Hiring for Scale13 hacks in 30 minutes

Leela Srinivasan, CMO

Newsflash: hiring continues to be hard...

YoY Change in Talent Acquisition Spending Time to Fill (in Days)

Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2015 Talent Acquisition Factbook@leelasrin @lever

… and we are still in a candidate-driven market

@leelasrin @lever Source: MRINetwork, May 2016

Why I’m here talking about hiring

Lever exists because our co-founders recognized that hiring deserves better tools

I joined Lever because I am obsessed with hiring

@leelasrin @lever

Blow up your job descriptions.

HACK #1:

@leelasrin @lever

Most job descriptions are a combo of depressing and ridiculous.

Source: Twitter @_vicksolo via Buzzfeed @leelasrin @lever

What will your new hire:

- Own?

- Teach?

- Learn?

- Improve?

What will they actually do?

@leelasrin @lever

Interview like you mean it.

HACK #2:

@leelasrin @lever

Instead of this... … try this

Depressing, ridiculous job description

Inspiring role profile with sufficient context

Specific, complementary areas to delve into

Little to no guidance to every interviewer

Evaluating whether their skills and experience raise the bar

@leelasrin @lever

Deciding if you’d enjoy having a beer with a candidate

Use technology to create a more consistent process (e.g., Lever interview kits)

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Get your candidates comfortable.

HACK #3:

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Interviewing should not feel like this.

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Simulate the work environment

“Put your candidates in the position that is most similar to their actual working environment: at home and with a computer, not in front of a white board doing coding challenges.”

- Chris Shaw, Director of Talent at Meteor

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Source beyond the obvious places.

HACK #4:

@leelasrin @lever

Hiring has changed quite a bit.

@leelasrin @lever

10 talent sources we like

1. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter

2. AngelList - startup hires

3. GitHub, StackOverflow - developers

4. Dribbble - designers

5. Sourcing.io - engineers

6. Xing - select European talent

7. Conference speaker lists - all

8. App stores

9. Quora

10. Personal blogs

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Don’t give up on top prospects so easily.

HACK #5:

@leelasrin @lever

Build relationships, don’t push jobs - and adjust approach based on (non-)responses

Scenario 1: no response to email

Scenario 2: timing is off

● Try them again (politely)

● And again (politely)

● If you prod politely, you may guilt them into a response

● You may also get a referral

● They decline: Find out why - then follow up in the logical timeframe (e.g., post-bonus or vesting cliff)

● You fill the position: Tag the candidate so you can find them 3, 6, 9 months from now when the next role opens up

@leelasrin @lever

Make LinkedIn your employer brand machine.

HACK #6:

@leelasrin @lever

Make LinkedIn your employer brand machine.

HACK #6:

@leelasrin @lever

vs.

Employee connections on LinkedIn beat Company Page followers by a mile

at least 45x@leelasrin @lever

Every profile matters!

“At Lever we really walk the talk when it comes to talent. We put a ton of thought into how we hire and onboard people, as well as how we help them grow in their careers

@leelasrin @lever

“I used to think being a woman in tech meant simply accepting and overcoming aggressive workplaces… At Lever, I am thrilled to be an integral piece of a diverse, inclusive, engaged, and impassioned team.”

Turn your newest hires into evangelists.

HACK #7:

@leelasrin @lever

It is literally never too early to get your people fired up.

@leelasrin @lever

“Call and coffee” your referrals.

HACK #8:

@leelasrin @lever

Get to precious referrals, fast and in person

“Double down on any referred candidates. Don’t take a ‘we’ll get to them if they’re qualified’ mentality. Call and coffee them.”

- Jer Langhans, co-founder, Paired Sourcing

@leelasrin @lever

Internally, talk about hiring. All.The.Time.

HACK #9:

@leelasrin @lever

Showcase hiring like you showcase sales wins

Source jam in progress Slack erupts with each new hire

Get feedback from people who didn’t make it.

HACK #10:

@leelasrin @lever

Learn from everyone who goes through your hiring process

“We used to run NPS surveys among candidates that we didn’t hire - and then ask follow-up questions to find out how we could improve our candidate experience .”

- Kirsti Grant, CEO & Co-Founder, Populate; former VP Talent, Vend

@leelasrin @lever

Reference-check your heart out.

HACK #11:

@leelasrin @lever

Do not under any circumstance short-change reference checking

Don’t Do

● Rely solely on references provided by the candidate

● Let the reference drive the call

● Expect the reference to proactively raise negative points

● Find other references who are mutual connections

● Lead the call; probe for exact details on the candidate’s achievements

● Find ways to frame ‘weakness’ questions to get accurate answers

Recommended reading from Josh Hannah: bit.ly/reference-checking

With thanks to David Skok of Matrix Partners

Seed diversity & inclusion early. Never let up.

HACK #12:

@leelasrin @lever

D&I is really hard. But it’s even harder if you ignore it until you’re a big company.

The “guys” jar The “no resume” campaign

The diversity dashboard

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Invest in the tools to do it right.

HACK #13:

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Spreadsheets can only get you so far

@leelasrin @lever

Get your whole team hiring

“With Lever in the hands of all Mattermark employees, we've cut our time to hire for open roles in half.

Everyone from our team is sourcing candidates, referring friends, and contributing to hiring discussions.

Hiring is now a team effort; I can train new employees about how to use Lever in two minutes. It's incredibly intuitive.

- Talent lead, Mattermark

@leelasrin @lever

“There is no way we would have been able to scale hiring to the machine it’s become without using Lever.”

- Head of Mobile, Lyft

“Lever has made it possible for us to manage hundreds of active and passive candidates while building that hiring culture. We're now able to get to 'yes' quicker than ever before for the most strategic hires.”

- Co-founder, Kinnek

@leelasrin @lever

Or as one London customer puts it:

- Talent Manager, Lost My Name

“Some recruiters are born with

Lever, some achieve Lever, and

some have Lever thrust upon

them.”

For many more hacks, see our resource library

www.lever.co/recruiting-resources

Recorded webinars including:

● Hiring for stealth through series C with Meteor

● Hiring for hypergrowth: lessons from Lyft

● How to build a recruiting machine with David Skok

@leelasrin @lever

Want more recruiting tips? Join us tomorrow night

bit.ly/clever-hacks@leelasrin @lever

“Clever Hacks: Hiring Tips and Tricks”WeWork Aldgate Tower, 6:30-8:00pm, Thurs 16th Jun

Join over 1,000 customers on Lever!Stop by our booth or sign up for a demo at: www.lever.co

@leelasrin @lever

#1 Blow up your job descriptions.#2 Interview like you mean it.#3 Get your candidates comfortable.#4 Source beyond the obvious places.#5 Don’t give up on top prospects so easily.#6 Make LinkedIn your employer brand machine.#7 Turn your newest hires into evangelists.#8 “Call and coffee” your referrals.#9 Internally, talk about hiring. All. The. Time.#10 Get feedback from people who didn’t make it.#11 Reference-check your heart out.#12 Seed diversity & inclusion early. Never let up.#13 Invest in the tools to do it right.

Questions?

@leelasrin @lever