It\u2019s a conundrum faced by many corporate recruiters and HR staffers who are trying to manage the process of identifying and hiring technical candidates: They know the importance of finding the right skills and experience, but their own technical knowledge is limited, making it difficult to evaluate how well each candidate might perform in the role.<\/p>\n
Difficult, perhaps, but not impossible. The key to evaluating candidates whose expertise goes beyond yours lies in three things: forging a true partnership with the hiring manager, asking questions, and respecting what you don’t know.<\/p>\n
Whatever you do, don\u2019t underestimate the value you bring to the hiring process. In essence, recruiters say, your job is to funnel the right candidates to the hiring manager so they can evaluate technical prowess and how they\u2019ll mesh with their team. While you may not understand the intricacies of coding or network architecture, you can still qualify tech professionals for their overall cultural fit and experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to understand how to build an app in Java to understand whether someone\u2019s a strong engineer broadly,\u201d said Greg Ambrose, a managing consultant in the Information Technology Practice of Korn\/Ferry Futurestep. \u201cYou can talk to the candidate about fundamentals, and understand their roles in previous projects and gauge their passion for tech. What you can\u2019t do is assess their code. Those questions need to be left to on-site, whiteboard interviews with hiring managers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Start by working with the hiring manager upfront to understand the job\u2019s dynamics, how the role fits within the overall team, and the key technical components the manager wants out of candidates.<\/p>\n
Brian Murray, Director of Talent and Culture at New York-based social marketing agency Likeable Media, sets out to understand what is involved in the job day-to-day, and asks hiring managers to show him the kind of work they expect to see from serious candidates.<\/p>\n
The process, he stresses, is ongoing: He doesn\u2019t wait for a position to open up to ask colleagues about their jobs and how they do them. When a specialized role needs to be filled, understanding the different facets of Likeable\u2019s work pays off. \u201cI’m a big shoulder-tapper,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen I see something, I ask about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray sees his job as being \u201cnot to make the hire, but to figure out if this person is a close fit and someone the hiring manager will want to meet.\u201d To do that, he, like Ambrose, talks at length with the manager about how the role will function and add value to the overall business.<\/p>\n
Another important aspect is recognizing the strengths that any serious technology professional will bring to the table. \u201cUnderstanding what motivates and drives an engineer is important,\u201d said Ambrose, ticking off factors such as the desire to work with smart people, to work on projects that matter, solve difficult problems, and be challenged to become a better engineer.<\/p>\n
Recognizing such traits is more important than understanding the dynamics of specific skills sets, Ambrose noted: \u201cSkills change\u2026 You have to ask yourself whether the client is hiring a skill set or an engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once he\u2019s done his initial homework on the role and its requirements, Murray studies candidates, using more than just their resumes. Even before setting up a phone interview, he\u2019ll look at a candidate’s GitHub profile and other portfolio materials. The fact that many technical candidates \u201care so prepared to present more than their resume\u201d makes his job easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cA front end developer is going to have a portfolio and work samples to look at, and most candidates are prepared to share this stuff, often through their own websites,\u201d Murray said. Once he\u2019s satisfied that a candidate is a serious prospect, he\u2019ll forward the resume to the hiring manager. Only if the manager agrees with his assessment will Murray then set up a phone interview.<\/p>\n
During interviews, Murray is upfront about his role and the limitations of his technical knowledge. Though he doesn\u2019t try to \u201cact like he knows everything,\u201d he does closely follow his industry\u2019s news in all its flavors. For example, by following the same forums as his tech team, he\u2019s able to bring a basic understanding of their work to his interviews: \u201cI’m trying to put myself in the mindset of what does this role do and is this going to be a good move for both Likeable and\u00a0the candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simply asking questions of the hiring manager and tech team is important, yet many recruiters are afraid to do it. \u201cDon\u2019t not ask questions,\u201d said Rob Reeves, CEO and President of technical recruiter Redfish Technology. \u201cPeople get stuck on that. Be open, be curious, and ask questions that are as intelligent as they can be, the kind of questions that will fill in your specific knowledge gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ambrose works closely with the hiring manager even as he\u2019s drafting interview questions. He tailors each set to the specific client, with an eye toward eliciting information that can help the manager make a judgment. Getting the manager\u2019s guidance on what makes for a winning candidate is critical, he believes.<\/p>\n
Finally, don\u2019t forget the value your core recruiting and HR knowledge brings to even a specialized hiring process. \u201cI’ve found someone who might be a great senior Java engineer in one environment won\u2019t work in another,\u201d Ambrose said. \u201cSometimes these things are shop-specific. It\u2019s not about skills, but about the way they\u2019re applied.\u201d The biggest mistake that can be made, he believes, is looking only at a candidate\u2019s skill set and not beyond it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a conundrum faced by many corporate recruiters and HR staffers who are trying to manage the process of identifying and hiring technical candidates: They know the importance of finding the right skills and experience, but their own technical knowledge is limited, making it difficult to evaluate how well each candidate might perform in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":33619632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2155,2154],"class_list":["post-999881427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hiring-candidates","category-sourcing-candidates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n