channels to highlight successes and areas for improvement.
  • Strategic Planning: Use data-driven insights to advise hiring managers on strategic decisions like optimal hiring periods, salary benchmarks, and skill set availability.

6. Foster Trust and Transparency

  • Honest Communication: Be honest about the challenges and limitations in the recruitment process, and work together to find solutions.
  • Celebrate Successes: Acknowledge and celebrate when a great hire is made, reinforcing the value of the partnership between recruiter and hiring manager.

7. Engage in Strategic Talent Planning

  • Future Needs Analysis: Work with hiring managers to understand not just immediate but future staffing needs, helping to build a proactive talent pipeline.
  • Succession Planning: Assist in identifying internal talent for succession planning, emphasizing the role of recruitment in long-term organizational growth.

Improving the relationship between recruiters and hiring managers requires commitment, open communication, and a shared goal of finding the best talent for the organization. By employing these strategies, recruiters can become invaluable partners in the hiring process, contributing significantly to the overall success of the organization.

At the end of the day, recruiters don’t have to be the bad guy

All we ask of you, hiring managers, is to think of us in a new light and try your best to not discount our potential value. Whether it’s filling a single role or scaling your entire organization, we’re here to be your trusted partner and friend.

So why not take a chance on us? Let’s be BFFs!

Like this article? Subscribe to Taylor’s newsletter through which his goal is to help as many job seekers and hiring managers as possible in tech!

Why are Recruiters Switching to Lateral Hiring?

What happens when you have been consistently ordering a Margherita pizza and a Choco lava cake every time you visit Domino’s Pizza? Well, you know the exact order you want to place. You know the crust and toppings you want over your pizza. You don’t waste much time thinking about what to order. Isn’t it? That’s what happens with lateral hiring too. Lateral hiring is nothing but hiring specialists in your organization for a particular job role instead of investing time in training entry-level employees—you know the skills and experience level you need in a candidate to fill this job role. In other words, you know your order! Many organizations believe it’s good to have a few specialist employees who know every next step they take at their job. And that’s why the majority of recruiters are switching to lateral hiring. In this article, we share everything about what lateral hiring is and the 8-step process we follow at HackerEarth to conduct lateral hiring.

What is lateral hiring?

Lateral hiring is a method of finding an employee who can do a similar job to the vacant one—with a comparable experience and background. Simply put, lateral hiring is the process of sourcing passive candidates to fill niche, specialized or executive positions. However, you may not find these people in your talent pool or on job boards. They are neither active in the job market nor actively seeking opportunities. Earlier, such hiring used to happen in specific industries like law, medicine, big businesses, and the government sector. But, with the pandemic, many tech companies have adopted the unconventional method of lateral hiring to fill vacant positions. Adrienne Couch, Human Resources Analyst, LLC Services emphasizes the same.

“Lateral hiring is becoming more and more popular. In fact, I’ve seen studies that say it’s set to overgrow by over 20% in the next five years. Lateral hiring is also a great way for companies to tap into the passive candidate market. These are people who may not be looking for a new job but could be open to new opportunities. By reaching out to them, companies can snag top talent they may have missed out on otherwise.”

How does lateral hiring work?

Assess your workforce and conduct a skills gap analysis:

  • what skills do they currently have?
  • what skills are they currently missing (but crucial for the company’s growth)?

Once you have studied the skills, define the skills you need from your lateral hire. For example, after studying the skills of web developers in your company, you realize they are well-versed in four languages: JavaScript, C, C++, and SQL. But, you need to upgrade the product, which requires a PHP developer. Now you have two options to do this: train your existing employees, invest financial resources, time, and effort in them to learn it, or onboard a new hire with these skills. Next, define what the role of this lateral hire would look like:

  • what are the tasks and responsibilities they carry out?
  • what would their OKRs look like?
  • how would this role benefit the organization?

Why use lateral hiring to hire top tech talent?

In a study by University of Bristol – School of Economics, Finance and Management, it was found that lateral hiring helps employers acquire, develop and retain human capital—to help improve the competitiveness and reduce the effects of outward staff mobility. Therefore it should be included as a part of recruitment marketing strategy. Let’s understand in detail how lateral hiring can elevate the growth of employers and organizations:

Reduces training costs

There are two ways you can fill in the requirement for new skills in your organization:

  1. train your current employees
  2. recruit new employees

Training your employees requires a lot of heavy lifting. You need funds, time, and effort to prepare them and develop these skills. Still, there is no guarantee that your employees will master them correctly. They’ll take time to learn and implement the skills. This is exactly what Cynthia Davies, CEO and Founder of Cindy’s New Mexico LLC points out.

“Lateral hiring can be beneficial for a company as it reduces training costs. Employees who are already familiar with the company and its culture, as well as the industry in general, require less training. They can hit the ground running in their new roles. Lateral hires can be more efficient and productive in their new roles quicker than external hires because they already know the company’s processes and systems.”

Reduces the risk of hiring the wrong person

Picture this: you want to hire a web developer with PHP expertise the traditional way. You post on job boards, publish the job ad and receive several applications. You scan the applications and shortlist a few developers. They have *only* basic knowledge of the subject and aren’t up-to-date with industry trends. Upon onboarding them, you realize that you still need to train them. Why? Because they have a strong theoretical understanding of PHP but need training on a few practical aspects of the job. That’s when you realize you have hired the wrong person. You needed an experienced employee who knows the ins and outs of what works and what does not and is not restricted to entry-level PHP expertise. With lateral hiring, you can scan the candidate’s profile, and check if their experience fits your requirements. Only then proceed with the next steps in your hiring process.

Also, read: 10 Tech Recruiting Strategies to Find the Best Tech Talent

The 8-step process for lateral hiring at HackerEarth looks like

Preethi Saakre, the Talent Acquisition Manager at HackerEarth shares an extensive 8-step approach for lateral hiring that we use in our organization.

Lateral hiring process

Step 1: Get approval for the role

As a first step, the hiring manager identifies and approves the job role and the skills needed for a lateral hire—which is shared with the talent acquisition team. The talent acquisition (TA) team then works with the hiring manager to confirm the job description (JD). If it’s an existing role, they check with the hiring manager if any changes need to be made to the existing JD. If it’s a brand-new role, the hiring manager will share the roles and responsibilities, and the TA will add these roles and responsibilities to the set template. Next, the talent acquisition team creates the position on Trakstar and sends it for the CEO’s approval.

Step 2: Collect important details

Once the lateral hire’s position is approved, the talent acquisition team conducts an intake call with the hiring manager to understand the need for the role. To collect details about the job role, the TA team fills out a Requirement Gathering Form. They enter all the necessary details and share them with the hiring manager. Next, the hiring manager identifies panel members to be involved in the hiring process. They make sure that each member is aware of the expectations of the candidates and will be interviewing the candidates based on these expectations. They also identify who will handle the competency evaluation process at different levels of interviews.

Step 3: Share data about the talent pool

The talent acquisition team shares data on the overall talent pool available for the role with hiring managers. The TA team then creates a sample screened profile for the lateral candidate along with the hiring manager. This ensures that the sourced and inbound applications they share with the hiring manager are in line with their expectations.

Also, read: Optimize your Hiring Process with Recruitment Analytics

Step 4: Publish the approved position

The talent acquisition team publishes the approved position on job boards—LinkedIn, Glassdoor, IIM Jobs, and Instahyre. On the same day, the talent acquisition team shares the lateral hiring strategy and plan with timelines. They send an email to the hiring manager with the finalized timelines and the other details discussed over the call.

Step 5: Screen the candidates

The talent acquisition team conducts a candidate screening check. During the process, they make sure to follow all the set guidelines:

  • checking the communication skills
  • asking the role screening questions
  • communicating the CTC and notice period expectations
  • evaluating for culture fit
  • understanding the reason for leaving

Once they have screened the candidates, they’ll forward the candidate’s application to the hiring manager for review. Sidenote: If the candidate’s salary expectation is more than the budget for the specialized role, TA needs to communicate it with the hiring manager before proceeding with the conversation.

Also, read: 4 Different Ways to Create Coding Tests on HackerEarth (+Free Template)

Step 6: Use the STAR technique for interviews

Our recruiters and hiring managers at HackerEarth use the STAR technique to answer behavioral questions. When hiring managers ask behavioral questions to candidates, candidates have to give them examples of how they handled past situations or challenges. Put simply, behavioral questions help candidates share stories. Interviewers use these stories to identify the evaluate the candidate beyond their skills.

Star Technique for interviews

For example, the HackerEarth interviewer asks the candidate: “Can you tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to deliver an excellent customer experience?” Situation: “When I was working at company X, we were preparing for a video interview for a client when I learned that someone on their team was deaf. The presentation was due the next day in the morning and I was the only one left in the office after 5 PM.” Task: “I realized there was only one solution and that was for me to stay behind in the evening and add captions myself.” Action: “It took me a few hours, and around 8 PM, I was done. Then, I let our team know about the update.” Results: “In the end, the client enjoyed the presentation. They were very impressed (and surprised) by our attention to detail, and we ended up closing them soon after.” With this story the candidate shared with the interviewer, the interviewer learns about the candidate’s willingness to deal with challenging situations and their passion for work. Once the interviewers complete the interviews, they share detailed feedback and ratings on the same day. Sidenote: The interviewers record feedback on Trackstar.

Also, read: Essential Questions To Ask When Recruiting Developers Part 1 and Part 2

Step 7: Conduct reference checks

Reference checks ensure that the lateral hire the company has recruited is the right decision. For this, recruiters reach out to the hire’s colleagues and ask them about the following:

  • their experience working with the person
  • the candidate’s performance while working with the organization

Answering these two questions give ample information about whether or not the right decision has been made.

Step 8: Send the offer letter

First, we make a verbal offer to the candidate, followed by an offer letter via Adobe. The candidate reviews the offer letter, signs it and it automatically gets recorded in the company’s records and the candidate receives a copy of the signed offer letter. Here’s how our talent acquisition team sent the offer letter to the new hire via Adobe.

Offer letter for new hire

It’s not discreet. It’s not different

If you have ever been told to carry out the lateral hiring process discreetly, it’s time to change that. Lateral hiring is just like the traditional hiring process you carry out in your company. The only difference: you hire specialists. So, whether you’re hiring internal or external candidates as lateral hires, the process remains the same except for a few tweaks in some hiring phases and policies.

6 Ways To Streamline Tech Hiring With A Recruitment Automation Platform

I have to manually sort through 348 applications for an open role, talk to hiring managers about new vacancies, and handle admin work. But this is nothing, I can still take up nurturing candidates and manually sourcing for fresh candidates in the second half of my day – said NO recruiter ever!

As is common knowledge, recruiters and talent acquisition specialists are mostly in over their heads with the amount of work they handle. The simplest way to reduce their workloads is by automating repetitive tasks like screening applications or sending emails to candidates—this frees up time significantly and allows them to focus on more important tasks.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I am a big believer in letting technology do the heavy lifting and recruitment is one area that can greatly benefit from this.

Baking in recruitment automation in your hiring processes means posting job openings to different job boards, parsing through resumes, sending timely updates, and uploading candidate data in half the time and half the manual effort. It also means that you’ll be sourcing for better-quality candidates faster.

Can your company battle skill gaps, talent shortage, and mass quitting with outdated recruitment tech stacks? Especially when your competitors are embracing modern recruitment and automation. I didn’t think so! Without further ado, let’s look at recruitment automation platforms and how they can improve your overall hiring process.

How to automate your complete recruitment process

Statistics to show why we need to use a recruitment automation platform

It can be tricky to identify which areas of your recruiting cycle need improvement. As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth and too many tools might end up hampering your recruitment.

After a lot of research, we’ve put together a list of common yet important pain points of recruiters that can do well with automation! Here they are:

1. Automate distributing your jobs to multiple job boards

You have a job role that fell vacant. Time is short and you need to fill this role within a small window of time. What do you do? Re-use your previous, possibly outdated job description, manually post it on generic job boards, and wait for applications (which may not be of great quality) to pour in.

Now let’s add a layer of technology to this. You have a job role that fell vacant. You have a recruitment automation platform at your disposal. It can generate targeted job descriptions for you, cross-post your job postings to relevant career sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and others, form a strong talent pipeline and improve the talent pool quality. All in half or even lesser the amount of time it would take for you to do it manually!

Additionally, you can also use the insights and analytics provided by your tool to see which sourcing channels got you the highest number of qualified candidates. Spend more time and money specifically targeting those channels in the future. Optimize your hiring and find the best of the best out there.

2. Boost your candidate sourcing abilities

Marketing your job postings right is half the battle won when it comes to candidate sourcing. As seen above, recruiting software can help you reach a bigger, better talent pool by cross-posting your job descriptions to targeted job boards and social media channels.

You can tailor candidate searches based on what job role you’re hiring for with AI-based candidate matching algorithms, years of experience, or geographic location rather than manually constructing your own Boolean search strings.

You will have extra time to leverage social recruiting, especially when hiring for niche roles. Also, GenZ is predominantly a big user of social media. That’s where you should be focusing your recruiting efforts on. Social recruiting also allows you to find passive candidates before they’re actively looking for work.

All of this slashes your cost-per-hire and betters the quality of your hire, which come with other benefits like,

  • Reduced employee attrition
  • Increased employee performance
  • Improved employee engagement

3. Keep track of all candidate applications with an ATS

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a life-saver for recruiters. And a majority of the recruitment automation platforms in the market can be integrated with popular ATSs like Lever, Naukri RMS, and Zoho Recruit.

An ATS enables you to stay organized and comes in handy when dealing with high-volume internal tasks. Some of the tasks include storing candidate applications and data in a central database, candidate pipeline visibility, tracking a candidate’s journey at each stage, syncing emails and calendars, and collaborating with your team on these tasks.

Some ATSs offer a candidate self-service portal where candidates can upload their resumes, cover letters, and other documents directly.

An ATS alerts your candidates about the next steps in their application process. You can also use existing candidate data from your ATS to see what hiring strategies are working and what needs to be changed.

4. Streamline and enhance the pre-screening process

The quickest way to vet a candidate’s resume and make sure all the skills mentioned pan out is by conducting skill assessments. A good coding assessment tool offers specific tests for the majority of the skill sets out there. Some tools also allow you to create custom tests of your own.

Evaluate candidates and determine their expertise/skill level and culture-fit, objectively. Auto-reject candidates who don’t meet the selection criteria. A major advantage of such tools is the ability to shortlist candidates solely based on their skills, thus eliminating any unconscious bias, whatsoever.

Any recruitment automation platform would integrate with the top pre-employment coding assessment tools in the market. You can schedule assessments and invite candidates to take the test, right from your automation platform instead of switching between different apps.

A tech hiring platform like HackerEarth can help you screen the very best developers with ease. You can sign up for a 14-day free trial and check out all the features of our coding assessment platform to see for yourself!

5. Eliminate the need for manually scheduling interviews

Another time-consuming task that probably rivals screening thousands of resumes manually, is scheduling interviews. For each shortlisted candidate, you have to consider a suitable date and time. More hassle if the candidate lives in a different time zone.

This is one part of recruiting that can benefit greatly from technology. A recruitment automation platform enables you to automate the interview scheduling process. You can set up interviews with candidates at your convenience, offer candidates the option to self-schedule their interviews and make use of auto-generated interview reminders, emails, and updates to be sent to your candidates.

Any guesses on how many hours were saved, here? My guess is a LOT and that’s good enough!

6. Nurture your candidates better to create a memorable experience

By using HR recruitment software, headcount planning and other recruiting platforms, you get to prioritize your work better. More importantly, you free up your time to handle more important tasks, like nurturing candidates, for instance. It is a vital aspect of recruitment and more often than not, we recruiters do not have enough time or the capacity to give it the attention it deserves.

Automated recruiting enables you to reply promptly to any emails, set up customized email sequences to continuously engage your candidates, schedule follow-ups, reminders, and alerts, and provide chatbots to give automated responses to FAQs, and simple queries. It streamlines the overall candidate communication.

This shows your candidates that you care about them. That you want to keep them in the loop through every stage of the hiring process. It creates a lasting first impression right at the beginning and enhances your employer brand.

5 Benefits of using recruitment automation platforms

Where Recruiting Automation Is Most Useful

The biggest benefit of using a hiring automation platform is employee retention. Gone are the days when your recruiting teams were willing to work insane hours to close those open roles with little to zero help from ancient recruiting tools. According to research, 50% of recruiters’ would shift companies if the other one had better recruiting software.

Before you can focus all your energies on attracting the best talent out there, the first step would be hanging on to your talented recruiters and getting them to stay! Additionally, online recruiting platforms come with a few more key advantages:

1. Reduces time-to-hire and improves the quality of hires

A major strain on a recruiter’s time and effort is going through mountains of applications. And a major advantage of using a recruitment automation platform (a.k.a. HR recruitment software) is that it can take care of screening applicants for you. It also comes with a resume parser to check if minimum qualifications are met.

Voila! Slashed your time-to-hire by a huge margin already. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what such tools bring to the table.

You get to screen a lot more applicants now since it is automated. You also get to identify better-qualified candidates due to detailed, efficient screening. Recruitment automation makes sure the good ones don’t slip through the cracks. As we see next, it can also help diversify your talent pools by tailoring your candidate searches to every role, pulling up profiles of passive candidates, and in general, improving the quality of your sourcing efforts!

2. Expand and diversify your talent pipeline

A recruitment automation platform helps you cast a wider net when sourcing fresh talent. You can post your job postings on a varied range of job boards and social media channels with just one click. Without hurriedly copying and pasting generic job descriptions, you now have a good amount of time to create targeted job postings. Consequently, it will improve the quality of your applicants.

This expanded search leads you to source prospective candidates beyond your organization’s network or existing talent pool. You can also spend time searching for, connecting, and building relationships with passive candidates who might be a good fit for your company.

3. Hire for niche technical roles

Automated recruiting enables you to parse resumes against a chosen set of keywords and screen those that are a good match. Moreover, this feature comes in handy especially when you need to hire for specialized roles. You can select keywords that match a particular job description or skill set. The tool will shortlist your candidates from there.

4. Create a memorable candidate experience

A recent report shows that GenZ prefers working with advanced recruitment technology, and 54% say they would drop out of the application process of companies with obsolete methods and complicated processes. The future of the workforce is GenZ. By not using a recruitment automation platform, you are alienating a majority of the available talent pool.

The best recruiting platforms offer several practical features. Popular ones include easy-to-use online application portals, timely updates every step of the way, chatbots to answer any queries, and automated email drips to build better relationships with your candidates. Making sure all your potential candidates have a great experience right from the start will help you seal the deal quickly and seamlessly.

5. Streamlines the complete hiring process

Any good hiring automation platform provides data for the entire recruiting lifecycle. Armed with this data, you can identify which parts of your hiring process are broken, what’s working, which hiring practices are giving the best ROI, and so on. Such tools help you make data-driven decisions and optimize your hiring process to be more efficient.

Automated recruiting for the win!

With automated recruiting, fewer items slip through the cracks. The efficiency, productivity, and morale of your recruiting team go up. Tech recruiting platforms ensure recruiters can focus their attention on matching candidates with the right job opportunities instead of on administrative tasks.

Well, what are you waiting for? This is your sign to start using a good recruitment automation platform!

What Recruiters Can Focus On During A Tech Hiring Freeze

Hiring Freeze! There is nothing more frustrating to a recruiter than this phrase. It doesn’t matter if you are a human resources representative for a company or a recruitment agency. A tech hiring freeze is usually the result of efforts to cut down costs and sometimes the impact of recession or scale down of the organization. When recruiting and hiring stops, a company can save money and remain operational. Now, how can you, as a recruiter, use this time positively? The following tips will help you make the most out of your company’s hiring freeze, retain and understand employees, improve your hiring process and come up with great ideas for future hires. Before that, Let’s first understand a tech hiring freeze and the reasons for its occurrence.

What is a hiring freeze?

When a company decides to halt hiring for new positions, it is called a hiring freeze. Though the company may continue to hire candidates for essential jobs, it stops all efforts to fill non-essential jobs and prohibits creating new positions. Tech hiring freezes typically begin with a halt to these actions: sourcing\screening, interviewing, and hiring.

Main reasons behind a hiring freeze

Every business aims to maintain long-term financial viability. Fears of a recession, a pandemic, and supply chain disruptions force companies to halt hiring during difficult market conditions. When these circumstances arise, management may freeze hiring. Here are some examples of situations where a company might consider a hiring freeze:

1. Uncertain market conditions:

Market volatility and fluctuation can significantly affect revenue generation and profitability.

2. Global crisis:

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every business in some way to a certain extent. These crises have negatively impacted businesses worldwide. Moreover, layoffs and tech hiring freezes were the only way for companies to sustain themselves then.

Also, read: 4 Images That Show What Developers Think Of Layoffs In Tech

3. Emerging liquidity concerns:

Companies may postpone recruitment processes if liquid assets decline. Thus, they may opt to deploy funds from the pay budget to finance current assets to increase liquidity.

4. Budget deficit:

When a company anticipates that hiring new employees will lead to a budget deficit, it will postpone hiring new employees until its financial position improves.

Effects of a tech hiring freeze on current employees

A hiring freeze can also be stressful for current employees owing to increased resource utilization to meet the deadlines and workload allocation within the available workforce. In addition, the workloads of departing employees are distributed among the remaining staff. In turn, this can negatively affect staff productivity, causing more employees to leave the company. So, during the hiring freeze, if recruiters are not hiring, then what do they do? Here are some best practices a recruiter (or a company) can use to motivate and retain current employees and smooth future hiring processes.

Things recruiters can do during a hiring freeze

How Recruiters Can Stay Active During A Hiring Freeze

Improve your hiring process for the future

During the hiring freeze, you have plenty of time to look into hiring gaps and plan for better future recruitment. For instance, you can check your existing hiring metrics and data to know what area to focus on to improve the hiring process. You can also review previous recruiting reports and methods provided by your ATS. You can then conclude,

  • how much does hiring for a particular role cost
  • what are the best sources/channels to find the right candidate
  • what is the job acceptance rate for your company
  • why candidates might drop off during an assessment phase
  • what does the candidate interview experience look like

This exercise will give you a grasp of what needs to be fixed in your hiring process.

Also, read: Streamline Your Recruitment Process With These 7 Tips

Furthermore, you can discuss key points with managers and team leaders to better understand their current objectives and future goals. This way, you can obtain a preview of the competencies and potential positions your company may require in the future. Also, you can create more crisp and clear job descriptions. In a nutshell, the more time you spend closing process gaps, the easier it will be to recruit again.

Build your employer’s brand

A strong employer brand always stands out and attracts talent. Amidst a tech hiring freeze, you can focus on building an impactful employer brand. Showcase your company’s work culture, ethics, and perks because it affects the candidate’s decision to join your company. Consider using video content, as this format makes it much easier for you to showcase your company’s culture and values. Furthermore, building an employer brand is not just for hiring new candidates; it is also suitable for existing employees. Employees who feel valued and appreciated will stay with the company for a long time. To improve your employer brand both from an employee’s and a candidate’s perspective, follow these tips:

For employees:

Employees are your biggest asset, and retaining the best candidates is essential. It is more likely to happen when your employees are happy working for you and feel valued and recognized for their efforts. You might have already provided your employees with all the perks. But always look to see if there is anything else you can do to increase their productivity at the workplace or improve their mental and physical health. Moreover, you can keep them engaged in fun activities or sports, take their feedback, or conduct some counseling sessions for employees for better work-life balance or mental health awareness. Also, employees love it when a company recognizes their hard work and loyalty and rewards them with appraisals, incentives, and bonuses. You can also send them personalized emails and gift cards to keep them motivated.

Also, read: 7 Employee Engagement Strategies For WFH Tech Teams

For candidates:

Before applying or accepting the offer, applicants tend to go through social media, Glassdoor, or Google reviews to learn more about the company’s culture. It means you can leverage the power of social media to showcase your company’s culture and the working lives of your current employees, for example,

  • Appreciate your current employees on LinkedIn, tag them, and rework your career pages.
  • Work on Glassdoor and google reviews of your company. You can’t stop negative reviews on these platforms, but you can humbly reply.
  • Show behind the scenes of your office, celebrating birthdays, festivals, etc.
  • Take feedback from your current employees, ask about their experience in your company, make a video, and share it on social media.
  • Always check the tonality of your social media posts. It should be gender-neutral and easy to understand.

Companies that embrace and practice diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are more likely to outperform their competitors in terms of profitability and value creation. You can also make a plan for reverting or giving feedback to each applicant applying for a job opening at your company. Note: Do not ghost any applicant when you reject any candidate. It can create a bad image for your organization.

Also, read: How Tech Recruiters Can Build Better Employer Branding With Marketing

Build Candidate Relationships

A tech hiring freeze is the best time to expand your candidate pools with skilled candidates. Use this downtime to nurture relationships with passive candidates via social recruiting. Take advantage of recruiting tools. These tools help you connect with freshers and professionals and build relationships that will come in handy for future hiring. Keep your talent pipelines warm by sending them regular company updates, content that showcases your company culture, relevant articles, and webinars that may interest your prospective candidates. When the time comes to hire again, you wouldn’t have to start from scratch! You have your trusty candidate pool to fall back on.

Brush up on your recruiting skills

Although HR teams are constantly busy, a hiring freeze gives the recruitment team time to update their skills. The organization’s human resources department can enhance the whole company’s performance. As a result, in the HR position, you must always keep abreast of new industry regulations, technological advancements, and other human resource management techniques. Moreover, many HR training programs are available over the internet, like HackerEarth’s Learning and Development for HR, so you can better utilize your time to understand the HR ecosystem.

Also, read: Spend A Day With A Tech Recruiter

We’ve gone one step further and reached out to our Senior TA, Shalini Chandra to spill the beans on how to navigate this hiring freeze and become a better recruiter. Watch the video to get tips straight from the horse’s mouth!

FAQs related to hiring freeze

How to keep candidates engaged during a hiring freeze?

  • Stay in touch with candidates; provide timely responses to any emails
  • Share company updates and other relevant information like PR releases, blogs, and podcasts to keep candidates interested
  • Work on establishing an employer brand

How long does a hiring freeze usually last?

Depending on the reason, a hiring freeze usually lasts for 3-6 months but can last up to weeks, months, or years.

What are the advantages of a tech hiring freeze?

  • A hiring freeze reduces hiring costs; reducing these expenses can result in the return of financial stability.
  • Hiring freezes allow management to condense staff and reorganize workgroups to produce necessary products and services for consumers more efficiently.
  • It also strengthens teamwork and allows the company to review its growth plans and operational procedures.

Conclusion

A tech hiring freeze gives the organization and recruitment team time to focus on other essential things and prepare for future hiring. Use the methods mentioned above during the hiring freeze to rework the overall hiring process, increase the productivity of current employees, and retain employees. This time can be fruitful for organizations if used correctly.

Spend A Day With: A Tech Recruiter

In a mythical land far, far away…

Tech recruiters and talent acquisition specialists have been rumored to live in harmony with unicorns and purple squirrels. In this magical world of recruiting, a typical day looks something like this:

10.00 A.M. – Recruiters open their emails, check for job requirements and post one little job posting.

11.00 A.M. – Computers audibly shaking, you can hear the whir of thousands of applications pouring in!

Noon – You present the perfect candidate for the vacant role, gift-wrapped to your hiring manager.

Oh well, that was a good dream while it lasted! As seen above, there are plenty of misconceptions floating around about tech recruiters and how they should be able to rub a lamp, make a genie appear, and solve all the hiring problems in the world.

The actual reality looks something like a Taylor Swift song—sleepless nights, fear of not closing open roles under tight deadlines, and wistfully wishing for this magical land of recruiting to be a real one, with lyrics that go:

3 a.m. and I’m still awake, I’ll bet you’re just fine

Fast asleep in your city that’s better than mine

Recruiting teams have their work cut out for them and no two tech recruiters ever had the same journey in their career path. We’ve gone around and spoken to our internal recruiting team in depth to understand what their day looks like and what happens at each stage of the hiring lifecycle. Hop on, let us take you for an intriguing ride!

A special shoutout to our Talent Acquisition Manager, Preethi Saakre for all the insider information that shaped this blog and allowed us to go into great detail about the workings of a recruiting team!

Preethi's Linkedin Profile

Behind the scenes of a recruiting team in an organization

Although the overall structure of a hiring process remains the same, there can be slight changes when you are hiring at scale, conducting walk-in interviews, or looking to fill a small number of positions with 2 or 3 candidates. In this article, let’s take a look at hiring for a small number of roles.

Set the tone for the day

The first task on the agenda for the day is to check our email. Get an understanding of what roles are vacant from our hiring managers. And then set up meetings.

While we usually receive emails on open job roles, and top-level requirements to hire for these roles, we do have an in-depth discussion with our hiring manager. Such calibration meetings clarify important information like:

  • A debrief of the job role we’re hiring for
  • What does the ideal candidate look like for this role?
  • What are the must-have skills and good-to-have skills?
  • What tech stacks are we looking for?
  • How many rounds of interviews do we conduct?

This will greatly help you to create accurate job descriptions and attract the right candidates for your open positions.

In a nutshell, coffee with a side of meetings!

Plan tasks and responsibilities

After our morning meeting, we spend some time answering emails, following up with candidates, and filling out paperwork. Now that we clearly understand for whom we’re hiring, we prioritize our tasks for the day, see which roles have tighter deadlines, and get to work!

Ad hoc responsibilities of a tech recruiter in a day

Carry out market mapping for open roles

Armed with the requirements from the hiring manager, we begin to gauge the talent pool available in the market to see how many candidates would fit our industry-specific requirements. We do market mapping where we check for details that have been aggregated from several job boards like:

  • Compensation range
  • Years of experience
  • The geographic location of the candidate pool
  • Expected notice period
  • Diversity of the candidate pool

While all this information is available on LinkedIn, filtering for diverse candidates is only possible on Naukri RMS. This is where you need to make the most of the Google search engine. Hiring for rather niche positions or specific skill sets calls for using boolean search strings and site-wide X-ray search capabilities for highly customized results.

Once you are aware of the kind of talent pool available for your particular open role, we need to go back to the hiring manager to let them know. Post receiving their approval to go ahead, start with sourcing and contacting qualified candidates.

Focus on inbound applications

Now that it’s settled resumes don’t fall out of the sky, let’s see how we go about getting candidates to send their resumes in.

The first thing to do is to distribute the job posting for the vacant position on all job boards. If you are using an applicant tracking system (ATS) like Trakstar, Zoho Recruit, and so on, most job boards would already be integrated with it, making it simple for you to market your job postings.

The candidates that apply through this outreach are tagged as inbound applications. Inbound recruiting relies heavily on your ability to attract candidates—meaning job postings need to be clear and concise, employer branding should be on point, and career sites have to be user-friendly. Prospective candidates need to be excited about working for your company!

Also read: 5-Step Guide To Gender-Fluid Tech Job Descriptions (+Free Checklist)

Source suitable candidates through outbound outreach

The second phase of sourcing for candidates is outbound hiring. This is where you search for and contact all active candidates (those currently looking for a job) on the available job boards like Indeed, Monster, and Glassdoor.

You can also use the InMail feature on LinkedIn or tap into Naukri RMS to source high-quality candidates.

Next, we focus on connecting with passive candidates. Especially when you are hiring for niche tech roles, passive talent would be a good bet. GitHub and StackOverflow are hotbeds of tech talent—you can see projects developers have worked on, languages and frameworks they are interested in, and so on.

This is a crucial step to getting closer to finding that elusive unicorn candidate, who you know will be just the right fit for the open role! A recent LinkedIn report shows that 62% of talent teams find more high-quality candidates through sourcing than inbound applications.

Also read: 21 Tech Recruiting Tools To Scale Your Hiring

Screen incoming resumes

All the inbound applications are captured on our ATS where every candidate’s data is parsed automatically from their resumes so it’s easy for you to go through it.

If we are hiring for generic tech roles, for instance, a software engineer with 0-1 years of experience, we directly send a screening test to the candidates. We check whether they have cleared the coding assessment or not and shortlist them accordingly. Then their profile is forwarded to the hiring manager.

For certain roles that can be tough to assess like front-end roles, even if the candidates have not entirely cleared the test, we forward the results to the hiring manager. They would further check for the candidate’s thought process and logic used while attempting to solve the problem before either shortlisting them or rejecting them.

Schedule interviews for shortlisted candidates

As discussed in the calibration meeting mentioned above, the number of interview rounds is already decided. All that remains is to set up interviews between the candidates and the hiring managers. If the candidates are mid-senior level developers or tech leads then their next round of interviews would be with the CTO and the CEO, accordingly.

For those who have been selected in these rounds, we next set up a meeting with our HR team to assess the candidates for culture fit.

This would be the last round of interviews. Post this, we begin discussing the compensation, perks, and benefits with the shortlisted candidates.

Sidebar:

Most recruiters would share a common journey up until this point in the hiring process. We carry out supporting tasks for all the above steps, in some capacity every single day.

Roll out the offer letter

Once the salary negotiation discussions are wrapped up, it is time to send the official offer letter to the candidates who made the cut. While this is an exciting part of the recruiting process, as we know, a recruiter cannot rest easy until— “Good hiring doesn’t end with finding the right person. It ends when the right person starts working for you!” – By anonymous

But not just yet. We have to do our due diligence first to ensure we’ve vetted the candidate thoroughly:

  • Complete required background checks
  • Call references and talk to the candidate’s previous managers

Getting verbal acceptance from your candidate before sending out the letter can increase the chances of them signing on the dotted line.

And then, **drum roll please!**

Drum roll

We roll out the offer letter to our candidate.

Nurture candidates to improve candidate engagement

Once the candidate accepts the offer letter and you are certain they will be joining the company, then proceed with your candidate engagement practices. We set up a buddy for them who will be able to familiarize them with the team after they join. We encourage the new hires to come to the office so they can meet different teams, understand how things work, and get a basic idea of their roles and responsibilities.

This helps make the “dreaded first day” easy for the candidate since they already know what to expect and whom to reach out to in case they are stuck.

Time for onboarding

A general practice for talent acquisition teams is to connect the selected candidates with the onboarding team, 10 days prior to their joining the company. This ensures the candidates have a smooth transition and have everything they need for the first day, including their laptop, email access, and other things.

To welcome your candidates and make them feel like they belong right from the start, send them company merchandise, goodies, and swag that they can use.

Also read: Streamline Your Recruitment Process With These 7 Tips

To understand a recruiter’s job in a nutshell, here are 7 things that the recruiting team at HackerEarth carries out on a daily basis!

No magic potion, just plain hard work

Well, we tried to bust as many myths as possible about recruiters and tech recruiting in general. The bottom line, our job is to match the best person to the role and hiring manager—we are the people who bring in the people!

If you think that sounds simple, we are here to tell you it’s anything but.

One of the major reasons for penning this article was to bring to light the amount of effort that goes into finding the perfect candidate. As you can see, it is a LOT. We do have some tricks up our sleeves but that’s the extent of it. No potions, genies, or wands are involved!

As always, happy hiring 🙂

In the Spotlight

Technical Screening Guide: All You Need To Know

Read this guide and learn how you can establish a less frustrating developer hiring workflow for both hiring teams and candidates.
Read More
Top Products

Explore HackerEarth’s top products for Hiring & Innovation

Discover powerful tools designed to streamline hiring, assess talent efficiently, and run seamless hackathons. Explore HackerEarth’s top products that help businesses innovate and grow.
Frame
Hackathons
Engage global developers through innovation
Arrow
Frame 2
Assessments
AI-driven advanced coding assessments
Arrow
Frame 3
FaceCode
Real-time code editor for effective coding interviews
Arrow
Frame 4
L & D
Tailored learning paths for continuous assessments
Arrow
Authors

Meet our Authors

Get to know the experts behind our content. From industry leaders to tech enthusiasts, our authors share valuable insights, trends, and expertise to keep you informed and inspired.
Ruehie Jaiya Karri
Kumari Trishya

Forecasting Tech Hiring Trends For 2023 With 6 Experts

2023 is here, and it is time to look ahead. Start planning your tech hiring needs as per your business requirements, revamp your recruiting processes, and come up with creative ways to land that perfect “unicorn candidate”!

Right? Well, jumping in blindly without heeding what this year holds for you can be a mistake. So before you put together your plans, ask yourselves this—What are the most important 2023 recruiting trends in tech hiring that you should be prepared for? What are the predictions that will shape this year?

We went around and posed three important questions to industry experts that were on our minds. And what they had to say certainly gave us some food for thought!

Before we dive in, allow me to introduce you to our expert panel of six, who had so much to say from personal experience!

Meet the Expert Panel

Radoslav Stankov

Radoslav Stankov has more than 20 years of experience working in tech. He is currently Head of Engineering at Product Hunt. Enjoys blogging, conference speaking, and solving problems.

Mike Cohen

Mike “Batman” Cohen is the Founder of Wayne Technologies, a Sourcing-as-a-Service company providing recruitment data and candidate outreach services to enhance the talent acquisition journey.

Pamela Ilieva

Pamela Ilieva is the Director of International Recruitment at Shortlister, a platform that connects employers to wellness, benefits, and HR tech vendors.

Brian H. Hough

Brian H. Hough is a Web2 and Web3 software engineer, AWS Community Builder, host of the Tech Stack Playbook™ YouTube channel/podcast, 5-time global hackathon winner, and tech content creator with 10k+ followers.

Steve O'Brien

Steve O'Brien is Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition at Syneos Health, leading a global team of top recruiters across 30+ countries in 24+ languages, with nearly 20 years of diverse recruitment experience.

Patricia (Sonja Sky) Gatlin

Patricia (Sonja Sky) Gatlin is a New York Times featured activist, DEI Specialist, EdTechie, and Founder of Newbies in Tech. With 10+ years in Higher Education and 3+ in Tech, she now works part-time as a Diversity Lead recruiting STEM professionals to teach gifted students.

Overview of the upcoming tech industry landscape in 2024

Continued emphasis on remote work and flexibility: As we move into 2024, the tech industry is expected to continue embracing remote work and flexible schedules. This trend, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has proven to be more than a temporary shift. Companies are finding that remote work can lead to increased productivity, a broader talent pool, and better work-life balance for employees. As a result, recruiting strategies will likely focus on leveraging remote work capabilities to attract top talent globally.

Rising demand for AI and Machine Learning Skills: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) continue to be at the forefront of technological advancement. In 2024, these technologies are expected to become even more integrated into various business processes, driving demand for professionals skilled in AI and ML. Companies will likely prioritize candidates with expertise in these areas, and there may be an increased emphasis on upskilling existing employees to meet this demand.

Increased focus on cybersecurity: With the digital transformation of businesses, cybersecurity remains a critical concern. The tech industry in 2024 is anticipated to see a surge in the need for cybersecurity professionals. Companies will be on the lookout for talent capable of protecting against evolving cyber threats and ensuring data privacy.

Growth in cloud computing and edge computing: Cloud computing continues to grow, but there is also an increasing shift towards edge computing – processing data closer to where it is generated. This shift will likely create new job opportunities and skill requirements, influencing recruiting trends in the tech industry.

Sustainable technology and green computing: The global emphasis on sustainability is pushing the tech industry towards green computing and environmentally friendly technologies. In 2024, companies may seek professionals who can contribute to sustainable technology initiatives, adding a new dimension to tech recruiting.

Emphasis on soft skills: While technical skills remain paramount, soft skills like adaptability, communication, and problem-solving are becoming increasingly important. Companies are recognizing the value of these skills in fostering innovation and teamwork, especially in a remote or hybrid work environment.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): There is an ongoing push towards more diverse and inclusive workplaces. In 2024, tech companies will likely continue to strengthen their DEI initiatives, affecting how they recruit and retain talent.

6 industry experts predict the 2023 recruiting trends

#1 We've seen many important moments in the tech industry this year...

Rado: In my opinion, a lot of those will carry over. I felt this was a preparation year for what was to come...

Mike: I wish I had the crystal ball for this, but I hope that when the market starts picking up again...

Pamela: Quiet quitting has been here way before 2022, and it is here to stay if organizations and companies...

Pamela Ilieva, Director of International Recruitment, Shortlister

Also, read: What Tech Companies Need To Know About Quiet Quitting


Brian: Yes, absolutely. In the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer report...

Steve: Quiet quitting in the tech space will naturally face pressure as there is a redistribution of tech talent...

Patricia: Quiet quitting has been around for generations—people doing the bare minimum because they are no longer incentivized...

Patricia Gatlin, DEI Specialist and Curator, #blacklinkedin

#2 What is your pro tip for HR professionals/engineering managers...

Rado: Engineering managers should be able to do "more-with-less" in the coming year.

Radoslav Stankov, Head of Engineering, Product Hunt

Mike: Well first, (shameless plug), be in touch with me/Wayne Technologies as a stop-gap for when the time comes.

Mike “Batman” Cohen, Founder of Wayne Technologies

It's in the decrease and increase where companies find the hardest challenges...

Pamela: Remain calm – no need to “add fuel to the fire”!...

Brian: We have to build during the bear markets to thrive in the bull markets.

Companies can create internal hackathons to exercise creativity...


Also, read: Internal Hackathons - Drive Innovation And Increase Engagement In Tech Teams


Steve: HR professionals facing a hiring freeze will do well to “upgrade” processes, talent, and technology aggressively during downtime...

Steve O'Brien, Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition at Syneos Health

Patricia: Talk to hiring managers in all your departments. Ask, what are the top 3-5 roles they are hiring for in the new year?...


Also, watch: 5 Recruiting Tips To Navigate The Hiring Freeze With Shalini Chandra, Senior TA, HackerEarth


#3 What top 3 skills would you like HR professionals/engineering managers to add to their repertoire in 2023 to deal with upcoming challenges?

6 industry experts predict the 2023 recruiting trends

Rado: Prioritization, team time, and environment management.

I think "prioritization" and "team time" management are obvious. But what do I mean by "environment management"?

A productive environment is one of the key ingredients for a productive team. Look at where your team wastes most time, which can be automated. For example, end-to-end writing tests take time because our tools are cumbersome and undocumented. So let's improve this.

Mike: Setting better metrics/KPIs, moving away from LinkedIn, and sharing more knowledge.

  1. Metrics/KPIs: Become better at setting measurable KPIs and accountable metrics. They are not the same thing—it's like the Square and Rectangle. One fits into the other but they're not the same. Hold people accountable to metrics, not KPIs. Make sure your metrics are aligned with company goals and values, and that they push employees toward excellence, not mediocrity.
  2. Freedom from LinkedIn: This is every year, and will probably continue to be. LinkedIn is a great database, but it is NOT the only way to find candidates, and oftentimes, not even the most effective/efficient. Explore other tools and methodologies!
  3. Join the conversation: I'd love to see new names of people presenting at conferences and webinars. And also, see new authors on the popular TA content websites. Everyone has things they can share—be a part of the community, not just a user of. Join FB groups, write and post articles, and comment on other people's posts with more than 'Great article'. It's a great community, but it's only great because of the people who contribute to it—be one of those people.

Pamela: Resilience, leveraging data, and self-awareness.

  1. Resilience: A “must-have” skill for the 21st century due to constant changes in the tech industry. Face and adapt to challenges. Overcome them and handle disappointments. Never give up. This will keep HR people alive in 2023.
  2. Data skills: Get some data analyst skills. The capacity to transfer numbers into data can help you be a better HR professional, prepared to improve the employee experience and show your leadership team how HR is leveraging data to drive business results.
  3. Self-awareness: Allows you to react better to upsetting situations and workplace challenges. It is a healthy skill to cultivate – especially as an HR professional.

Also, read: Diving Deep Into The World Of Data Science With Ashutosh Kumar


Brian: Agility, resourcefulness, and empathy.

  1. Agility: Allows professionals to move with market conditions. Always be as prepared as possible for any situation to come. Be flexible based on what does or does not happen.
  2. Resourcefulness: Allows professionals to do more with less. It also helps them focus on how to amplify, lift, and empower the current teams to be the best they can be.
  3. Empathy: Allows professionals to take a more proactive approach to listening and understanding where all workers are coming from. Amid stressful situations, companies need empathetic team members and leaders alike who can meet each other wherever they are and be a support.

Steve: Negotiation, data management, and talent development.

  1. Negotiation: Wage transparency laws will fundamentally change the compensation conversation. We must ensure we are still discussing compensation early in the process. And not just “assume” everyone’s on the same page because “the range is published”.
  2. Data management and predictive analytics: Looking at your organization's talent needs as a casserole of indistinguishable components and demands will not be good enough. We must upgrade the accuracy and consistency of our data and the predictions we can make from it.

Also, read: The Role of Talent Intelligence in Optimizing Recruitment


  1. Talent development: We’ve been exploring the interplay between TA and TM for years. Now is the time to integrate your internal and external talent marketplaces. To provide career experiences to people within your organization and not just those joining your organization.

Patricia: Technology, research, and relationship building.

  1. Technology: Get better at understanding the technology that’s out there. To help you speed up the process, track candidate experience, but also eliminate bias. Metrics are becoming big in HR.
  2. Research: Honestly, read more books. Many great thought leaders put out content about the “future of work”, understanding “Gen Z”, or “quiet quitting.” Dedicate work hours to understanding your ever-changing field.
  3. Relationship Building: Especially in your immediate communities. Most people don’t know who you are or what exactly it is that you do. Build your personal brand and what you are doing at your company to impact those closest to you. Create a referral funnel to get a pipeline going. When people want a job you and your company ought to be top of mind. Also, tell the stories of the people that work there.

7 Tech Recruiting Trends To Watch Out For In 2024

The last couple of years transformed how the world works and the tech industry is no exception. Remote work, a candidate-driven market, and automation are some of the tech recruiting trends born out of the pandemic.

While accepting the new reality and adapting to it is the first step, keeping up with continuously changing hiring trends in technology is the bigger challenge right now.

What does 2024 hold for recruiters across the globe? What hiring practices would work best in this post-pandemic world? How do you stay on top of the changes in this industry?

The answers to these questions will paint a clearer picture of how to set up for success while recruiting tech talent this year.

7 tech recruiting trends for 2024

6 Tech Recruiting Trends To Watch Out For In 2022

Recruiters, we’ve got you covered. Here are the tech recruiting trends that will change the way you build tech teams in 2024.

Trend #1—Leverage data-driven recruiting

Data-driven recruiting strategies are the answer to effective talent sourcing and a streamlined hiring process.

Talent acquisition leaders need to use real-time analytics like pipeline growth metrics, offer acceptance rates, quality and cost of new hires, and candidate feedback scores to reduce manual work, improve processes, and hire the best talent.

The key to capitalizing on talent market trends in 2024 is data. It enables you to analyze what’s working and what needs refinement, leaving room for experimentation.

Trend #2—Have impactful employer branding

98% of recruiters believe promoting company culture helps sourcing efforts as seen in our 2021 State Of Developer Recruitment report.

Having a strong employer brand that supports a clear Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is crucial to influencing a candidate’s decision to work with your company. Perks like upskilling opportunities, remote work, and flexible hours are top EVPs that attract qualified candidates.

A clear EVP builds a culture of balance, mental health awareness, and flexibility—strengthening your employer brand with candidate-first policies.

Trend #3—Focus on candidate-driven market

The pandemic drastically increased the skills gap, making tech recruitment more challenging. With the severe shortage of tech talent, candidates now hold more power and can afford to be selective.

Competitive pay is no longer enough. Use data to understand what candidates want—work-life balance, remote options, learning opportunities—and adapt accordingly.

Recruiters need to think creatively to attract and retain top talent.


Recommended read: What NOT To Do When Recruiting Fresh Talent


Trend #4—Have a diversity and inclusion oriented company culture

Diversity and inclusion have become central to modern recruitment. While urgent hiring can delay D&I efforts, long-term success depends on inclusive teams. Our survey shows that 25.6% of HR professionals believe a diverse leadership team helps build stronger pipelines and reduces bias.

McKinsey’s Diversity Wins report confirms this: top-quartile gender-diverse companies see 25% higher profitability, and ethnically diverse teams show 36% higher returns.

It's refreshing to see the importance of an inclusive culture increasing across all job-seeking communities, especially in tech. This reiterates that D&I is a must-have, not just a good-to-have.

—Swetha Harikrishnan, Sr. HR Director, HackerEarth

Recommended read: Diversity And Inclusion in 2022 - 5 Essential Rules To Follow


Trend #5—Embed automation and AI into your recruitment systems

With the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, automation is being adopted across every business function—including recruiting.

Manual communication with large candidate pools is inefficient. In 2024, recruitment automation and AI-powered platforms will automate candidate nurturing and communication, providing a more personalized experience while saving time.

Trend #6—Conduct remote interviews

With 32.5% of companies planning to stay remote, remote interviewing is here to stay.

Remote interviews expand access to global talent, reduce overhead costs, and increase flexibility—making the hiring process more efficient for both recruiters and candidates.

Trend #7—Be proactive in candidate engagement

Delayed responses or lack of updates can frustrate candidates and impact your brand. Proactive communication and engagement with both active and passive candidates are key to successful recruiting.

As recruitment evolves, proactive candidate engagement will become central to attracting and retaining talent. In 2023 and beyond, companies must engage both active and passive candidates through innovative strategies and technologies like chatbots and AI-powered systems. Building pipelines and nurturing relationships will enhance employer branding and ensure long-term hiring success.

—Narayani Gurunathan, CEO, PlaceNet Consultants

Recruiting Tech Talent Just Got Easier With HackerEarth

Recruiting qualified tech talent is tough—but we’re here to help. HackerEarth for Enterprises offers an all-in-one suite that simplifies sourcing, assessing, and interviewing developers.

Our tech recruiting platform enables you to:

  • Tap into a 6 million-strong developer community
  • Host custom hackathons to engage talent and boost your employer brand
  • Create online assessments to evaluate 80+ tech skills
  • Use dev-friendly IDEs and proctoring for reliable evaluations
  • Benchmark candidates against a global community
  • Conduct live coding interviews with FaceCode, our collaborative coding interview tool
  • Guide upskilling journeys via our Learning and Development platform
  • Integrate seamlessly with all leading ATS systems
  • Access 24/7 support with a 95% satisfaction score

Recommended read: The A-Zs Of Tech Recruiting - A Guide


Staying ahead of tech recruiting trends, improving hiring processes, and adapting to change is the way forward in 2024. Take note of the tips in this article and use them to build a future-ready hiring strategy.

Ready to streamline your tech recruiting? Try HackerEarth for Enterprises today.

Code In Progress - The Life And Times Of Developers In 2021

Developers. Are they as mysterious as everyone makes them out to be? Is coding the only thing they do all day? Good coders work around the clock, right?

While developers are some of the most coveted talent out there, they also have the most myths being circulated. Most of us forget that developers too are just like us. And no, they do not code all day long.

We wanted to bust a lot of these myths and shed light on how the programming world looks through a developer’s lens in 2021—especially in the wake of a global pandemic. This year’s edition of the annual HackerEarth Developer Survey is packed with developers’ wants and needs when choosing jobs, major gripes with the WFH scenario, and the latest market trends to watch out for, among others.

Our 2021 report is bigger and better, with responses from 25,431 developers across 171 countries. Let’s find out what makes a developer tick, shall we?

Developer Survey

“Good coders work around the clock.” No, they don’t.

Busting the myth that developers spend the better part of their day coding, 52% of student developers said that they prefer to code for a maximum of 3 hours per day.

When not coding, devs swear by their walks as a way to unwind. When we asked devs the same question last year, they said they liked to indulge in indoor games like foosball. In 2021, going for walks has become the most popular method of de-stressing. We’re chalking it up to working from home and not having a chance to stretch their legs.

Staying ahead of the skills game

Following the same trend as last year, students (39%) and working professionals (44%) voted for Go as one of the most popular programming languages that they want to learn. The other programming languages that devs are interested in learning are Rust, Kotlin, and Erlang.

Programming languages that students are most skilled at are HTML/CSS, C++, and Python. Senior developers are more comfortable working with HTML/CSS, SQL, and Java.

How happy are developers

Employees from middle market organizations had the highest 'happiness index' of 7.2. Experienced developers who work at enterprises are marginally less happy in comparison to people who work at smaller companies.

However, happiness is not a binding factor for where developers work. Despite scoring the least on the happiness scale, working professionals would still like to work at enterprise companies and growth-stage startups.

What works when looking for work

Student devs (63%), who are just starting in the tech world, said a good career growth curve is a must-have. Working professionals can be wooed by offers of a good career path (69%) and compensation (68%).

One trend that has changed since last year is that at least 50% of students and working professionals alike care a lot more about ESOPs and positive Glassdoor reviews now than they did in 2020.


To know more about what developers want, download your copy of the report now!


We went a step further and organized an event with our CEO, Sachin Gupta, Radoslav Stankov, Head of Engineering at Product Hunt, and Steve O’Brien, President of Talent Solutions at Job.com to further dissect the findings of our survey.

Tips straight from the horse’s mouth

Steve highlighted how the information collated from the developer survey affects the recruiting community and how they can leverage this data to hire better and faster.

  • The insight where developer happiness is correlated to work hours didn’t find a significant difference between the cohorts. Devs working for less than 40 hours seemed marginally happier than those that clocked in more than 60 hours a week.
“This is an interesting data point, which shows that devs are passionate about what they do. You can increase their workload by 50% and still not affect their happiness. From a work perspective, as a recruiter, you have to get your hiring manager to understand that while devs never say no to more work, HMs shouldn’t overload the devs. Devs are difficult to source and burnout only leads to killing your talent pool, which is something that you do not want,” says Steve.
  • Roughly 45% of both student and professional developers learned how to code in college was another insight that was open to interpretation.
“Let’s look at it differently. Less than half of the surveyed developers learned how to code in college. There’s a major segment of the market today that is not necessarily following the ‘college degree to getting a job’ path. Developers are beginning to look at their skillsets differently and using various platforms to upskill themselves. Development is not about pedigree, it’s more about the potential to demonstrate skills. This is an interesting shift in the way we approach testing and evaluating devs in 2021.”

Rado contextualized the data from the survey to see what it means for the developer community and what trends to watch out for in 2021.

  • Node.js and AngularJS are the most popular frameworks among students and professionals.
“I was surprised by how many young students wanted to learn AngularJS, given that it’s more of an enterprise framework. Another thing that stood out to me was that the younger generation wants to learn technologies that are not necessarily cool like ExtJS (35%). This is good because people are picking technologies that they enjoy working with instead of just going along with what everyone else is doing. This also builds a more diverse technology pool.” — Rado
  • 22% of devs say ‘Zoom Fatigue’ is real and directly affects productivity.
“Especially for younger people who still haven’t figured out a routine to develop their skills, there is something I’d like you to try out. Start using noise-canceling headphones. They help keep distractions to a minimum. I find clutter-free working spaces to be an interesting concept as well.”

The last year and a half have been a doozy for developers everywhere, with a lot of things changing, and some things staying the same. With our developer survey, we wanted to shine the spotlight on skill-based hiring and market trends in 2021—plus highlight the fact that developers too have their gripes and happy hours.

Uncover many more developer trends for 2021 with Steve and Rado below:

View all

Best Pre-Employment Assessments: Optimizing Your Hiring Process for 2024

In today's competitive talent market, attracting and retaining top performers is crucial for any organization's success. However, traditional hiring methods like relying solely on resumes and interviews may not always provide a comprehensive picture of a candidate's skills and potential. This is where pre-employment assessments come into play.

What is Pre-Employement Assessment?

Pre-employment assessments are standardized tests and evaluations administered to candidates before they are hired. These assessments can help you objectively measure a candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and personality traits, allowing you to make data-driven hiring decisions.

By exploring and evaluating the best pre-employment assessment tools and tests available, you can:

  • Improve the accuracy and efficiency of your hiring process.
  • Identify top talent with the right skills and cultural fit.
  • Reduce the risk of bad hires.
  • Enhance the candidate experience by providing a clear and objective evaluation process.

This guide will provide you with valuable insights into the different types of pre-employment assessments available and highlight some of the best tools, to help you optimize your hiring process for 2024.

Why pre-employment assessments are key in hiring

While resumes and interviews offer valuable insights, they can be subjective and susceptible to bias. Pre-employment assessments provide a standardized and objective way to evaluate candidates, offering several key benefits:

  • Improved decision-making:

    By measuring specific skills and knowledge, assessments help you identify candidates who possess the qualifications necessary for the job.

  • Reduced bias:

    Standardized assessments mitigate the risks of unconscious bias that can creep into traditional interview processes.

  • Increased efficiency:

    Assessments can streamline the initial screening process, allowing you to focus on the most promising candidates.

  • Enhanced candidate experience:

    When used effectively, assessments can provide candidates with a clear understanding of the required skills and a fair chance to showcase their abilities.

Types of pre-employment assessments

There are various types of pre-employment assessments available, each catering to different needs and objectives. Here's an overview of some common types:

1. Skill Assessments:

  • Technical Skills: These assessments evaluate specific technical skills and knowledge relevant to the job role, such as programming languages, software proficiency, or industry-specific expertise. HackerEarth offers a wide range of validated technical skill assessments covering various programming languages, frameworks, and technologies.
  • Soft Skills: These employment assessments measure non-technical skills like communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and critical thinking, crucial for success in any role.

2. Personality Assessments:

These employment assessments can provide insights into a candidate's personality traits, work style, and cultural fit within your organization.

3. Cognitive Ability Tests:

These tests measure a candidate's general mental abilities, such as reasoning, problem-solving, and learning potential.

4. Integrity Assessments:

These employment assessments aim to identify potential risks associated with a candidate's honesty, work ethic, and compliance with company policies.

By understanding the different types of assessments and their applications, you can choose the ones that best align with your specific hiring needs and ensure you hire the most qualified and suitable candidates for your organization.

Leading employment assessment tools and tests in 2024

Choosing the right pre-employment assessment tool depends on your specific needs and budget. Here's a curated list of some of the top pre-employment assessment tools and tests available in 2024, with brief overviews:

  • HackerEarth:

    A comprehensive platform offering a wide range of validated skill assessments in various programming languages, frameworks, and technologies. It also allows for the creation of custom assessments and integrates seamlessly with various recruitment platforms.

  • SHL:

    Provides a broad selection of assessments, including skill tests, personality assessments, and cognitive ability tests. They offer customizable solutions and cater to various industries.

  • Pymetrics:

    Utilizes gamified assessments to evaluate cognitive skills, personality traits, and cultural fit. They offer a data-driven approach and emphasize candidate experience.

  • Wonderlic:

    Offers a variety of assessments, including the Wonderlic Personnel Test, which measures general cognitive ability. They also provide aptitude and personality assessments.

  • Harver:

    An assessment platform focusing on candidate experience with video interviews, gamified assessments, and skills tests. They offer pre-built assessments and customization options.

Remember: This list is not exhaustive, and further research is crucial to identify the tool that aligns best with your specific needs and budget. Consider factors like the types of assessments offered, pricing models, integrations with your existing HR systems, and user experience when making your decision.

Choosing the right pre-employment assessment tool

Instead of full individual tool reviews, consider focusing on 2–3 key platforms. For each platform, explore:

  • Target audience: Who are their assessments best suited for (e.g., technical roles, specific industries)?
  • Types of assessments offered: Briefly list the available assessment categories (e.g., technical skills, soft skills, personality).
  • Key features: Highlight unique functionalities like gamification, custom assessment creation, or seamless integrations.
  • Effectiveness: Briefly mention the platform's approach to assessment validation and reliability.
  • User experience: Consider including user reviews or ratings where available.

Comparative analysis of assessment options

Instead of a comprehensive comparison, consider focusing on specific use cases:

  • Technical skills assessment:

    Compare HackerEarth and Wonderlic based on their technical skill assessment options, focusing on the variety of languages/technologies covered and assessment formats.

  • Soft skills and personality assessment:

    Compare SHL and Pymetrics based on their approaches to evaluating soft skills and personality traits, highlighting any unique features like gamification or data-driven insights.

  • Candidate experience:

    Compare Harver and Wonderlic based on their focus on candidate experience, mentioning features like video interviews or gamified assessments.

Additional tips:

  • Encourage readers to visit the platforms' official websites for detailed features and pricing information.
  • Include links to reputable third-party review sites where users share their experiences with various tools.

Best practices for using pre-employment assessment tools

Integrating pre-employment assessments effectively requires careful planning and execution. Here are some best practices to follow:

  • Define your assessment goals:

    Clearly identify what you aim to achieve with assessments. Are you targeting specific skills, personality traits, or cultural fit?

  • Choose the right assessments:

    Select tools that align with your defined goals and the specific requirements of the open position.

  • Set clear expectations:

    Communicate the purpose and format of the assessments to candidates in advance, ensuring transparency and building trust.

  • Integrate seamlessly:

    Ensure your chosen assessment tool integrates smoothly with your existing HR systems and recruitment workflow.

  • Train your team:

    Equip your hiring managers and HR team with the knowledge and skills to interpret assessment results effectively.

Interpreting assessment results accurately

Assessment results offer valuable data points, but interpreting them accurately is crucial for making informed hiring decisions. Here are some key considerations:

  • Use results as one data point:

    Consider assessment results alongside other information, such as resumes, interviews, and references, for a holistic view of the candidate.

  • Understand score limitations:

    Don't solely rely on raw scores. Understand the assessment's validity and reliability and the potential for cultural bias or individual test anxiety.

  • Look for patterns and trends:

    Analyze results across different assessments and identify consistent patterns that align with your desired candidate profile.

  • Focus on potential, not guarantees:

    Assessments indicate potential, not guarantees of success. Use them alongside other evaluation methods to make well-rounded hiring decisions.

Choosing the right pre-employment assessment tools

Selecting the most suitable pre-employment assessment tool requires careful consideration of your organization's specific needs. Here are some key factors to guide your decision:

  • Industry and role requirements:

    Different industries and roles demand varying skill sets and qualities. Choose assessments that target the specific skills and knowledge relevant to your open positions.

  • Company culture and values:

    Align your assessments with your company culture and values. For example, if collaboration is crucial, look for assessments that evaluate teamwork and communication skills.

  • Candidate experience:

    Prioritize tools that provide a positive and smooth experience for candidates. This can enhance your employer brand and attract top talent.

Budget and accessibility considerations

Budget and accessibility are essential factors when choosing pre-employment assessments:

  • Budget:

    Assessment tools come with varying pricing models (subscriptions, pay-per-use, etc.). Choose a tool that aligns with your budget and offers the functionalities you need.

  • Accessibility:

    Ensure the chosen assessment is accessible to all candidates, considering factors like language options, disability accommodations, and internet access requirements.

Additional Tips:

  • Free trials and demos: Utilize free trials or demos offered by assessment platforms to experience their functionalities firsthand.
  • Consult with HR professionals: Seek guidance from HR professionals or recruitment specialists with expertise in pre-employment assessments.
  • Read user reviews and comparisons: Gain insights from other employers who use various assessment tools.

By carefully considering these factors, you can select the pre-employment assessment tool that best aligns with your organizational needs, budget, and commitment to an inclusive hiring process.

Remember, pre-employment assessments are valuable tools, but they should not be the sole factor in your hiring decisions. Use them alongside other evaluation methods and prioritize building a fair and inclusive hiring process that attracts and retains top talent.

Future trends in pre-employment assessments

The pre-employment assessment landscape is constantly evolving, with innovative technologies and practices emerging. Here are some potential future trends to watch:

  • Artificial intelligence (AI):

    AI-powered assessments can analyze candidate responses, written work, and even resumes, using natural language processing to extract relevant insights and identify potential candidates.

  • Adaptive testing:

    These assessments adjust the difficulty level of questions based on the candidate's performance, providing a more efficient and personalized evaluation.

  • Micro-assessments:

    Short, focused assessments delivered through mobile devices can assess specific skills or knowledge on-the-go, streamlining the screening process.

  • Gamification:

    Engaging and interactive game-based elements can make the assessment experience more engaging and assess skills in a realistic and dynamic way.

Conclusion

Pre-employment assessments, when used thoughtfully and ethically, can be a powerful tool to optimize your hiring process, identify top talent, and build a successful workforce for your organization. By understanding the different types of assessments available, exploring top-rated tools like HackerEarth, and staying informed about emerging trends, you can make informed decisions that enhance your ability to attract, evaluate, and hire the best candidates for the future.

Tech Layoffs: What To Expect In 2024

Layoffs in the IT industry are becoming more widespread as companies fight to remain competitive in a fast-changing market; many turn to layoffs as a cost-cutting measure. Last year, 1,000 companies including big tech giants and startups, laid off over two lakhs of employees. But first, what are layoffs in the tech business, and how do they impact the industry?

Tech layoffs are the termination of employment for some employees by a technology company. It might happen for various reasons, including financial challenges, market conditions, firm reorganization, or the after-effects of a pandemic. While layoffs are not unique to the IT industry, they are becoming more common as companies look for methods to cut costs while remaining competitive.

The consequences of layoffs in technology may be catastrophic for employees who lose their jobs and the firms forced to make these difficult decisions. Layoffs can result in the loss of skill and expertise and a drop in employee morale and productivity. However, they may be required for businesses to stay afloat in a fast-changing market.

This article will examine the reasons for layoffs in the technology industry, their influence on the industry, and what may be done to reduce their negative impacts. We will also look at the various methods for tracking tech layoffs.

What are tech layoffs?

The term "tech layoff" describes the termination of employees by an organization in the technology industry. A company might do this as part of a restructuring during hard economic times.

In recent times, the tech industry has witnessed a wave of significant layoffs, affecting some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta (formerly Facebook), Apple, Cisco, SAP, and Sony. These layoffs are a reflection of the broader economic challenges and market adjustments facing the sector, including factors like slowing revenue growth, global economic uncertainties, and the need to streamline operations for efficiency.

Each of these tech giants has announced job cuts for various reasons, though common themes include restructuring efforts to stay competitive and agile, responding to over-hiring during the pandemic when demand for tech services surged, and preparing for a potentially tough economic climate ahead. Despite their dominant positions in the market, these companies are not immune to the economic cycles and technological shifts that influence operational and strategic decisions, including workforce adjustments.

This trend of layoffs in the tech industry underscores the volatile nature of the tech sector, which is often at the mercy of rapid changes in technology, consumer preferences, and the global economy. It also highlights the importance of adaptability and resilience for companies and employees alike in navigating the uncertainties of the tech landscape.

Causes for layoffs in the tech industry

Why are tech employees suffering so much?

Yes, the market is always uncertain, but why resort to tech layoffs?

Various factors cause tech layoffs, including company strategy changes, market shifts, or financial difficulties. Companies may lay off employees if they need help to generate revenue, shift their focus to new products or services, or automate certain jobs.

In addition, some common reasons could be:

Financial struggles

Currently, the state of the global market is uncertain due to economic recession, ongoing war, and other related phenomena. If a company is experiencing financial difficulties, only sticking to pay cuts may not be helpful—it may need to reduce its workforce to cut costs.


Also, read: 6 Steps To Create A Detailed Recruiting Budget (Template Included)


Changes in demand

The tech industry is constantly evolving, and companies would have to adjust their workforce to meet changing market conditions. For instance, companies are adopting remote work culture, which surely affects on-premises activity, and companies could do away with some number of tech employees at the backend.

Restructuring

Companies may also lay off employees as part of a greater restructuring effort, such as spinning off a division or consolidating operations.

Automation

With the advancement in technology and automation, some jobs previously done by human labor may be replaced by machines, resulting in layoffs.

Mergers and acquisitions

When two companies merge, there is often overlap in their operations, leading to layoffs as the new company looks to streamline its workforce.

But it's worth noting that layoffs are not exclusive to the tech industry and can happen in any industry due to uncertainty in the market.

Will layoffs increase in 2024?

It is challenging to estimate the rise or fall of layoffs. The overall state of the economy, the health of certain industries, and the performance of individual companies will play a role in deciding the degree of layoffs in any given year.

But it is also seen that, in the first 15 days of this year, 91 organizations laid off over 24,000 tech workers, and over 1,000 corporations cut down more than 150,000 workers in 2022, according to an Economic Times article.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge economic slowdown and forced several businesses to downsize their employees. However, some businesses rehired or expanded their personnel when the world began to recover.

So, given the current level of economic uncertainty, predicting how the situation will unfold is difficult.


Also, read: 4 Images That Show What Developers Think Of Layoffs In Tech


What types of companies are prone to tech layoffs?

2023 Round Up Of Layoffs In Big Tech

Tech layoffs can occur in organizations of all sizes and various areas.

Following are some examples of companies that have experienced tech layoffs in the past:

Large tech firms

Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Twitter, Better.com, Alibaba, and HP have all experienced layoffs in recent years as part of restructuring initiatives or cost-cutting measures.

Market scenarios are still being determined after Elon Musk's decision to lay off employees. Along with tech giants, some smaller companies and startups have also been affected by layoffs.

Startups

Because they frequently work with limited resources, startups may be forced to lay off staff if they cannot get further funding or need to pivot due to market downfall.

Small and medium-sized businesses

Small and medium-sized businesses face layoffs due to high competition or if the products/services they offer are no longer in demand.

Companies in certain industries

Some sectors of the technological industry, such as the semiconductor industry or automotive industry, may be more prone to layoffs than others.

Companies that lean on government funding

Companies that rely significantly on government contracts may face layoffs if the government cuts technology spending or contracts are not renewed.

How to track tech layoffs?

You can’t stop tech company layoffs, but you should be keeping track of them. We, HR professionals and recruiters, can also lend a helping hand in these tough times by circulating “layoff lists” across social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter to help people land jobs quicker. Firefish Software put together a master list of sources to find fresh talent during the layoff period.

Because not all layoffs are publicly disclosed, tracking tech industry layoffs can be challenging, and some may go undetected. There are several ways to keep track of tech industry layoffs:

Use tech layoffs tracker

Layoff trackers like thelayoff.com and layoffs.fyi provide up-to-date information on layoffs.

In addition, they aid in identifying trends in layoffs within the tech industry. It can reveal which industries are seeing the most layoffs and which companies are the most affected.

Companies can use layoff trackers as an early warning system and compare their performance to that of other companies in their field.

News articles

Because many news sites cover tech layoffs as they happen, keeping a watch on technology sector stories can provide insight into which organizations are laying off employees and how many individuals have been affected.

Social media

Organizations and employees frequently publish information about layoffs in tech on social media platforms; thus, monitoring companies' social media accounts or following key hashtags can provide real-time updates regarding layoffs.

Online forums and communities

There are online forums and communities dedicated to discussing tech industry news, and they can be an excellent source of layoff information.

Government reports

Government agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publish data on layoffs and unemployment, which can provide a more comprehensive picture of the technology industry's status.

How do companies reduce tech layoffs?

Layoffs in tech are hard – for the employee who is losing their job, the recruiter or HR professional who is tasked with informing them, and the company itself. So, how can we aim to avoid layoffs? Here are some ways to minimize resorting to letting people go:

Salary reductions

Instead of laying off employees, businesses can lower the salaries or wages of all employees. It can be accomplished by instituting compensation cuts or salary freezes.

Implementing a hiring freeze

Businesses can halt employing new personnel to cut costs. It can be a short-term solution until the company's financial situation improves.


Also, read: What Recruiters Can Focus On During A Tech Hiring Freeze


Non-essential expense reduction

Businesses might search for ways to cut or remove non-essential expenses such as travel, training, and office expenses.

Reducing working hours

Companies can reduce employee working hours to save money, such as implementing a four-day workweek or a shorter workday.

These options may not always be viable and may have their problems, but before laying off, a company owes it to its people to consider every other alternative, and formulate the best solution.

Tech layoffs to bleed into this year

While we do not know whether this trend will continue or subside during 2023, we do know one thing. We have to be prepared for a wave of layoffs that is still yet to hit. As of last month, Layoffs.fyi had already tracked 170+ companies conducting 55,970 layoffs in 2023.

So recruiters, let’s join arms, distribute those layoff lists like there’s no tomorrow, and help all those in need of a job! :)

What is Headhunting In Recruitment?: Types & How Does It Work?

In today’s fast-paced world, recruiting talent has become increasingly complicated. Technological advancements, high workforce expectations and a highly competitive market have pushed recruitment agencies to adopt innovative strategies for recruiting various types of talent. This article aims to explore one such recruitment strategy – headhunting.

What is Headhunting in recruitment?

In headhunting, companies or recruitment agencies identify, engage and hire highly skilled professionals to fill top positions in the respective companies. It is different from the traditional process in which candidates looking for job opportunities approach companies or recruitment agencies. In headhunting, executive headhunters, as recruiters are referred to, approach prospective candidates with the hiring company’s requirements and wait for them to respond. Executive headhunters generally look for passive candidates, those who work at crucial positions and are not on the lookout for new work opportunities. Besides, executive headhunters focus on filling critical, senior-level positions indispensable to companies. Depending on the nature of the operation, headhunting has three types. They are described later in this article. Before we move on to understand the types of headhunting, here is how the traditional recruitment process and headhunting are different.

How do headhunting and traditional recruitment differ from each other?

Headhunting is a type of recruitment process in which top-level managers and executives in similar positions are hired. Since these professionals are not on the lookout for jobs, headhunters have to thoroughly understand the hiring companies’ requirements and study the work profiles of potential candidates before creating a list.

In the traditional approach, there is a long list of candidates applying for jobs online and offline. Candidates approach recruiters for jobs. Apart from this primary difference, there are other factors that define the difference between these two schools of recruitment.

AspectHeadhuntingTraditional RecruitmentCandidate TypePrimarily passive candidateActive job seekersApproachFocused on specific high-level rolesBroader; includes various levelsScopeproactive outreachReactive: candidates applyCostGenerally more expensive due to expertise requiredTypically lower costsControlManaged by headhuntersManaged internally by HR teams

All the above parameters will help you to understand how headhunting differs from traditional recruitment methods, better.

Types of headhunting in recruitment

Direct headhunting: In direct recruitment, hiring teams reach out to potential candidates through personal communication. Companies conduct direct headhunting in-house, without outsourcing the process to hiring recruitment agencies. Very few businesses conduct this type of recruitment for top jobs as it involves extensive screening across networks outside the company’s expanse.

Indirect headhunting: This method involves recruiters getting in touch with their prospective candidates through indirect modes of communication such as email and phone calls. Indirect headhunting is less intrusive and allows candidates to respond at their convenience.Third-party recruitment: Companies approach external recruitment agencies or executive headhunters to recruit highly skilled professionals for top positions. This method often leverages the company’s extensive contact network and expertise in niche industries.

How does headhunting work?

Finding highly skilled professionals to fill critical positions can be tricky if there is no system for it. Expert executive headhunters employ recruitment software to conduct headhunting efficiently as it facilitates a seamless recruitment process for executive headhunters. Most software is AI-powered and expedites processes like candidate sourcing, interactions with prospective professionals and upkeep of communication history. This makes the process of executive search in recruitment a little bit easier. Apart from using software to recruit executives, here are the various stages of finding high-calibre executives through headhunting.

Identifying the role

Once there is a vacancy for a top job, one of the top executives like a CEO, director or the head of the company, reach out to the concerned personnel with their requirements. Depending on how large a company is, they may choose to headhunt with the help of an external recruiting agency or conduct it in-house. Generally, the task is assigned to external recruitment agencies specializing in headhunting. Executive headhunters possess a database of highly qualified professionals who work in crucial positions in some of the best companies. This makes them the top choice of conglomerates looking to hire some of the best talents in the industry.

Defining the job

Once an executive headhunter or a recruiting agency is finalized, companies conduct meetings to discuss the nature of the role, how the company works, the management hierarchy among other important aspects of the job. Headhunters are expected to understand these points thoroughly and establish a clear understanding of their expectations and goals.

Candidate identification and sourcing

Headhunters analyse and understand the requirements of their clients and begin creating a pool of suitable candidates from their database. The professionals are shortlisted after conducting extensive research of job profiles, number of years of industry experience, professional networks and online platforms.

Approaching candidates

Once the potential candidates have been identified and shortlisted, headhunters move on to get in touch with them discreetly through various communication channels. As such candidates are already working at top level positions at other companies, executive headhunters have to be low-key while doing so.

Assessment and Evaluation

In this next step, extensive screening and evaluation of candidates is conducted to determine their suitability for the advertised position.

Interviews and negotiations

Compensation is a major topic of discussion among recruiters and prospective candidates. A lot of deliberation and negotiation goes on between the hiring organization and the selected executives which is facilitated by the headhunters.

Finalizing the hire

Things come to a close once the suitable candidates accept the job offer. On accepting the offer letter, headhunters help finalize the hiring process to ensure a smooth transition.

The steps listed above form the blueprint for a typical headhunting process. Headhunting has been crucial in helping companies hire the right people for crucial positions that come with great responsibility. However, all systems have a set of challenges no matter how perfect their working algorithm is. Here are a few challenges that talent acquisition agencies face while headhunting.

Common challenges in headhunting

Despite its advantages, headhunting also presents certain challenges:

Cost Implications: Engaging headhunters can be more expensive than traditional recruitment methods due to their specialized skills and services.

Time-Consuming Process: While headhunting can be efficient, finding the right candidate for senior positions may still take time due to thorough evaluation processes.

Market Competition: The competition for top talent is fierce; organizations must present compelling offers to attract passive candidates away from their current roles.

Although the above mentioned factors can pose challenges in the headhunting process, there are more upsides than there are downsides to it. Here is how headhunting has helped revolutionize the recruitment of high-profile candidates.

Advantages of Headhunting

Headhunting offers several advantages over traditional recruitment methods:

Access to Passive Candidates: By targeting individuals who are not actively seeking new employment, organisations can access a broader pool of highly skilled professionals.

Confidentiality: The discreet nature of headhunting protects both candidates’ current employment situations and the hiring organisation’s strategic interests.

Customized Search: Headhunters tailor their search based on the specific needs of the organization, ensuring a better fit between candidates and company culture.

Industry Expertise: Many headhunters specialise in particular sectors, providing valuable insights into market dynamics and candidate qualifications.

Conclusion

Although headhunting can be costly and time-consuming, it is one of the most effective ways of finding good candidates for top jobs. Executive headhunters face several challenges maintaining the g discreetness while getting in touch with prospective clients. As organizations navigate increasingly competitive markets, understanding the nuances of headhunting becomes vital for effective recruitment strategies. To keep up with the technological advancements, it is better to optimise your hiring process by employing online recruitment software like HackerEarth, which enables companies to conduct multiple interviews and evaluation tests online, thus improving candidate experience. By collaborating with skilled headhunters who possess industry expertise and insights into market trends, companies can enhance their chances of securing high-caliber professionals who drive success in their respective fields.

View all