El hiring process de una empresa The hiring process for a company that is looking for tech talent is not easy. There are tests that some people see as necessary while others would discard, salary negotiations can start too late, and the waiting times are not ideal… we talk about all of this, and more, in this article.
IT recruitment processes are a real headache for everyone. For recruiters and company executives, because they cannot find the formula to keep the interest of the techies. Also for these professionals, who face long processes, many of them with days without news of their progress phase by phase.
From Joppy, together with Daniel Martos, co-organizer of HiredBCN and a recruiter who understands the dilemmas of our sector, we present the points of friction during the tech recruitment process in a webinar. Here we bring you the most important keys of it, as well as the study that comes with it.
- The duration of the IT recruitment process
- When the salary is not public… and it takes time to be revealed
- Communicating for the first time
- Should HR interviews be removed from IT recruitment?
- Technical test: complex and… wrong?
- Personalized rejection messages
The duration of the IT recruitment process
Where do the data we share in this article come from? From our report “Friction points in the Tech recruitment process”. Check it out, it’s free!
One and a half months. That is the trend of the duration of the tech recruitment process according to our data from the salary report. In addition, we know that 45% of developers would prefer it to last less than 15 days.
The reality is that, for a process to last only two weeks, something more than the stars have to align. It is to find the right candidate (day zero), that the recruiter can close a meeting in a couple of days with HR, that they like it… and from there the successive technical tests and interviews that may come.
What most recruiters and techies agree on is that it should last less than 1 month (first and second favorite option). Could a hiring be made in less than 30 days? It seems complex, but not impossible.
When the salary is not public… and it takes time to be revealed
At this point, techies have it clearer: 7 out of 10 want to see a salary or salary range in the job posting. But recruiters prefer to wait until the first contact with them… and even leave the task to the Talent Managers. How many potential new employees are we losing?
4 out of 10 candidates do not apply for a job offer if they do not know the salary. 4 out of 10 do it without knowing the salary if the project motivates them.
Our speakers at the webinar on selection processes made it clear: the salary should be published, although they understand that many companies do not want to do so publicly for their own benefit plans, with a limited budget. Transparency is important… as long as it is accompanied by a defined compensation strategy.
Communicating for the first time
“At Joppy, this does not happen, but outside, in the “wild world” there is a lot of spam, many offers that do not fit the interests of the techie, many invasive calls… does the classic communication method work? Sometimes it works, we don’t deny it, but it is not efficient nor does it generate a good memory for the techies, who will think twice before contacting the same recruiter.
In fact, if you are a recruiter, developers prefer to communicate by email. And, if possible, no more than 5 days should pass from the first contact to the next message (whether to move on to the next phase or to politely reject their candidacy). Techies are patient, but they are in more than three processes at a time. If you don’t answer them… someone else will take them to their company.
Should HR interviews be removed from IT recruitment?
In the survey we conducted for the report on friction during the recruitment process, we asked about the usefulness of each of the usual phases of a recruitment process. The worst stop for techies was the HR interview (6.2), followed closely by the technical test (6.5).
Recruiters see it as necessary, in fact it is one of the phases in which the fewest people leave from their perspective. For techies it is the opposite, 38% are rejected after this test. What is going on?
One theory could be that, while the HR interview is the visible phase, the people in charge of this part pass their notes on to the technical team, who already make an assessment of whether or not to continue with that candidate. For the techie, the last thing they did was the chat with HR, while for recruiters they did not.
Another option would be, as Daniel Martos comments, to be able to have a more technical chat from the beginning. This would help to reduce the pain in this phase, although it requires an investment of time and personnel.
Technical test: complex and… wrong?
The technical test is necessary. But… does it have to be so complex? 26% of recruiters believe that there is so much loss in this phase due to complexity. And 55% of tech professionals value it as the most complicated part. In the words of one of our report collaborators:
The problem with technical tests is that they require me to spend my free time doing something that may or may not have a good result and they are usually not a couple of hours
Another point to discuss was the type of technical test. Live coding is one of the most in-demand by the process managers, but it seems to be unpopular among techies. Without the possibility of consulting the internet (if you know a programming language from beginning to end with its frameworks, I take my hat off to you).
Live coding tests are not very useful, most programmers write their code while consulting the internet. Nobody has everything in their memory
Perhaps focusing a live coding test on understanding the processes and logical structure better, rather than typing code, would be ideal. Oh, and that it doesn’t take many hours.
Personalized rejection messages
Do 70% of recruiters really send personalized messages to all candidates at the end of a process? Well, maybe not everyone needs it, but… what about those who have already gone through several phases?
If you want to know what is considered a good personalized message, this article by Laura Barbal will tell you.
Other links of interest
Should salary be put in a job offer?
https://www.elnacional.cat/oneconomia/es/management/se-salario-oferta-trabajo_987591_102.html
The 5 trends in the tech sector for 2023
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