Talent Factory Ebook Final1

Get More Talent!
How to Build the Talent Factory Your Company Needs to Scale
Table of Contents
Foreword ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Is an In-House Talent Factory Right for Your Business?..................................... 2
The Benefits of Building a Talent Factory............................................................................... 3 Who Will Benefit Most from this eBook?................................................................................. 5 Does Building a Talent Factory Make Sense for You?............................................................... 5
Chapter 2: Assembling and Managing a Top-Notch Talent Team......................................... 7

The Composition of a Talent Team......................................................................................... 7 Getting Started: How to Hire Your Talent Team....................................................................... 7 Hiring a Director of Talent ................................................................................................... 8 Hiring Talent Specialists..................................................................................................... 10 Managing Your Talent Team................................................................................................ 12
Chapter 3: Executing the Six Phases of an Effective Recruiting Process............................ 15

Phase 1: Planning Your Search........................................................................................... 15 Hosting a Kickoff Meeting............................................................................................. 15 Creating a Job Description............................................................................................. 16 Setting Clear Expectations and Timelines........................................................................ 17 Phase 2: Sourcing Candidates............................................................................................. 19 Proactively Sourcing Candidates with Effective Messaging ............................................... 19 How Do You Pitch a Role Successfully?........................................................................... 20 Phase 3: Phone Screening.................................................................................................. 21 Phase 4: Interviewing......................................................................................................... 23 Phase 5: Acquiring Feedback.............................................................................................. 25 Phase 6: Preparing and Extending an Offer.......................................................................... 26 Reference Checks......................................................................................................... 26 Background Checks ...................................................................................................... 27 Creating Competitive Compensation Plans....................................................................... 27 Presenting the Offer...................................................................................................... 27 Preparing for Rejections or Counter Offers....................................................................... 28 Ensuring Employee Retention........................................................................................ 30
Chapter 4: Employing the Tools (and Technology) of the Recruiting Trade.......................... 31

What is an Applicant Tracking System?................................................................................ 31 Job-posting Outlets............................................................................................................ 34 Leading Job Posting Sites................................................................................................... 35 6 Options for Leveraging LinkedIn....................................................................................... 36 What to Look for When Selecting a Sourcing Tool.................................................................. 37 Improving Your Companys Careers Page.............................................................................. 38 Equipping Your Team with the Tools it Needs to Succeed....................................................... 39
Chapter 5: Deploying Metrics to Measure and Improve Your Talent Factory........................ 40

How to Track Your Talent Factorys Success.......................................................................... 40 Why Reporting Metrics Is Important..................................................................................... 42
End Note.................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix.................................................................................................................... 46

Checklist for the CEO......................................................................................................... 46 Checklist for the Director of Talent...................................................................................... 46 Checklist for the Talent Specialist(s).................................................................................... 47 Checklist for the Hiring Manager ........................................................................................ 47 Common Recruiting Challenges and Their Solutions.............................................................. 48 Standard Templates for Applicant Communications............................................................... 49 Sample Job Descriptions.................................................................................................... 50 Common Behavioral Interviewing Questions.......................................................................... 51 Illegal Interview Questions and Legal Substitutes ................................................................. 53 Sample Reference Check Guide.......................................................................................... 55 Recruiting Strategy Workflow ............................................................................................ 56
Foreword
It may surprise you, but the most significant challenge facing startup and expansion-stage technology companies today may have nothing to do with technology at all. Instead, according to a recent report by Silicon Valley Bank,1 the most problematic hurdle for those businesses revolves around another word starting with the same letter: talent. In its annual Startup Outlook report, SVB revealed that 90 percent of software executives plan to add headcount in 2013 if, of course, they can actually find and attract the type of people who will help their companies grow. Astonishingly, 90 percent of those same executives believe they will have trouble doing exactly that this year. In other words, the war for top talent is still being waged. And if your growing software company isnt prepared to compete, it may not be able to keep up. So, what should your expansion-stage business be doing to find, attract, and retain the kind of top talent that can fuel its growth? Some of the most forward-thinking companies are developing their own talent factory a team of in-house recruiters who can manage the recruiting process with factory-like precision. In Get More Talent! How to Build the Talent Factory Your Company Needs to Scale, OpenView outlines the benefits of building an in-house talent factory, explains which types of companies should be doing so, and lays out a clear process for creating, managing, and measuring a successful talent team capable of helping to dramatically scale your business as efficiently as possible. Ultimately, however, the argument for building a talent factory within an expansion-stage software company is simple: You need top talent to grow. If you arent able to recruit enough of it, you will likely struggle to keep pace with your competitors. And, if you recruit the wrong type of talent, you may unwittingly create a ticking time bomb. A correctly designed and implemented talent factory can help you mitigate those issues, while also improving your companys culture, visibility, credibility, and cost-efficiency. Is your business ready to build a talent factory? And do you have what it takes to do so? Read on to find out!
Keith Cline Principal, Dissero
1.
Startup Outlook: The Issue of Talent, Silicon Valley Bank, May 2013.
Get More Talent! How to Build the Talent Factory Your Company Needs to Scale | 1
Chapter 1:
Is an In-House Talent Factory Right for Your Business?

The saying goes that a companys most valuable asset is its people. That adage is particularly true at the expansion stage, when companies typically experience explosive growth and need to hire a steady stream of talent to fill critical roles throughout their organization. Take too long to add headcount or worse, hire the wrong people and you could quickly put your company in danger of not being able to thrive. When the time is right, smart companies get around this issue by hiring a team of dedicated recruiters to manage their recruiting and hiring. They invest the time, energy, and money to develop that team and outfit it with the right processes, tools, and techniques. At OpenView, we call this process building a talent factory because it results in a strong pipeline of talent that is procured with factory-like precision through tested recruiting best practices.
While the main function of a talent factory is to recruit and hire top talent for your company, this encompasses a variety of tasks, including:
Meeting with hiring managers and discussing the needs of their teams Creating job descriptions and providing salary information Screening resumes of inbound applicants and responding appropriately Attending career fairs and building relationships with colleges and universities Proactively sourcing candidates through a variety of mediums, including social networks Conducting initial phone screens to determine fit Acting as a project manager to move candidates through the interviewing process Implementing interview and evaluation best practices throughout the company Completing reference checks Extending offers Assisting in onboarding new employees
All of these activities are vital to the talent acquisition process.
The Benefits of Building a Talent Factory

If you are a rapidly growing expansion-stage company, establishing a talent factory will be vital to your companys continued growth. In fact, according to a 2012 study by the Boston Consulting Group,2 recruiting has the highest business impact of any HR function. So, even if you dont yet have a full-fledged HR department, building an internal recruiting team can create a significant impact by:
Lowering recruitment costs
Many companies that do not have a talent factory or an in-house recruiter use staffing agencies for the bulk of their hiring. For full-time employees, agencies can charge 20 to 35 percent of the hires first-year annual salary as a finders fee. Depending on how many roles you hire each year, you may be paying more in fees than what it would cost to build and operate your own in-house talent factory. Not only will an in-house talent factory result in a lower cost per hire, but it will also enable you to hire multiple candidates (should there be more than one opening for the same position) at no extra cost. An in-house talent team can also maintain an ongoing pipeline of candidates with a particular skill set, helping you make repeat hires more quickly, and implement programs to improve employee retention (e.g., establishing programs to promote work/life balance). Having a talent factory will create a more streamlined hiring process that ensures that each candidate your company recruits goes through the same procedures, meets with the same people, answers similar questions, and is told the same information. In turn, your candidates will have a better overall experience, and your company will be able to make a more educated decision on which candidate is the best fit for the job, because there is continuity in the process.
Driving higher ROI
Fostering a better candidate experience and building culture along the way
Shaping your companys culture
A talent team can help shape company culture and impact its development through its policies and programs.
Improving visibility
Talent specialists also act as ambassadors, representing your company and its culture to the outside world. By attending career fairs and on-campus events, a talent team will provide valuable marketing for your company, creating more visibility within your desired candidate pool. A quarterly networking event led by your talent team can also pay huge dividends for talent acquisition by showcasing your company and its employment opportunities.
2.
Realizing the Value of People Management: From Capability to Profitability,The Boston Consulting Group, July 2012.
Increasing credibility
Candidates will always be more responsive and exude more confidence when they feel they are being treated as an individual, rather than an application. A talent team can serve as liaison between the candidate and the hiring manager, improving communication and, ultimately, your credibility even among candidates you dont end up hiring.
Creating a greater sense of urgency
Because the internal recruiting team will be in the trenches, they will recognize the need for new hires more quickly and be held accountable by the hiring managers who are awaiting qualified candidates. Additionally, the hiring managers will be asked to provide more timely and complete feedback if the recruiting team is in the same office, allowing for a shorter feedback loop and faster decisions.
Recruiting is all about relationships. An in-house talent factory allows you to build strong and productive relationships with candidates and hiring managers the kinds of relationships that attract top talent and help management do its job most effectively. With candidates, an in-house recruiter speaks from personal experience. He or she will see that candidate when he comes in for interviews and, if hired, watch him succeed or fail. This degree of accountability is very important, and differentiates the in-house talent factory from an outside agency approach.
Alan Preston, HR Advisor and Founder and President, Preston HR, HR Consultant, Monetate
Who Will Benefit Most from this eBook?

This eBook is intended for the key stakeholders at your organization who will be responsible for building your talent factory, as well as your talent team itself (director of talent/talent specialists). Stakeholders may include the CEO, COO, CFO, or VP of human resources at companies that:
Are at the expansion stage, which means
that you have a product offering, a set of satisfied customers, and are executing a core go-to-market strategy; you are also growing at a rapid rate, which creates a need to hire employees quickly.
Have at least 75 employees and/or are fore-
casting extreme growth. If you are too small, or are not projecting hiring for enough positions, the ROI will likely not be high enough to justify setting up a talent factory.
Are hiring at a steady rate. Generally, this
is 10 to 20 hires per quarter, or about one hire every one to two weeks. If not, the money you spend on resources and salary to employ a recruiting team will likely be higher than what you are currently spending on talent acquisition. If this is the case for your company, then you need to decide whether hiring a talent team makes sense for your company.
Does Building a Talent Factory Make Sense for You?

The first thing to evaluate when considering whether to create a talent factory is the cost. As with any hire, it is important that you have room in the budget to add to the team. Beyond a competitive salary and benefits package, there is the cost of additional resources such as upgraded LinkedIn accounts, multiple job board postings, and networking event sponsorships. On the flip side, it is also critical to assess whether you can afford not to build a talent factory. While the expense of doing so might seem high, the money you are saving on recruiting costs by not hiring a recruiting team could very well be canceled out by lower productivity from managers who are spending a significant amount of their time on recruiting and onboarding.
If a talent factory makes financial sense for your business, this eBook can be used to supplement your own hiring function or serve as a guide to building a talent factory from the ground up. The following chapters cover the core elements of building and executing a talent factory, including:
Hiring a director of talent and/or talent team members
Exploring how the talent team should lead the overall hiring process of your company
Identifying the resources your talent team needs
Explaining the metrics you need to track to measure and strengthen your talent team
Whether you are at an early stage startup, expansion-stage company, or a mature corporation, hiring top talent is always a priority. This eBook will help you ensure that your business can most efficiently find, attract, and compete for that talent.
Chapter 2:
Assembling and Managing a Top-Notch Talent Team

How you choose to build your talent team depends on a number of factors. If you already have recruiters in place, the next step is to hire a director to focus on strategy and develop recruiting best practices. If you already have someone in a director role, you may need to find recruiters to hire additional roles. Or maybe you have no HR or recruiting function at all and need to start from scratch. In this chapter, we will assume that you are building a team from the ground up, starting with a director of talent. However, even if you already have recruiters in place or will be hiring them first, there is valuable information in this section on scaling a talent team.
The Composition of a Talent Team

What does a talent team look like? Ideally it will have a director who oversees the hiring process at your company and manages the recruiters. For the purposes of this eBook, we will refer to those recruiters as talent specialists. Their role is to identify talent for your organization and manage the hiring process. In addition, talent specialists can take on other projects such as setting up internship programs, establishing employee retention initiatives, and filling other HR/recruiting-related roles. The director and talent specialist roles are explained in detail throughout this chapter.
Getting Started: How to Hire Your Talent Team

If you already have a director of talent in place, or if you have a VP or director of human resources, he or she should be responsible for hiring the team. If your company doesnt have anyone in a human resource function, consider these factors when deciding who else within your company should take charge:
Capacity: How many people or teams does this person already manage? Would they be able to
effectively manage another team?

Function: It rarely makes sense to have a talent team report to your CTO or VP of marketing. Someone
in a similar operational role is a logical choice, and at smaller companies, the CEO may even be best. As a rule of thumb, a talent team fits in well among the administration, HR, and finance departments.
Location: The person managing your talent team must be in the same location as the team being
hired. Collaboration is important when setting up the team, especially at the beginning.
Experience: Look at the resumes of your executive team. Someone who was in an HR or recruiting
function earlier in their career might be a good choice to manage the team until a director of talent is on board. Whoever you choose, that persons first responsibility will be to hire a director of talent.
Hiring a Director of Talent

When hiring a director-level recruiter, it is important to initially determine what the scope of that persons responsibilities will be. Will he or she be responsible for talent acquisition and human resources tasks, or just the former? If your director of talent will hold other HR responsibilities, you should look for someone who not only has extensive talent acquisition management experience, but who has also managed the HR function at a growing technology company similar in size to your organization. This director of talent/HR will be expected to manage the full talent/HR function, at least until your company scales to the point where you require a VP of HR or Chief Talent Officer.
General Responsibilities
Although specific responsibilities for a director of talent will differ depending on your companys needs, some standard responsibilities include:
Hiring and terminating
Hiring recruiters, managing them for success, and terminating underperformers when necessary. If this person is the only member of the talent team, then they will also be charged with all open requisitions. Working with hiring managers to map out the hiring plans for the year.
Strategic hiring plans Budget management Goal setting Day-to-day management Performance reviews
Ensuring that the talent team is effectively operating within its budget, and periodically performing cost and productivity analyses. Developing metrics for the talent team, and creating quarterly and annual goals that the team can measure against to determine success. Working with the talent team to put best practices into place, resolve impediments, and help them achieve their quarterly and annual goals. Conducting performance reviews with each member of the talent team.
Hiring for high-level roles
A director of talent can be instrumental in hiring for C-level positions or for a board of directors search, where a deeper network and more experience are required. The director of talent should play a role in overseeing the selection of recruiting technologies and be the administrator of the applicant tracking system for the team (see Chapter 4).
Picking a technology
Once you determine the areas of responsibility that your director of talent will own, you can prepare to launch your search for the right candidate. Please see page 50 in the Appendix of this eBook for a sample job description for a director of talent.
A director of talent is responsible for setting and executing your companys talent acquisition strategy and should be comfortable not only overseeing a team of recruiters, but also leading searches for an array of positions, from an entry-level software engineer to your next CMO. That takes the right combination of recruiting expertise, management experience, and strategic insight into both your organization and industry.
Diana Martz, Director of Talent, OpenView Venture Partners
What to Look for in Candidates

Before you start your search for a director of talent, its important to create a scorecard (see page 24 for an example) that will help you evaluate each candidate during your search. The scorecard will contain all of the qualifications you feel are necessary in your ideal candidate, with space to rate each candidate and enter comments on how they measure against each qualification. Here are some common types of experience and traits the director role often requires:
A bachelors degree 7+ years of recruiting experience Experience successfully managing a recruiting/HR team,
including responsibilities for hiring/firing and budget management

Experience working as an internal recruiter Software company experience in a high-growth environment Understanding of software engineering recruitment
If you need a director of talent with HR experience, here are some additional requirements you might want to include:
5+ years HR generalist experience HR generalist skills, including employee relations, compensation, benefits,
and performance management

Knowledge of principles and practices of HR management Understanding of current HR laws and issues General grasp of compensation practices, performance management, and staff planning
These are general guidelines for what to look for in a director, but keep in mind that your company may have a specific set of skills it needs in this role. To attract top candidates, outline the general responsibilities of the role and communicate your companys mission and culture as best as you can in the job description. If candidates connect with your company on these levels and can embrace what you are building, you will be much more likely to attract people who will be excited about the opportunity.
Hiring Talent Specialists

Once you have a director of talent in place, you may look to expand your team. Your talent team should be composed of knowledgeable, experienced talent specialists. A talent specialists responsibilities include the following:
Sourcing
A large part of an internal recruiters job is to use the resources at hand to find qualified candidates. This means doing legwork to research top candidates and proactively reaching out. Your company may receive hundreds of applications a week. It is important to have someone who is able to sift through those resumes and know what they are looking for. Your talent specialists will most likely be the first point of contact for candidates. They will be interviewing candidates for various positions, so they must understand interviewing best practices. Talent specialists actively quarterback and manage the hiring process. They are responsible for finding qualified candidates, coordinating interviews, preparing internal teams for interviews, gaining feedback from hiring managers and candidates, and continuous applicant communication. When looking for a talent specialist, make sure you find someone who is comfortable owning this role and will represent your company very well. Perhaps you are looking to start an internship program, attend career fairs, or boost morale in the office. These are all projects that a talent specialist can take on.
Resume mining
Screening
Managing a process
Employee engagement/ HR-related projects
There are a number of ways to find qualified candidates for your talent specialist role. You can look for agency recruiters, internal recruiters, or for people with a combination of those experiences. Please see page 50 of the Appendix for a sample job description for a talent specialist. If you are part of a growing expansion-stage company that is hiring talent specialists for the first time, you should look for recruiters who have experience with a heavy volume of sourcing, applicant management, and interviewing. These skills are important whether you choose to hire someone who is an agency recruiter or an internal recruiter, though they are most often found in recruiters with agency background, for three key reasons:
Agency recruiters likely have experience working with demanding hiring managers and finding candidates to fill difficult roles that the internal team at the company could not.
They must be organized and creative in their sourcing approach and able to prioritize to succeed in a cutthroat agency environment.
1.
2.
Since they are comfortable being compensated for the number of placements they make, they are used to being held accountable to deadlines and quality of hire.
3.
Whether you choose to hire an agency recruiter or an internal recruiter, it may be helpful to augment the interview with a brief personality test to assess the recruiters strengths. (See the article 7 Tips for Using Personality Tests to Hire for more information.) Using the information in this section, you should be able to construct a job description that pinpoints the specific skills you are looking for in your talent specialist role. Once you have done so, you are ready to advertise the job and initiate your candidate search. If there is not a director of talent or talent specialist already in place at your company, then consider using an agency to find qualified recruiters (yes, there are recruiters who specialize in sourcing other recruiters). For a guide to hiring best practices, in the hiring process, please refer to Chapter 3 of this eBook.
Recruiting for an expansion-stage company can be somewhat unique because you are working for a company that is experiencing tremendous growth but that also faces considerable budget constraints that can slow down the hiring process. Hiring a talent specialist with experience dealing with these conflicting issues who can also convey your companys vision and identify top talent in your industry is critical.
Lindsey Gurian, Senior Talent Specialist, OpenView Venture Partners
Managing Your Talent Team

Building any team takes vision and careful planning. There will be many moving parts in starting a talent team and you will need to formulate a strategy for properly managing your teams workload and day-to-day activities.
Dividing and Managing the Teams Workload

When you have multiple recruiters on your talent team, there should be a plan in place for dividing the workload. Each request from hiring managers should be documented and prioritized in a central location that can be accessed by the team. As the team winds down on one search it can see which search is the next highest priority. A good way to keep hiring managers requests in order is to utilize an agile framework such as Scrum or another project management methodology of your choosing. Doing so ensures that your team consistently executes at a high level by focusing on priorities, and allows team members to collaborate on best practices. Whichever methodology you choose should include a daily meeting to discuss the top priorities for the day and a weekly retrospective to talk about successes and areas for improvement. If you are not using a formal project management methodology, it is crucial that the team meets daily to discuss the status of each search and any hindrances that are preventing it from moving forward. A quick 15-minute meeting can accomplish this. You should also develop documentation for the recruitment tools and best practices that your talent team will use. This includes documentation on practices such as utilizing an applicant tracking system (ATS), sending standardized candidate rejection letters, and creating LinkedIn accounts. Providing documentation will assist in streamlining your recruitment practices. For instance, as you will learn in the next chapter, each new search requires you to outline a recruiting strategy (also see page 56 in the Appendix). If you store this template in a central location for documents, you will create a valuable library that will allow your talent specialists to adjust, rather than re-create, outlines for similar searches.
Overall, your goal should be to maintain balance. You want each team member to be busy, but not overloaded. Most recruiters should be capable of working on four to five searches at a time (depending on the difficulty of each search), and it is critical that the director of talent check in regularly with each talent specialist to make sure the team is functioning optimally.
The Right Stuff: How to Recruit the Talent Your Company Needs to Scale | 12
What is a Talent Specialists Capacity?

As your team takes on additional searches, it becomes increasingly important to manage and prioritize each search on a recruiters desk. A recruiters capacity varies based on the type of position being recruited for. For example, technical roles may take more time than sales roles due to a more competitive market, and entry-level roles will likely take less time than senior-level roles. Similarly, new searches will be far more time-consuming than mature ones that already possess an active pipeline of candidates. If a recruiter is working 40 hours per week, an average capacity would be approximately four to five requisitions at any given time. That allows about six to eight hours per week for each search, and that time is typically spent sourcing, screening, scheduling, coordinating, and rejecting candidates. Preferably, of the four to five requisitions a recruiter is working on, one or two will be nearing the offer stage. This way, if an emergency search arises (say, the VP of sales resigns), a recruiter will be able to take it on without exceeding his or her capacity. If a recruiter is working on four to five newsearches, it will be difficult to make time for another new search even if it is an emergency. One of their current searches would likely have to be put on hold.
Setting Up the Ideal Day for Your Talent Team

You have learned so far that each member of the talent teams day should begin with a brief meeting, but what other tactics can help you plan their day? A recruiters day should be compartmentalized into the following categories:
Sourcing
Each search takes a significant amount of time to source. It is crucial that each member of the talent team allows enough time to utilize tools such as LinkedIn or TalentBin to vet prospects that meet the qualifications for a specific requisition. In addition, it is paramount that talent specialists reach out to people in their network to let them know they are hiring for a new role. At this time, all inbound applicants should also be reviewed.
Interviewing
Interviewing candidates can be time-consuming and requires a talent specialists undivided attention. Time should be set aside for phone screens and in-person interviews so that they do not disrupt the flow of the day. For example, it is unwise to schedule phone interviews at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m., because this breaks up the day too much with interview preparation and relaying notes to the hiring manager. A model day would have all interviews clustered together in the morning or late afternoon.
Projects
Time for projects, such as building an internship program or planning for a career fair, should be allotted in weekly planning.
Planning
The saying plan your work and work your plan applies here. Managing multiple searches and projects can overwhelm a team member. Having team members plan their individual calendars will help make sure they stay on task.
What to Do Once Your Team is Assembled

If people are your companys most important asset, then getting the right ones in place within your talent factory is the critical first step toward building an operation that yields results well into the future. Once you have that team assembled, how can you ensure that it constantly works to attract and retain top talent for your organization? The beauty of having a talent factory is that once it gets going it is self-propelling. But in order to get your factory up and running, you need a strategy. The next chapter will outline hiring best practices, including how to plan for a search, create compelling job descriptions, source and screen candidates, and extend competitive job offers.
Chapter 3:
Executing the Six Phases of an Effective Recruiting Process

There are six phases in the ideal recruiting process planning, sourcing, screening, interviewing, gathering feedback, and extending an offer. Each phase is critical, and by following them sequentially you will ensure a repeatable process that allows for efficient and effective recruiting. In this chapter, you will learn best practices for each of the six phases listed above, allowing you to put in place a hiring process that not only benefits hiring managers and your company, but also creates an ideal candidate experience.
Phase 1: Planning Your Search

In this phase of the hiring process, you need to meet and work with hiring managers to define the job profile, budget, interview process, and projected timeline. This includes creating a targeted job description based on essential functions and qualifications for the position.
Hosting a Kickoff Meeting

When beginning a new search, a talent specialist should conduct a brief kickoff meeting that involves all stakeholders. That group typically includes any individual who is involved in the hiring process, such as the hiring manager, and the department head. This meeting provides the talent specialist with an opportunity to build a relationship with the hiring manager and to gain valuable insight into the role. Several things should be accomplished in this meeting, including:
Understanding the role from the hiring managers point of view.Discuss the general
responsibilities of the role and the essential skills and experience it requires.
Establishing the right job title that will attract the best candidates. Gathering competitive intelligence from the hiring manager.Determine which companies
would be best to target for this type of hire and any companies to potentially avoid.
Determining a competitive and fair compensation range.Work with the hiring manager to establish
the compensation range for the market and a competitive compensation package that you would potentially deliver to a top candidate. If the hiring manager is unsure of what a competitive compensation package looks like, the best way to determine an accurate range is to research what the market is paying. You can use an online salary tool such as PayScale, ask peers in the industry, or examine market trends. Make sure the role and the budget have been approved, and that your talent team understands the approval process.
Explaining your recruiting process and setting expectations.Get a commitment from the hiring
manager to send timely feedback once a candidate has been interviewed. Schedule a time each week to provide updates on the search. Explain how many candidates the hiring manager can expect to review weekly and how long you anticipate the recruiting process will take.
Defining the interview process. Determine how many interview rounds there will be and who will be
involved. A standard set of interviews might proceed as follows:

1. Phone interview with talent specialist 2. Qualified candidates sent to hiring 4. On-site interview with hiring manager
and other stakeholders

5. Reference checks 6. Offer delivered
manager for review

3. Hiring manager phone interview
with candidate Once the talent specialist has gathered all of the necessary information from the kickoff meeting, he or she can compile it into a detailed outline of the hiring process, including the expectations of the role.
Creating a Job Description

As mentioned above, another important aspect of initiating a search is creating a job description that accurately reflects the role, the types of candidates you desire, and the qualifications potential candidates must have. At a high level, your job descriptions should include four main elements:
1.
Title: The title is the first thing a candidate will read on the job description. It should be appealing,
descriptive, and accurate. There is a fine line between making the job title sound attractive and overexaggerating its seniority. If a job is a senior-level role, be sure to include words like senior, lead, or principal. If the person will have management responsibilities, include manager or director. If the position is more junior or entry level, use associate or specialist.
2.
Company Information: This is your chance to explain what makes your company unique. Highlight any
selling points that set your company apart. Perhaps you have won an award for being named a best place to work, or maybe you sponsor events in your industry this is the place to sell your company. Consider including the companys growth rate, cutting-edge technology in use or development, awards or press clippings, or even things like office location and perks.
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3.
Job Responsibilities: Be specific. A broad description of responsibilities may dissuade qualified candidates from applying since they do not understand what the role requires. Include day-to-day tasks as well as long-term strategic objectives. Exclude obvious or mundane tasks if they are unimportant or do not reflect the importance of the role.
4.
Minimum Qualifications: Outline the minimum qualifications of the position. Too many qualifications
might shrink the candidate pool, while too few qualifications can open the door to unqualified candidates who think they fit the job profile. For examples of effective job descriptions, see page 50 in the Appendix. Once all stakeholders have signed off on the job description, post the position immediately after the kickoff meeting to your companys careers page, as well as to any job boards you have decided to use (covered in greater detail in Chapter 4). You can manage the job postings by syncing all applications to be delivered straight to your inbox (e-mail filters can be highly useful in this process) or to your ATS.
Best practice
Save all job descriptions in a shared drive or in your applicant tracking system (ATS) so your talent team will have a library to pull from and use for similar positions. Perhaps a little tweaking will be necessary, but this will save time when new positions open.
Setting Clear Expectations and Timelines

It is extremely important for the talent team to set expectations with hiring managers from the start of a search. Hiring managers are busy, and the talent specialist should remember that hiring/interviewing is nota hiring managers only responsibility. By explaining the hiring process, establishing clear expectations, and scheduling regular check-in meetings, talent specialists should improve their communication with the hiring manager, leading to a more effective search.
Are You Working with a Recruiting Agency?

Under certain circumstances, utilizing a staffing agency makes sense and saves time and resources for your talent team. These include:
Temporary positions. Some agencies special-
ize in temporary placements within specific departments (e.g., IT, administration, marketing, etc.). This service could be useful in an emergency situation where your company unexpectedly loses an important member of a team and wishes to hire a temporary employee while sourcing the right full-time candidate.
Permanent positions. A staffing agency can
Also, building your network with proven specialized agency recruiters is important for when such needs arise. Do your homework and get references. If you decide to work with an external recruiter, it is best to meet with him or her in person to start. Explaining a companys culture over the phone is difficult, and a recruiter can glean a lot about company culture/environment just by visiting your office. Prior to kicking off the search with the agency, be sure to provide all the details it needs to hire for the role, including information about your company, desired skill set, years of experience, competencies, compensation, and any other items that are helpful in identifying talent for the role. Although using an agency is an external endeavor, it is important to note that you must allocate internal resources to manage the process. Before candidates from an agency are passed along to the hiring manager for consideration, a recruiter should perform a preliminary phone screen. This ensures not only that the process is consistent across the board, but also that submitted candidates meet the requirements of the position before facing the hiring manager. Also, we recommend that you streamline the use of agency recruiters by having a point recruiter in-house so agency recruiters do not deal directly with hiring managers.
sometimes be helpful for filling permanent roles as well. For example, if a recruiter can no longer source additional candidates, he or she may need external assistance. Specialized IT staffing firms have extensive candidate databases, and it might make sense to hire a staffing agency to fill a particularly difficult position so that you can direct internal resources to another search.
Executive roles. A search for a C-level or
VP-level positions at your company might exceed your internal recruiters expertise. Executive search firms typically have a vast network for these positions and are particularly helpful if you are opening a confidential search. When using a recruiting agency, make sure you have a contract that has been approved by your organizations legal and finance team before allowing the agency to submit candidates. Doing so will eliminate any difficulties with payment to the agency in the future.
Phase 2: Sourcing Candidates

Sourcing is the act of uncovering and identifying candidates through proactive recruiting techniques. There are several outlets to utilize when sourcing, the largest being the professional social networking site LinkedIn. You can also find technical candidates through virtual groups such as Stack Overflow or GitHub. More information on the functionalities of these resources is provided in Chapter 4. The best way to source candidates is to test different methods and track your results. You may find some groups prove more successful for sourcing a specific type of role over others. Asking hiring managers or stakeholders for sites to consider is very valuable. Finally, make sure your talent specialists block out a specified time for sourcing each day.
Proactively Sourcing Candidates with Effective Messaging

As you source potential candidates, it is extremely important that the e-mail or InMail (LinkedIn) messages you send capture their attention and draw them in. It takes hours to find quality candidates; put that time to good use by crafting a relevant, well thought out, eye-catching message that introduces the position without being too lengthy or wordy. The most important information to include is:
1.
Selling points and relevant details about the company and culture
Share interesting facts that will catch a candidates attention. For example:
The company has grown by 50 percent over the last year The company has won prestigious industry awards or been named a best place to work
2.
Appealing facts about the position

Explain the main responsibilities of the role and why the candidate should explore the opportunity. For example:
It is a brand new role with significant growth potential The candidate will help define and drive market strategy He or she will work closely with the CFO
3.
A clear call to action

Tell the candidate how to take next steps. If you ask them to respond to your inquiry, be sure to make your contact information clear. Its also important to personalize the message. Candidates should not feel as though they are reading a standard e-mail that was blasted out to anyone in the area who meets the jobs minimum qualifications. Take time to review the candidates profile and pinpoint exactly what makes him or her a great fit.
Its important to know that much like you are trying to determine if they are a fit, they are considering if you are a fit for them. You have to do everything you can to sell the role and the company to your candidates.
Kirsten Spoljaric, Co-Founder and VP of Human Resources, Mashery
How Do You Pitch a Role Successfully?

To pitch a role, talent specialists need to understand and be able to clearly articulate their companys value proposition to employees. Their goal is to generate enthusiasm for the position specifically and for working for the company in general. Here are some things to think about when developing a recruiting pitch:
Highlight unique cultural facets of your company
Does the CEO regularly interact with employees either one-on-one or through regular town hall meetings? Information that will give prospective candidates an understanding of what your company represents and what it is like to work for are worth noting. Has your company been named a best place to work or have your products received industry recognition? Provide details like these to demonstrate how your company stands out from the competition. Have you recently received funding or launched a new product? Companies that have exciting events happening are often highly desirable to work for. A great way to show candidates what its like to work at your company is to create a brief recruiting or company culture video that highlights employees as well as the companys values and identity. Often overlooked, online brochures, blogs, articles, and other marketing collateral can be a valuable resource providing prospective candidates with a better understanding of your companys value proposition and culture. By setting up an internship program, your company can build its brand with local universities and colleges, both great sources of future employees.
Call out awards and recognition
Share recent news
Create cultural/ recruiting videos
Develop marketing collateral
Establish an internship program
Best practice
Regularly refresh job postings as the search progresses, so that the position returns to the top of search engine results.
The ultimate goal is to make the position and your company sound so appealing that even candidates who are not looking for a new job will find the position exciting and interesting enough to pursue, or to at least share with their networks. When you are sourcing for candidates on LinkedIn, GitHub, or other platforms, be sure you have a solid understanding of the criteria you are looking for. Enter keywords and phrases into the search fields and be sure to try different combinations of words to ensure the most accurate results.
Phase 3: Phone Screening

Phone screens are the initial interview you have with candidates. The goal is to explain the company, culture, and position in detail, and to better understand the candidates experience to determine if he or she truly aligns with your target profile and company culture. Candidate expectations can have a significant influence on the outcome of a search, so it is vital to start measuring and managing them in the initial stages of the recruitment process to avoid any eleventh-hour breakdowns in the process.
...
To uncover those expectations in the initial interview, the talent specialist should discuss:
Experience
Ask the candidate to walk you through his or her background, noting career highlights. Look for patterns, how the persons experience aligns with the role, and any areas for further vetting. In addition, find out what is motivating the candidate to consider a new role.
Compensation
What does the candidate currently earn? Get a full compensation breakdown (base, variable, options, etc.). What is the candidates compensation expectation for the job at your company? Is it in line with your companys budget? This will help you to create a competitive offer should thecandidatebe selected for the role, and help prevent back-and-forth compensation negotiations after an offer is presented.
Timeline
What is the candidates timeframe for making a career move? Is anything keeping them at their current company until a certain date (e.g., bonus, potential promotion, etc.)? Would anything else prevent them from starting by a particular date? Timing is an important factor when recruiting candidates. Its essential to know a candidates timeframe to determine his or her viability.
Job search
Ask candidates about any other job opportunities they are pursuing and where they are in the process. Dont automatically assume that your companys opportunity is the best one out there.
Next steps
In closing the interview, it is important to give candidates an understanding of who at your organization they can expect to hear from next, and what the rest of the interview process will be like.
A phone screen determines whether a candidate should move forward in the process, and it is important that the interviewer be prepared for the call. The objective for the phone interview is to pique the candidates interest in the role, as well as to glean necessary information from the candidate. If a candidate is a potential fit for the position, the talent specialist should move him or her forward in the hiring process.
Ensuring a Positive Candidate Experience

An internal recruiter is typically the first point of contact within the company for a candidate, and first impressions are important for the reputation of your organization. It is critical that your talent team provides a positive candidate experience throughout the recruiting and hiring process. To ensure that occurs, follow these four practices:
1.
Respect the Candidates Time

Your talent team should be flexible and considerate. A candidates typical work hours may be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but if he or she can only speak early in the morning or after work, recruiters should consider arriving early, staying late, or trying to catch that person on a lunch break. In addition, make sure to scheduleall phone interviews at least one day in advance to give the candidate time to properly prepare.
2.
Outline Next Steps

Once you have initiated communication with a candidate, it is important to inform him or her of what to expect next by discussing:
The typical length of your hiring process and interviews (some hiring managers may prefer
one full-day interview; that is an important point to note from the start)
The stages of the interview process (e.g., phone interview, in-person interview, final interview) Who the candidate will be speaking with during each stage
3.
Receive and Relay Feedback

Establishing a feedback loop with hiring managers from the outset is critical. In addition to enhancing the talent teams sourcing efforts, prompt feedback from hiring managers allows recruiters to more quickly alert candidates who are waiting to hear back about their status. If feedback or hiring decisions are delayed, the talent specialist should still check in regularly with candidates and let them know that they are still being considered. Doing so provides a chance to gauge the candidates interest level and keep them excited about the opportunity. (See page 48 in the Appendix for additional information on how a recruiter can handle a lack of feedback from a hiring manager.) More frequent touch points result in a better candidate experience and ultimately can increase the likelihood of acceptance.
4.
Provide Timely Rejections

Once a job has been filled, it is important to inform all candidates that were being considered for the position. You should have a standard timeline in place for responding to applications (typically 48 to 72 hours), and use a template to issue rejections, examples of which can be found on page 49 in the Appendix. It is nice to personalize rejection notices, but be aware of compliance issues that may apply. For example, it is illegal to tell a candidate that he or she has too much experience, or that the hiring manager chose a candidate who already lives in the area. See pages 53 to 54 in the Appendix of this eBook for a list of illegal interview questions and legal substitutes. The best approach is to thank candidates for their time and interest, and explain that the hiring manager decided to move forward with another candidate who is believed to be best qualified for the job. If the candidate probes, the recruiter should say they have no further details, but encourage them to apply to future openings that interest them.
By following these guidelines to a positive candidate experience, a candidate will likely only have good things to say about your company, even if he or she didnt get the job.
Phase 4: Interviewing
In-person interviews are a chance for the interviewee to convey his or her strengths and capabilities for the position in question. Candidates also learn about your company and whether it is a fit for them. Similarly, the interviewer is the ambassador for the organization. That persons goal should not only be to learn about the candidate and ascertain if he or she will be a fit, but to also represent the company in the best way.
To ensure you create consistency in the interview process, establish a plan for how candidates will move through the procedure. First, determine who at your company will conduct the interviews and make sure that they each interview the candidates for a specific criteria. It helps to communicate with the stakeholders in the hiring process to make sure topical questions are being asked and that there is minimal overlap. Having a plan in place for interviewing gives the process more continuity. Be sure to integrate behavioral interviewing questions into the process (see page 51 in the Appendix for more information on behavioral interviewing). These types of questions are designed to show how a candidate would behave or has behaved in a specific situation, and can reveal the character and aptitude of the candidate.
Best practice for interviewers

When interviewing, record your impressions for each interview immediately. Take thorough notes and compile them afterward along with your overall impression into a scorecard that can be shared with others on your team. Heres a template you can use, scoring candidates on a scale of one to five:
Candidate Candidate 1 Interviewer Interviewer 1 Interviewer 2 Interviewer 3 Interviewer 4 Management Track Record 2 3 3 2 HR Experience 3 3 3 3 Hiring Experience 5 5 5 5 Leadership 2 3 3 2 Teamwork 4 4 4 4 SaaS Knowledge 4 4 4 4 Communication Skills 4 4 5 5 Total Score 24 26 27 25 Additional Notes
Candidate 2
Interviewer 1 Interviewer 2 Interviewer 3 Interviewer 4
4 4 4 4
4 4 3 3
4 4 5 5
4 4 4 4
3 4 4 4
3 3 4 4
5 5 5 4
27 28 29 28
Candidate 3
Interviewer 1 Interviewer 2 Interviewer 3 Interviewer 4
5 5 5 5
4 5 4 5
5 5 5 5
5 4 4 4
4 4 4 4
4 4 5 5
4 5 4 5
31 32 31 33
Candidate Candidate 1 Candidate 2 Candidate 3
Aggregate Score 102 112 127
Management Track Record 10 16 20
HR Experience 12 14 18
Hiring Experience 20 18 20
Leadership 10 16 17
Teamwork 16 15 16
SaaS Knowledge 16 14 18
Communication Skills 18 19 18
# of Interviews
Once each interviewer has spoken with the candidate and focused on specific competencies, you can compare impressions and feedback. Without standardization in your interview process, you risk assessing candidates on variables that dont pertain to their qualifications for the job.
Sample Interview Questions

Below are a few examples of interview questions you can ask for some of the most common types of positions at expansion-stage companies. For Software Engineers:
What programming languages are you comfortable with and which ones do you work in regularly? Tell me about your current (or most recent) product. What specific role did you play in its
development?
What software development methodology does your team use (agile/waterfall)? What makes that
method successful? For Sales Professionals:

How do you find and target new accounts for prospecting? Tell me about a time you successfully identified a sales opportunity and the steps you took
toward managing the sales process.

Describe the most challenging objection or rejection you have faced in a sale and how you
responded. For Marketing Professionals:

Give me an example of a time when you accomplished a marketing activity on a tight budget. What marketing strategies would you consider using for our product? Tell me about a marketing project where you had to coordinate and manage a diverse team
on a tight budget.
Phase 5: Acquiring Feedback

After interviews for a specific job opening are complete, it is important to agree on a timeline for receiving feedback from hiring managers (a reasonable expectation is within 48 hours of an interview). Make sure to explain to hiring managerswhyfeedback is critically important to the search it not only provides updates to candidates who have interviewed, but also helps fine-tune your search as you source additional candidates. There are two effective ways to create that feedback loop with hiring managers:
1. Weekly Meetings
Scheduling a weekly meeting or call with the hiring manager provides a forum for sharing feedback and discussing any adjustments to the role. These meetings are also an excellent opportunity for both parties to check in on the progress of a search, discuss any potential impediments, and map out next steps.
As such, it is critically important to hold hiring managers to the weekly meeting. Rescheduling on occasion is acceptable, but consistent no-shows are not. Be clear that if there is not a solid feedback loop, the search will be paused until the situation is rectified. If there is still no resolution, the talent specialist may need to escalate the issue to his or her director or to the hiring managers supervisor. Finding out how to best communicate with your hiring managers is key for some it may be by e-mail, for others maybe by phone or by dropping by their desk if possible.
2.
Weekly Update E-mails

If you choose not to have weekly meetings with the hiring managers (or if you just want to cover your bases), update e-mails are another opportunity to keep informed not only the direct hiring manager, but all stakeholders in the search who may not be involved with day-to-day communication. Choose a day (typically toward the end of the week) to send a high-level overview of the searchs progress and the candidates in process. If the search is not going as planned, highlight impediments and a strategy for the following week.
Phase 6: Preparing and Extending an Offer

As with the other steps of the hiring process, your company should implement a protocol for extending offers that creates consistency across all positions. Here are some points to consider when presenting an offer:
Reference Checks
One very important but often overlooked step in the hiring and interviewing process is checking references. It is vital to gather this information no matter how certain you may feel about a candidates viability. This should be done prior the extending an offer. Determine whether the hiring manager or a member of the talent team will check the references of the candidate. It is recommended that the hiring managers conduct these interviews themselves, as it is a rare opportunity to learn how their potential future employee can be managed most effectively by Senior colleague: Recent managers: someone who has done so before. If the candidate does not It may not be feasible for a have any prior managers, ask The reference checker should then candidate to provide you with for a reference who has inditheir current managers inforask the candidate for a list of refrectly managed or has seniority mation, and you should respect erences that includes: over the candidate who can that. In such instances, ask for speak to his or her experitheir former managers ence and capabilities. information.
Keep in mind that references can be tricky. Candidates are not going to give you a list of people who will say they have done a mediocre job, but rather people they trust will say they have a strong work ethic and will do the job well. A backdoor reference, however, can provide insight about a candidate without being a formal reference check. This can be someone you know who has worked with the candidate, or a credible common connection found on LinkedIn. Reach out to see if they would be open to having a conversation. Do not engage with someone from the candidates current company; the fact the candidate is interviewing with you should be kept confidential. Further, speaking to someone from the candidates current company without their permission could jeopardize their job and both of your reputations.
Best practice
Create a standard set of questions to use when checking references that each department adheres to, with the option of asking additional questions when necessary. See page 55 in the Appendix for a sample set of reference questions.
Background Checks
If your company requires a background check, this is the time in the process to get that information together. Let the candidate know that an offer is contingent on a background check. Each state has laws on how and when background checks can be conducted, so be sure to start there. For additional information, see this great article from Forbes, The 10 Dos and Donts of Conducting Employee Background Checks.
Creating Competitive Compensation Plans

In order to create a competitive compensation plan for a candidate, you must have knowledge of what the candidate is currently earning and what their requirements are to make a move. Tools like PayScale.com and Advanced-HR.com (which runs an annual compensation survey of VC-backed companies) can help create a compensation breakdown. Market research is key to coming up with a compensation plan.
Presenting the Offer

The person extending the offer should have a good relationship with the candidate. The best person to deliver an offer is the hiring manager, though it could also be a representative from HR or the talent specialist who recruited the candidate. Whoever ends up presenting the offer should always do so first over the phone before any documentation is sent out. That person should reiterate the selling points of the position and the company and be sure to keep the conversation positive. The excitement they convey over the phone will rub off on the candidate. If the hiring manager lacks experience extending offers, be sure to have the talent specialist follow up
with the candidate soon after to gauge his or her interest and continue selling the offer. Alternatively, consider having the talent specialist join the call. Be sure the hiring manager has all the details of the offer in writing for reference during the call, including benefits and time off information. Managers should be coached on driving the candidate to verbal acceptance, and discussing a potential start date. If a verbal acceptance is withheld after the offer is made, find out why. Is the candidate concerned with the compensation package? Do they have reservations about the position? Any concerns should be addressed as soon as possible. What to Include in the Offer Letter When putting together an offer letter for a candidate, certain items should appear in the body of the letter. These include:
Name of employee Name of company Title of position Start date Salary/hourly rate Exempt or non-exempt status Bonus/other incentives Benefits Who the position reports to Legalities (at-will employment, etc.) Job description (could be attachment)
There should also be a deadline for acceptance, typically 48 hours to one week. The more time allowed (and the more time it takes) the less likely it is that the person will accept. Setting a deadline will also set the stakeholders expectations on when to expect an answer, and allows the opportunity to offer the role to another candidate should the first one reject the offer.
Note: If your company creates an offer letter template, legal counsel and/or HR should be consulted.
Preparing for Rejections or Counter Offers

While awaiting a response from your written offer, its worth spending some time anticipating a counter offer. Review your notes to see what the candidate was looking for in an offer. Maybe he or she wanted at least three weeks of vacation or the ability to occasionally work from home. If your offer is not on par with the candidates expectations, the chances of it being accepted are low. Prepare yourself for the possibility that the candidate could accept a counter offer from his or her current employer or simply reject your offer altogether. If it is financially possible, you may consider countering the counter offer, but this can be a slippery slope and you may end up losing the candidate anyway. Do not close the search until you have a signed offer letter in hand and the candidate has given notice to their current employer. This way, should the candidate reject the offer, you do not have to start from scratch.
4 Wild Cards to Consider When Making an Offer

Extending an offer to a candidate often involves far more than developing a compensation and benefits package, and establishing a start date. Details like the hours of the job, vacation time, working remotely, and relocation provisions should all be discussed during the interview process and reiterated when an offer is delivered. Here are tips for handling four common issues for new hires:
1.
Working Remotely: There are pros and cons to hiring someone to work remotely. Some positions require the employee to be on-site every day. Other positions, particularity software engineering, Web development, and field sales roles, dont necessarily require on-site schedules. Even recruiting could easily be performed from home, as long as there is sufficient interaction with the team and hiring managers.
Your company should develop a protocol and appropriate policy around telecommuting and hiring remote employees. This can include how work will be submitted, the hours employees are expected to be available, and to whom they are to report. The benefits of considering remote employees include a deepening of the talent pool you can tap into and reduced costs on common office expenses.
Flexible Schedules: Creating flexible schedules outside of the 9-to-5 realm for some hires is an
option. For example, if a great candidate has to leave early one or two days per week for personal reasons, there should be an option to make up those hours other days either from home or in the office. Again, its important to consult legal counsel in setting up such policies.
Relocation: Determine if your company will consider relocating potential candidates. You may want
to consider implementing a protocol around senior-level candidates relocating after their first six to 12 months. For example, the perfect candidate for a VP-level position may be out of state and unable to move until selling the family home. In this case, the employee might work remotely for the first year, commuting into the area as necessary. Having such a policy also can open the applicant pool to candidates who otherwise may have been excluded from consideration. Often offering relocation support can set you apart from other companies; however, its common to require a relocation repayment agreement should a candidate join and leave within a certain period of time (e.g., one year). Consult your HR or legal counsel on such agreements.
4.
Visas: This might sound obvious, but you must ensure that each candidate is legally authorized to work in the U.S. This can be determined either through a pre-screen questionnaire during the initial application process or during the job interview. If an individual is not legally entitled to work in the U.S., your company will have to decide whether or not to sponsor the potential employee. If you decide to pursue sponsorship, see pages 57-59 of the Appendix for an overview of the visa process for new hires. If you decide not to sponsor the individual, for legal purposes it is advisable not to disclose the reason with the candidate.
Ensuring Employee Retention

Beyond hiring great candidates, your companys success depends on your ability to retain those top performers over the long term. In addition to the other methods, such as offering competitive compensation and opportunities for career growth, your talent team can be instrumental in improving employee retention. The suggestions below demonstrate how your talent team can help do so:
Host a networking event: This will attract talent to your company, and also give your employees an
opportunity to share their excitement about their role in your companys mission.
Create content highlighting employees successes: By highlighting employees who won awards or
hackathons, or who achieved personal success through charity work, for example, you are showing that you care about your employees both professionally and personally, and giving other employees an example to follow.
Include team members in the interview process: In each search have one or two peers interview
a candidate to assess attitude and cultural fit. It will show your employees that their opinions are valued, and allow the candidate to learn more about the atmosphere of the company.
Talent Factory Execution is All About Smart Planning

As this chapter has shown, recruiting top talent to your organization requires a great deal of preparation and collaboration. It is absolutely critical that you have specific processes in place to manage each phase of the hiring process, and that all stakeholders are on the same page in terms of what they are looking for in a top candidate. You also probably noticed that we mentioned the need to document the applicants and candidates that flow into your business during the recruiting process, and this is where tools like an applicant tracking system (ATS) or a customized database can help. In the next chapter, we will explore those tools and several others that can make your talent factory more efficient, effective, and valuable.
The math of replacing members of an organization is rarely in an organizations favor. Successful companies put great effort into identifying the right candidates, devoting man-hours toward having multiple team members interview candidates. Once they reach a decision to hire they devote time to training and getting the person comfortable with and knowledgeable of the systems already in place. If a company has gone through all that effort once, then why wouldnt it put more effort into retaining those people rather than constantly having to hunt for their replacements and start from scratch? Its a much smarter investment of resources to figure out if employees are likely to leave and then do everything in your power to keep them, rather than wait for them to declare that theyre leaving for reasons you could have addressed earlier.
Chad OConnor, Adjunct Professor of Organizational Communication and Culture at Northeastern University, Editor of the Global Business Hub blog on Boston.com
Chapter 4:
Employing the Tools (and Technology) of the Recruiting Trade

Like any factory, a talent factory will not function optimally without the right tools and technology. Software products like an applicant tracking system (ATS), for instance, can help talent specialists manage their recruiting process more effectively, while using the right job sites and having a standout careers page can make sourcing the right candidates much more efficient. In this chapter, we will cover the recruiting technologies that will allow your team to perform at the highest level and successfully attract the top talent so that you can compete with other companies in your industry. By the end of this section, you will understand what an ATS is and why you need one, and you will possess best practices for identifying and leveraging the myriad job sites available today.
What is an Applicant Tracking System?

An ATS is a software solution that enables recruiters to manage candidates in the recruitment process. It is similar to a customer relationship management (CRM) system, but designed specifically for recruiting. Without an ATS, your team will struggle to manage the influx of candidates that you will receive from job postings and proactive sourcing. Additionally, talent specialists will be unable to monitor each others activity, causing them to sometimes reach out to the same candidate for different roles or double their efforts on the same role. Purchasing an ATS for your talent team is a big step toward preventing those issues, but you should not choose one on a whim not all ATS solutions are the same. To ensure that you pick the ATS that is right for you, take the time to do your due diligence about the product, keeping these six things in mind:
1.
Usability
You want an ATS that is user friendly and straightforward. You dont want to burden your team with an eight-hour training session just to learn how to input a candidates information. Do your research, take a tour of the system, and go through the demonstrations on how to utilize the system. If you are not confident that every person on your team will be able to use the system correctly and efficiently, look elsewhere.
2.
Customization
Every organization and team is different. You dont want an ATS that you must conform to; you want one that conforms to you. Make sure you can customize statuses, required information, format, etc. That way your team can tailor the system for your needs and the way you plan to use it. Additionally, you will want to make sure that you are able to change the customizations as needed if the team decides on a new process.
3.
Job Postings and Applications

Can you post jobs on your companys website through the ATS? If so, are applications submitted through the website automatically inputted into the ATS for your team to review? They should be. This makes the application review process much more streamlined. It also ensures that every application is entered into your ATS, even if the candidate is not a fit for the particular job he or she applied for.
4.
Cost
Everything else being equal, it makes sense to go with the most cost-effective option. But make sure to try to get the best system for the money. Also, inquire about extra costs. Are upgrades included? How about job postings? How many accounts are included in the upfront cost? How much does each extra account cost? Are there discounts for a certain number of seats purchased at once? Make sure you consider these items.
5.
Customer Support
Be sure to read reviews on the product and on customer support response in particular. Even great products have issues, and poor customer support can be very frustrating, compounding the problem. Find out if you will be assigned one relationship manager you can contact with any issues, or if you will have to call the number provided and risk being on hold for a while.
6.
Hosted or Cloud/SaaS
Hosted solutions are slower to change and fix. A cloud or SaaS system may be the better option. The ramp-up, upgrades, and fixes are quicker, and you have the option to access the system remotely. Pricing for an ATS varies depending on the system and your needs, but starts at $99 per month. Some of the best applicant tracking systems include:
ATS Best Practices

Before your team starts utilizing an ATS, you need to ensure that best practices are in place for how to use it. Otherwise, there wont be consistency in basic but crucial information, such as the coding and notes on each candidate profile. An unorganized or hard-tosearch ATS will make the money you spent on the system seem like a waste. Here are some best practices and processes to decide on before you start using your ATS:
Entering Candidates: Which candidates will your team enter into the ATS? Every candidate they
reach out to? Every candidate they get a response from? Or maybe just the candidates they talk to? This is the first decision to make and it will vary depending on how your team works. It is generally a good idea to enter every candidate that is reached out to. At a minimum, this will help create a database of candidates that your team can refer to.
Contact Information: Its wise to require certain contact information for every candidate entered
(for example, an e-mail address). Its of little use to have candidates in the ATS who cannot be contacted. Additionally, make sure that the contact information is updated as needed.
Statuses: Most systems allow you to customize statuses to your needs. Your team should decide
which statuses make the most sense. These may include reached out, pursuing, interviewing, rejected, offer, etc. Additionally, make sure your team keeps the candidates status updated throughout the process.
Notes: There are many ways to utilize the notes feature in an ATS, but your team needs to decide
how they will use it. Talent specialists should enter notes on candidates any time they communicate with a candidate or the status of the candidacy changes. Otherwise, the notes will get messy and it will be difficult for team members to decipher them. Also, will you require notes on every contact that a team member makes with a candidate, or only the important ones? Some significant items to include are the role contacted for, response and interest in the position, interview days/ times, and any notes from the interview that would be helpful for future reference. Finally, if you are going to use abbreviations like em for e-mail or lm for left message, make sure everyone knows what they mean. Other ATS features that may be helpful to your team include e-mail templates, candidate lists, and skill coding. Whichever ones you use, its important that there is a streamlined process for utilizing and managing your ATS. This not only strengthens the hiring process, it also allows every team member to understand the notes and status of each candidate and step into a search if needed, helping ensure a positive candidate experience.
Job-posting Outlets
Posting jobs is not as straightforward as it was when you simply placed an ad in the newspaper. These days, there are hundreds of job websites out there, some of which appeal to unique, segmented audiences or role-specific job seekers. While it may seem like a sensible strategy to cover your bases by posting to as many job sites as possible, that is not realistic because of the time and cost it would require. With so many options, choosing the job posting sites that are right for your company and position can be daunting. How should you decide? Start by researching and considering these factors:
Cost: A job posting can range from free to $500 or more, so first assess the cost and
whether it fits your budget; then evaluate other factors, such as the breadth of the audience the job posting will reach and the caliber of candidates who apply. It is also important to consider how long you will need to have the job posted before it is filled. A posting for 15 days at $100 is cheaper upfront, but it costs more per day than a 60-day posting for $300. If filling the position is expected to be quick and easy, the 15-day option would make more sense for you.
ROI: Similar to outright cost, you need to evaluate the expected return on investment
for each posting, which will vary for each job within each company. To determine ROI:
Compare the cost of the posting with how much this hire will benefit the
company and how quickly the role needs to be filled. A high-producing sales person might be worth spending money on a posting. If filling the position is not urgent, it may make more sense to recruit heavily through less expensive sourcing tactics.
Speak with a representative from the job board you are considering in order to
ascertain the average number of applicants received per posting, and the percentage of people who apply after viewing a posting. Also, ask about site traffic volume and request testimonials or reviews from clients who have used the site. Well-established sites will readily make this information available to you.
Ask if there is a trial period in which you could test out the site before com-
mitting to purchasing a job slot or a package of slots. This is a great way to see first-hand the caliber of applicants. Similarly, ask about any guarantees (e.g., receive 50 applications or your money back). These may exist but be unadvertised, so it is worth asking about.
Target Market: There are numerous job boards that cater to a certain industry or
skill set (i.e., Stack Overflow for programmers and software developers). Look for those first they might be the best way to reach the specific candidate profile you are seeking. Many of them are free, too. Also, most professional groups and organizations have websites and/or listservs; they may be willing to post the position on their sites or send it to group members in an e-mail.
Leading Job Posting Sites

Posting jobs requires an understanding of where applicants are looking. IT professionals may be scouring IT-specific job boards, whereas those who are earning six figures may gravitate toward a site that can provide them with jobs within their compensation range. Here is a brief list of some of the best options for posting your positions:
Site
Monster.com
Specialty
Entry level
Cost
Price determined by the number of days a posting is up Slightly pricier than Monster.com; price determined by how many job slots are bundled together Purchase per posting or a package Price dependent on sites the job is posted on
Audience
Entry level up to middle management
CareerBuilder
Entry level
Entry level up to middle management
Dice
IT jobs
IT professionals
ZipRecruiter
Posting jobs on 30+ sites (Indeed, Simply Hired, Oodle, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, etc.) N/A
Varies with posting sites
Craigslist
$0-$50 depending on location Set price for 30 days (money-back guarantee if not satisfied with candidates) Membership required Free membership and customizable posting options Free
Usually best for lowerlevel jobs Engineers
Stack Overflow
Software engineers
ExecuNet TheLadders
Executives $100K+ positions
Executives Middle managementexecutive level professionals That particular universitys alumni network
University websites
Entry level
6 Options for Leveraging LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the worlds largest professional network, with more than 200 million members in over 200 countries and territories. With those numbers, and the fact that LinkedIn essentially acts as an online resume for users, it is not surprising that the site has quickly become an extremely popular and valuable place for recruiters to source potential candidates, network with them, and even post job openings. A personal LinkedIn account is free, but premium membership upgrades are available that offer enhanced search and communication features, and increased access to other LinkedIn users. Here are some options for using LinkedIn to get the most out of your sourcing and job posting efforts:
1.
Personal Account Upgrades

These plans are geared toward the public and provide some premium benefits. All options allow you to see full profiles of anyone in your network (including third-degree connections) as well as who has viewed your profile. You will also receive additional profile views per search, premium search filters, and extra InMails. There are three different levels of personal account upgrades.
2.
Recruiters Personal Account Upgrades

These plans are designed to fit the needs of a recruiter. They are more expensive than the ones outlined above, but they also provide additional organizational benefits, including help with sourcing for searches and priority customer service. There are also three levels of Talent plans.
3.
LinkedIn Recruiter Options

These plans do not work off of your personal account but rather provide you with a different dashboard. This option also has an ATS-like feature called Talent Pipeline. There are two options to choose from, Recruiter Small Business and Recruiter Corporate. Both options include the following features:
Allows you to see the full profiles of third-degree connections Provides you with premium search with advanced filters and search alerts Allows you to view similar profiles 50 InMails per month Pipeline management
4.
Recruiter Small Business

This provides one account for the company; it would be good for a one-person talent team or a consultant, but not for a full talent factory. This plan offers monthly and annual billing options, with a slightly reduced rate for an annual membership. Importantly, this option limits the amount of profile views for people outside your network and does not allow for collaboration between team members.
5.
Recruiter Corporate
This is the best option for a talent factory or recruiting teams that want to collaborate on searches. Like the Recruiter Small Business plan, this plan offers monthly and annual billing options, with a slightly reduced rate for an annual membership. This option also allows you to view unlimited profiles outside of your network, and you can share all of your folders and notes with team members. This is great for teams trying to avoid doubling efforts for one search.
6.
Job Postings
LinkedIn is also a great place to post jobs and can even attract passive candidates because the site automatically suggests Jobs you may be interested in right on the home page. Postings may be made from either a personal account or a recruiter account. With the latter, slots are good for one year and can be switched to advertise other positions as often as you like.
What to Look for When Selecting a Sourcing Tool

One big key to success in creating a talent factory is having resources available that help your talent team build a solid pipeline. A sourcing tool (such as TalentBin or Dice) differs from a posting site because the sourcing tool allows the recruiter to sift through candidates and proactively reach out to potential candidates for a position. Because the majority of your talent teams time will be spent sourcing candidates, it is critical to provide them with an avenue that allows them to efficiently mine candidate profiles. There are myriad sourcing sites to choose from (see sidebar, Exploring the Best Sourcing Sites), and each of those resources can be helpful in different ways. As you begin to explore each site, be sure to consider the following factors:
ROI
The cost of the resource you choose must provide ample return on your investment. Inquire about trials or guarantees. Read reviews and customer statements. Evaluate whether your sourcing resource is resulting in quicker hires and saving you money in the long run. Certain sites are geared toward particular markets. For example, TalentBin and Dice are geared toward IT professionals. If you are heavily hiring in one area, these sites will attract the best talent in that field. If you hire for a variety of backgrounds, a more general site may be your best bet. Do you have to pay per seat? If so, is there a discount if you bundle seats together? Depending on the size of your talent team, the number of open positions, and the typical daily workload of each talent specialist, it may be more cost effective to have team members share seats, as long as it doesnt affect their productivity.
Target markets
Accounts
Choosing a sourcing resource is an important decision, as your talent team will use this tool daily. While you may also post jobs on some of these sites, the sourcing plan is a different subscription that you will need to put even more thought into. You want to make sure you choose the one(s) that will allow the team to find the right candidates as efficiently as possible, while also staying within your recruiting budget.
Improving Your Companys Careers Page

At its most basic, a company careers page is simply a destination for candidates and prospects to peruse open opportunities with your business and learn more about your company. But make no mistake: Your companys careers page should be more than a bland listing of open positions. It should also clearly outline your employee value proposition the balance of the rewards and benefits that employees receive in return for their performance at the workplace so potential candidates can see what it is like to work for your company. It should also make it easy for potential candidates to apply for open jobs. When building a careers page be sure to include the following:
Job postings
List all of your public, open positions on the site. After all, this is a page for potential candidates. Once they realize how attractive your company is to work for, it should be as easy as possible for them to hit Apply. Additionally, be sure to have a general application option. This allows candidates to submit their resumes for future consideration if no posted positions match their profile.
About page /video
Not all candidates will immediately know who you are or what you do. Some may come across your job posting through a search. Set your company apart by clearly explaining what you do and defining your culture and values. Some companies portray these things with a Hiring Video, which is a great way to set your company apart and get candidates excited about the prospect of working with you.
Benefits
Be sure to list some of the benefits your company offers, both quantitative (healthcare coverage, paid time off, bonuses, etc.) and qualitative (flexible schedule, employee outings, etc.). There is no need to get into great detail, but be sure to include anything that sets you apart from other companies (daily free lunch, bring your dog to work day, sit/stand work stations, etc.).
Photos
Be proud of your employees and your office space! Show off with photos of everyday work as well as any extra activities. Doing so will give candidates a more intimate glimpse into your company culture and help them picture themselves actually working there.
Contact information
Include a contact, whether it be a general jobs@company.com e-mail address or the name, e-mail, and phone number of someone on your talent team. If candidates have questions or just want to follow up on their application, it should be clear how to do that.
Equipping Your Team with the Tools it Needs to Succeed

Can your talent factory function without the tools and resources that we covered in this chapter? Maybe, but it will not perform at the level that most expansion-stage companies need it to. Technology like an ATS, and resources like audience-specific job sites, a creative careers page, and candidate sourcing sites can function collectively to make your talent teams work more effective and efficient. Additionally, the final benefit of equipping your talent team with the right recruiting technology is that it will help you easily track your teams activity through metrics. In the next chapter, we will cover the basic metrics you should use to measure and analyze your talent factorys performance, and explain why a data-driven approach will make it much easier to effectively manage your team.
Chapter 5:
Deploying Metrics to Measure and Improve Your Talent Factory

Today, smart business processes are fueled by data. It objectively analyzes your performance and reveals trends or activities that can guide you in the right direction. Datas role in a talent factory is no different. By implementing a system of documentation and recruiting metrics, you will be able to see and evaluate the tactical work each talent specialist is completing, as well as identify opportunities to improve inefficiencies and remove impediments. Simply put, leveraging recruiting metrics will allow you to take a metrics-based, data-driven approach to decision making, which will lead to greater productivity and effectiveness of your talent team. In this chapter, we will cover the most important metrics for you to track, and provide advice for translating that information into actions you can take to improve performance.
How to Track Your Talent Factorys Success

How can you tell if you talent team is on its way to becoming a factory? The best way to measure the success of your talent team is with analytics. By following each talent specialists productivity and requisition activity, you can gather insight into how your talent factory works, its capacity, and what most often causes breakdowns or inefficiencies. Here are three things your talent factory must track to accurately evaluate its performance:
1.
Team activity: Document open requisitions by recruiter to gauge each recruiters capacity for taking on
new searches. Additionally, because not all searches conclude with a new hire and instead can be terminated due to reprioritizing, budgeting, and restructuring track closed searches and the reason each search closed. The continued measurement of these details will allow you to see if there is a breakdown in the selection process when determining whether to take on a new requisition.
2.
Requisition activity: Once you know which searches your talent team is working on, track their activity segmented by requisition. Without documenting activity, it can be extremely difficult to stay focused, and easy to lose sight of what is transpiring within a search. Tracking activity will give you the opportunity to look objectively at each search, recognize inefficiencies and impediments, and change tactics for improvement.
It will also allow you to see exactly where each search stands in the hiring process, so anyone on the team can be inserted into a search at any time. Lastly, documenting specific notes on candidates will allow you to keep a more comprehensive profile on each candidate should you engage them in the future. For each open requisition the talent specialist should track logistical information as well: Engagement
Which candidates were sourced for the target list Source of candidate (LinkedIn, referral, etc.) Which candidates were contacted for the role Initial contact date
Candidate Information
Contact information (e-mail, phone, website, location) Resume and other application material
Candidate Status and Detailed Feedback

Candidate status in the hiring process Notes from each interview If the candidate is no longer in process, detailed feedback as to why
3.
Daily activity: By keeping tabs on how and what your team does every day, you can measure important ratios such as the number of candidates sourced versus the number of candidates interviewed; the number of candidates interviewed versus the number of offers presented; and the number of offers presented versus the number of hires. Tracking these ratios will help the talent specialists to improve upon their own recruitment strategy.
For example, if it takes a talent specialist 10 first interviews to receive positive feedback on a candidate from the hiring manager, spend some time analyzing what the breakdown is. It may be that the hiring manager is looking for specific traits that are not listed as requirements in the job description. Knowing that, the talent specialist can change his or her strategy to better focus the search. For each search, be sure to track the number of:
Candidate applications Candidates sourced Candidate interviews Candidates sent to Candidates interviewed with hiring
manager/internal stakeholder
Offers extended Offer rejected Offers accepted/hires
hiring manager
In the table below, you will see the metrics listed above tracked in a simple dashboard, representing a weeks worth of activity.
Weeks Elapsed Since Start of Search Candidates Reached Out to This Week Phone Interviews This Week Candidates Sent to Hiring Manager This Week
Search
Applications This Week
Offers Extended
Offers Accepted
Offers Not Accepted
Search Closed
Software Engineer Director of Product Marketing Sales Director (3 total) VP, Finance Director of Sales Operations Business Development Rep. (2 total) QA Engineer JavaScript Developer Strategic Marketing Manager Lead Architect VP, Business Development Administrative Assistant
31 0 (not posted) 56 0 (not posted) 22
43
32
4 2
80 33
7 4
3 2
1 of 3 0
1 0
0 0
1 of 3 0
38
79
58
10
1 of 2
1 of 2
1 of 2
4 8
88 43
34 49
4 6
1 5
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
15 0 (not posted) 0 (not posted) 29
28
9 6 2
27 55 60
2 4 10
1 3 4
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
In addition to daily activity, each talent specialist should track their weekly goals and determine whether or not they achieved them. The talent specialists should report this during their retrospective meeting at the end of each week, and plan adjustments accordingly for the following week.
Why Reporting Metrics Is Important

While tracking the data above is important, reporting on metrics will allow you to take a more analytical approach to hiring by targeting efficiencies, headcount, and cost. There are countless metrics that you could use to do that, but make sure you choose metrics that make sense according to your organizational goals and business strategy. For standardization and adoption, it is also important that members of the talent team understand the meaning and purpose of each metric, as well as how to measure them. Your talent team will need to record their metrics in a centralized location, whether it be in a communal spreadsheet or in your ATS. Each team member is responsible for reporting their number.
Here are seven common recruiting metrics that are worth tracking as you build and develop your talent factory:
1. Time-to-hire
This can be tracked in three ways: the time from search kickoff to accepted offer, the number of hours spent on each requisition, and the breakdown of time-to-hire (i.e., the intervals of time from when the candidate was sourced, to when they were screened, to when they were interviewed, etc.). This metric will provide valuable data on the hiring process and the workload of each recruiter.
5. Cost per hire

Similar to a sales team measuring customer acquisition costs, this metric will help you weigh the financial investment your company must make to attract and recruit new hires. It is worth noting that this number will fluctuate based on the volume of searches and fixed recruiting costs.
6.
2. Source of hire
With this metric, the goal is to track the number of top candidates and successful hires that came from targeted sources (LinkedIn, referrals, college fairs, etc.). That will allow you to measure the effectiveness of sources over time.
Manager satisfaction While this metric is somewhat subjective as well, obtaining feedback on each search from the stakeholders involved will allow you to see what worked, what didnt work, and what you can improve upon internally for the next search. You can send out an internal survey to determine this. Applicant satisfaction By creating a standardized survey that measures a candidates experience during the recruiting process, you can collect feedback that will assist in creating changes that improve the overall candidate experience in the future
3.
7.
Retention rate Following the retention rate of new hires can help you improve recruitment and employee retention policies.
4. Quality/productivity of hire
Though this can be difficult to measure because it is partly based on subjective feedback and the time it takes for a candidate to get up to speed in a new role, tracking this metric will allow you to stay updated on the new hires success after being onboarded.
Documenting the recruiting process and adhering to metrics ensures a consistent, repeatable process, and is the foundation of building a successful talent team. To be effective, however, your metrics need to be actionable. And in order for them to be actionable, you need to establish benchmarks for each metric. Doing that requires that you analyze your metrics quarterly to get an understanding of your average for each one. Once you have implemented your recruiting metrics and benchmarks and are tracking the success and failure of the recruitment function, use them to drive recruitment behavior. For example, if your retention rate has fallen by 15 percent quarter over quarter, you need to first look into the reason for the decline. If the reason is not clear (i.e., there was no significant event that would have clearly skewed the metric), then you need to look into your retention programs and put together an action plan with the goal of reducing the turnover rate. Once you have deployed the desired action plan, you can then measure its effectiveness/ROI by measuring the change in the retention rate.
Metrics are Much More Than a Numbers Game

Its important to note that almost all recruiting metrics focus on past events and what has changed over time. Although these numbers are telling, its important to dig in and get to the root of the cause before taking action. Ask your team why something happened and what the possible causes were. For instance, if manager satisfaction has decreased quarter over quarter, or turnover has increased by 10 percent year over year, try to put those numbers into context by looking into what went wrong, and how to make actionable improvements based on what you find out. Its also important to review your metrics quarterly so that you can create a call-to-action in a timely manner if you notice a trend or breakdown in your recruiting process. Doing so will also allow you to judge whether certain metrics are truly providing meaningful insight, or if they are actually irrelevant to your talent factorys hiring process.
End Note
Developing a talent factory is no small undertaking. To be truly effective, it requires a significant amount of preparatory work (hiring a director of talent and a team of talent specialists, exploring the tenets of your companys culture, identifying the core skill sets that the team will look for, etc.), as well as execution and measurement. But the payoff from building a talent factory certainly can justify the time and resources you invest in it. Not only will a talent factory help your expansion-stage business compete for top talent today, but it will also help you manage that talent and your corporate image in the marketplace well into the future. Those benefits alone could put your business at a significant advantage. After all, if you are able to create an in-house recruiting machine that saves you money and makes your company a more desirable place to work, you will be one big step ahead of almost every other business in your market. And in the volatile world of expansion-stage growth, advantages like that can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure.
Appendix
Checklist for the CEO
I understand that the director of talents role is to implement and manage the talent factory so that the executive team and I can make the best decisions to support the hiring and retention of top talent in the company. I have developed a plan to hire a director of talent and outlined his/her responsibilities for implementing and managing the talent factory I have scheduled regular meetings with the director of talent to discuss talent and HR-related updates We have agreed on a series of metrics and reports that the director of talent will provide to me and the executive team on a regular basis I will make myself available to provide continued guidance and support as needed
Checklist for the Director of Talent

As the director of talent, I understand that I play a vital role in overseeing the entire talent management process, which informs the executive team to make sound talent-related decisions and supports the hiring and retaining of top talent in the company. I have worked with the executive team to develop an annual talent plan for the company entailing hiring targets, budget, and goals I have established a reporting schedule to communicate the progress of talent-related targets (hiring, budget spent, goal progress, etc.) to the executive team I have outlined a model for designing and overseeing a successful talent factory in the company I have developed a plan to hire and manage talent specialists in order for the company to achieve its hiring and other HR-related targets I have daily and weekly meetings scheduled with my talent team to evaluate the progress of our targets, discuss and address issues, implement best practices, and capitalize on new opportunities
Checklist for the Talent Specialist(s)

As a talent specialist, I understand that I play an important role in addressing the companys human resource needs by managing the candidate recruitment process and hiring top talent in the company. I will regularly discuss new role requests and my capacity with the director of talent and the talent team, prioritize the list of roles according to the sense of urgency, and develop a work plan to recruit the hires accordingly I will communicate with the hiring managers on a regular basis to provide them with compensation reports (as needed) and updates on the progress of searches, solicit feedback on the candidates identified, and continue or modify the search process accordingly I will reach out/communicate with employee referrals in a timely manner I will regularly participate in external recruitment events to explore new talent pools and identify potential candidates
Checklist for the Hiring Manager

As the hiring manager, I understand that I am responsible for making sound hiring decisions for my department and will work closely with the talent team to ensure that we identify and recruit the best candidate for the role that we are seeking to fill. I have scheduled a meeting with the talent specialist that will be recruiting for the role and have provided him/her with a clear job description and a compensation band (salary, bonus, and equity) the role offers I will review/approve the work plan for each new role request on a timely basis I will provide the talent specialist with a timeline on when the role should be filled, the level of urgency, and other notes associated with the role to help support the search I will make myself available to speak and meet with suitable candidates as often as possible and respond to interview requests in a timely manner I will provide timely feedback to the talent specialist about each candidate across every step of the recruiting process (i.e., resume screen, phone interviews, in-person interviews, etc.)
Common Recruiting Challenges and Their Solutions

Challenge
Broken feedback loop (Talent team is not receiving timely feedback from hiring managers or stakeholders) Underperforming members of your talent team
Solution
Set up a meeting with the stakeholders in the search to regroup. Go over expectations for feedback and explain that if filling the role is not a priority it should be put on hold until all stakeholders will be able to commit to it. Also, if you dont already have one, set up a weekly update call with the hiring manager and stress that they adhere to participating. Meet with the team member to address your concerns; be open and honest with your feedback. Find out if there is something they need help with and go over any impediments or questions they may have. Follow up by having weekly meetings with that team member to review their progress and performance. Have the talent specialist call the candidate to better understand and help rectify the issue. A call will mean much more to the candidate than an e-mail. The candidate should leave the call feeling positive about the company. Reach out to the candidate to find out why they are withholding their response and if there are any issues with the offer that can be resolved. Be sure to give them a deadline to respond; this should prevent any further delayed response. Remind the candidate of their original motivation for finding a new job; it is likely that it was not financial, and they will see that staying with their current company will not change their situation. If possible, increase the offer to match the counter offer or consider adding a sign-on bonus. This will show the candidate your eagerness to have them join the team. Change your messaging and see what candidates respond to. Maybe its flattery, maybe its highlighting awards and company growth, or maybe its accentuating the benefits of working for your company. In addition, follow up a few times with target candidates before giving up on them. Get creative: Join Meetup groups or host networking events for specific skill sets. Attend job fairs in the area. Set up a referral program for both internal and external use. Implement a University Recruiting Program to attract candidates out of schools. Set your company apart from the rest.
Disgruntled candidates
A candidates response to an offer is delayed
A candidate has received a counter offer
Lack of response from sourcing activity
Recruiting in a saturated market
Standard Templates for Applicant Communications

Response to unsolicited resume:
Dear Applicant, Thank you for sending your resume to XYZ Company. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our company. Should an appropriate position be identified, we will contact you to discuss any possible next steps. Thank you. The XYZ Company Talent Team
Rejection to candidate not interviewed:

Hello [Name], Thank you for your interest in XYZ Company. Although we were impressed with your background, we have decided to move forward with other candidates whose experience is more similar to the qualifications that we are looking for at this time. We will keep your resume on file in the event that a future opening at XYZ Company may become available. Thank you again for your interest in XYZ Company. Kind regards, The XYZ Company Talent Team
Rejection to candidate who was interviewed:

Hello [Name], Thank you for your interest in XYZ Company. We appreciate the time you took from your schedule to participate in the interview process for the position, but regret to inform you that we have decided not to move forward with your candidacy at this time. We will keep your resume on file in the event that a future opening at XYZ Company may become available. Thank you again for your interest in XYZ Company. Kind regards, The XYZ Company Talent Team
Sample Job Descriptions

Director of Talent Job Description
ABC Companys explosive growth requires HR leadership expertise and involvement in many areas of the company, particularly guidance and support for the recruiting team. Additionally, the Director/VP of Talent will be responsible for refining and executing ABCs People strategy, working with a combination of internal and external resources. As a member of the leadership team with multifunctional accountability, our Director of Talent has budget responsibility and reports to the CEO. Specific Responsibilities Include:
Lead a team of recruiters in providing a superior employee experience at ABC Provide support and guidance to a team of recruiters Manage employee relations, benefits, compensation, talent development, and compliance Build and maintain ABCs positive culture and brand as an employer of choice
Qualifications:
B.S. or B.A. in human resources or equivalent Minimum 10 years of general HR experience including recruitment (high-growth environment
strongly preferred)
Demonstrated success in a fast-paced, small company and/or startup
ABC offers highly competitive salaries and great benefits. We operate in a casual, high-tech environment, feed ourselves with a catered lunch every day, work pretty hard, have a lot of fun, and enjoy bringing together some of the smartest and friendliest people around.
Talent Specialist Job Description

ABC Company is looking for a talent specialist to join its recruiting team. The qualified candidate will have a record of success leading full life cycle recruitment initiatives, and have proven themselves as a leader in their school or work experience. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about recruitment to make a serious impact on growing technology companies by helping them bring the best possible people on board. Specific Responsibilities Include:
Working closely with hiring managers across the company Sourcing active and passive candidates, conducting phone interviews, scheduling in-person inter-
views with hiring managers, conducting reference checks, and delivering offers to candidates
Driving the hiring process from initial requisition to candidate acceptance in a timely manner,
according to a predefined priority system and estimated start date
Qualifications:
Bachelors degree and a strong academic record 2-5 years experience in full life cycle recruiting for full-time positions, including senior-level roles Outstanding leadership experience in school or at work Very strong interest in technology and the business of technology A passion for recruiting and helping companies grow by connecting them with top talent Aspiration to become an operational specialist in recruiting for technology companies
Skills:
Exceptional communication skills (oral and written) Ability to manage projects and complete searches on specified deadlines A very flexible self-starter Meticulous attention to detail; a perfectionist Familiarity with applicant tracking systems, such as LinkedIns ATS, is preferred
Common Behavioral Interviewing Questions

Competency
Accountability, Organizational Skills, Decision Making
Behavioral Interview Questions

Please describe in detail a project that you were responsible for.
How did you carry out the project and what were the end results?
When given an important assignment with strict deadlines, how do you
approach it?
How have you adjusted your style when it was not meeting the objectives and/
or people were not responding correctly? Agility

Tell me about a time when you had to take on a new role, or new tasks.
Describe the situation and what you did.

Describe a situation where you had to adjust your own behavior or style to
build relationships with those who have different styles/cultures/values.

Tell me about a project that did not go according to plan. What corrections did
you make and what were the results?

How well do you adapt to new situations? Provide an example.
Communication
Tell me about a time when you had to introduce a new idea. How did you do it? Describe a time when you received information about a project or work-related
item that was critical to success. How did you share the information with the team? When did you share the information?
How do you go about explaining a problem to a person who does not
understand the technical jargon?

Competency
Critical Thinking, Decision Making
Behavioral Interview Questions

Provide me with a specific example of a time when you used good judgment
and logic in solving a problem.

Tell me about a difficult decision youve made in the last year. Describe the steps you go through to make an important decision.
Please provide an example.

We sometimes work in an environment where the guidelines are not clear. Tell
me about a time you have experienced this. How did you react?
What have you learned from your mistakes?
Development (self and others)
Describe a time when you were not satisfied with your own performance, or the
performance of someone who reported to you. What did you do about it?
How do you go about setting goals, for yourself and for those you manage? How do you coach an employee? Give me an example of a situation you think highlights your leadership skills.
Efficiency, Organizational Skills
What is your process for prioritizing your responsibilities?
Provide an example. What should you do to be more efficient?

Everyone procrastinates at some point. What are the kinds of things that you
procrastinate on?
What do you find helps you manage your time? What do you do when faced with a deadline that is extremely difficult
to meet? Initiative
What have you accomplished that shows your initiative and willingness to work? Tell me about a time when you were instrumental in finding a new,
more efficient way of doing something.

Give me an example of a time when you took the lead. Give me an example of a career goal you set for yourself. Did you achieve it,
and what were some of the obstacles you faced along the way? Persistence
Tell me about a time when you got results when others tried and failed. Tell me about a time when you were the first to take on a tough issue. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty
in order to get a job done.
Illegal Interview Questions and Legal Substitutes

Area of Inquiry
Work/Visa Status, Nationality
Illegal
Are you a U.S. citizen? Where are you from? Where were you born? Is English your first language? What is your native language?
Legal
Are you authorized to work in
the U.S.?
Can you show proof of your eli-
gibility to work in the U.S.?

What languages do you speak?
Family and Marital Status
Are you married? Do you have children? How many children do you have? Do you plan to have children? What child care arrangements do
Are you willing and able to put
in the amount of overtime and travel the position requires? Are you willing to relocate?
What hours and days can you
work?
Do you have responsibili-
you have?
Have you been divorced? Who is your closest relative to
notify in case of an emergency?

What is your maiden name?
ties other than work that will interfere with the specific job requirements?
In case of emergency, who
should we notify?
Do you have any concerns about
Age
How old are you? What year did you graduate? How long have you been working?
working the long hours and travel schedule that this job requires?
Are you able to perform this
Health, Disability Status, Physical Ability
How is your health? Are you pregnant or planning to
become pregnant?
Do you have any disabilities or
job with or without reasonable accommodation?

Do you use illegal drugs? How many unscheduled days of
medical conditions?
Do you smoke/drink? Do you take drugs? How tall are you? How many sick days did you take
work did you miss last year?
last year?
Area of Inquiry
Religious Affiliation
Illegal
What is your religious affiliation? Do you observe [insert religious
Legal
None
holiday]?
Do you belong to a club or social
organization?
Was [insert school name] a [insert
religious affiliation]? Conviction Record, Arrest Record Military Record

Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been convicted of
a crime?
Are you in the National Guard (or What type of education, train-
any reserve unit)?

What type of discharge did you
ing, and work experience did you receive in the military?
receive from the military? Credit

Do you own your own home? Have you ever declared None. Credit reference may be
bankruptcy?
obtained if in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 and the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996
Are you able to start work at
Residence
How far is your commute? Do you live nearby?
8 a.m.?
Are you willing to relocate?
Race, Gender, Sexual Preference
Do you prefer to be addressed by
None
Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Miss?

Any question that would indicate
race or color.
Sample Reference Check Guide

Reference questions will vary by position. This format is intended to provide a general guideline for reference checking. Job Search (Company and Position): Date: The Reference: 1. Confirm the references title and career track 2. How long have you known the candidate? In what context? Candidate Job History: 3. To what position did the candidate report? What roles (if any) reported directly into the candidate? 4. Can you describe the candidates general responsibilities? 5. What was the candidates total compensation? What was the base and the bonus breakdown? (Note: Applicable if the reference was a superior and it is known) 6. What are the standards of successful performance in the candidates role? Describe how the candidate met these standards. 7. Describe any key achievements or discrepancies that occurred during the candidates tenure in the role. Professional Relationships: 8. At (Company Name), how was the candidate regarded by?
Superiors: Clients: Peers: Subordinates:
Candidate Name: Reference Name:
9. Describe the candidates approach to managing, training, developing, and evaluating subordinates. Performance: 10. How would you rate the candidates?
Technical and functional skills Organization capabilities (time management, meeting deadlines, meeting budget, etc.) Staff development capabilities (coaching, mentoring, developing, evaluating) Communication skills (oral and written)
11. What do you consider the candidates key strengths to be? 12. What do you consider the candidates weaknesses to be? 13. How would the candidate best be managed?
Growth Potential: 14. What is the candidates growth potential? How far do you envision this person going professionally? 15. Do you have any concerns about the candidates ability to succeed in the role we are considering them for? Additional Probe: 16. Is there anything else you would like to add? Thank you for your time.
Recruiting Strategy Workflow

Strategic talent acquisition functions have a recruitment strategy to guide team operations. This is a mapped-out workflow plan that can be modified as new recruitment practices develop. Documenting the recruitment strategy will provide your talent team a method to reference, as well as act as a guide for future new hires on the team. 1. Job Description a. Development of job description b. Posting 2. Kickoff a. Meet with hiring manager b. Identify all stakeholders in search c. Hiring managers overview of the role d. Compensation e. Establish weekly hiring manager call 3. Work Plan a. Stakeholders/Decision Makers b. Constraints c. Criteria d. Scope Limitations e. Deliverable/Outcome f. Timeline g. Recruitment Strategy for Search i. Planning ii. Sourcing iii. Screening iv. Interviewing v. Feedback vi. Offer 4. Research on Recruiting Targets a. Target backgrounds b. Target industry c. Target company size d. Target competitors/companies 5. Recruitment Approach a. Best resources for finding candidates based on recruiting targets b. Messaging c. Weekly meeting with hiring manager d. Weekly e-mail documentation of search progress 6. Sourcing a. Direct Sourcing i. Direct contacts ii. Referral program iii. Outbound outreach b. Inbound Screening i. Job applications ii. Sorting applications iii. Screening applications c. Networking i. Events (conferences, trade shows, etc.)
7. Interviewing a. Initial Phone Screen (Recruiter) b. Exploratory Call (Recruiter) c. Phone Interview (Hiring Manager) d. In-person Interview (Who, how many) e. Final Round Interview/Presentation 8. Candidate Rejection Communication a. Timeline for correspondence b. Feedback c. Method of communication i. E-mail ii. Phone 9. Reference Checking a. Superiors b. Peers c. Subordinates d. Backdoor (if applicable) e. Background check (if applicable)
10. Offer a. Delivery i. Compensation base, variable, equity ii. Relocation (if applicable) iii. Miscellaneous iv. Timeline for answer b. Acceptance i. Start date c. Rejection i. Counter offer protocol ii. Exit feedback from candidate d. Post-acceptance communication 11. Onboarding 12. Feedback a. Hiring manager feedback b. Candidate experience survey 13. Scorecard: Record of activity and metrics for search
Visa Types and Requirements

While there are many types of work visas in the U.S., the most common ones that you are likely to deal with are as follows:
1.
TN
The North American Free Trade Agreement allows citizens of both Mexico and Canada to temporarily seek entry into the U.S. and engage in professional business activities. Some of these professions include accountants, engineers, lawyers, scientists, and teachers. For a full list please refer to the NAFTA Professional Job Series. These visas are less expensive than an H1B visa, described later in this section. Eligibility Requirements for the TN Visa:
The individual must be a citizen of Canada or Mexico The profession must qualify under the regulations The position in the United States requires a NAFTA professional The individual should have pre-arranged a full- or part-time job with a U.S. employer
(not self-employment)
The individual must have the qualifications to practice in the profession in question
Requirements for Canadian Citizens Canadian citizens are not required to apply for a TN visa at the U.S. consulate. They may establish eligibility for TN classification at the time they seek admission to the United States by presenting the required documentation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) either after arriving in the U.S. or at a designated pre-flight inspection station. Alternatively, the prospective employer can also apply on behalf of a Canadian citizen who is outside of the United States. The following documentation is required by the CBP upon arriving to the U.S.:
Proof of Canadian citizenship Letter from prospective employer stating the persons role, purpose of employment, length of stay,
and educational qualifications

Credentials (if applicable) such as degree and resume Applicable fee
If you have already applied on behalf of the individual and received approval, the documentation required upon arrival to the U.S. is:
Proof of Canadian citizenship Approval notice from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for
Form I-129 Requirements for Mexican Citizens Citizens of Mexico are required to obtain a TN visa through the U.S. embassy or consulate prior to arriving in the U.S. Period of Stay The initial period of stay is up to three years; an individual wishing to remain in the U.S. beyond three years must seek an extension of stay. If he/she has not left the U.S., the employer may file Form I-129 on their behalf. Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
2.
H1-B Specialty Occupations

This visa has an annual cap of 65,000 new visas for overseas professional workers each fiscal year, plus 20,000 visas restricted for those individuals with a U.S. masters or higher degree. For further information about the annual cap, see theFiscal Year (FY) 2012 H-1B Cap SeasonWeb page. The initial period of stay in the U.S. is up to three years and extensions are possible for another three years with a maximum stay of six years.
General Requirements The job must meet one of the following criteria to qualify as a specialty occupation: a) Bachelors degree or higher (or equivalent) b) Employer requires a degree or equivalent for the position c) Nature of the specific duties is very specialized/complex, such that knowledge required is usually associated with a bachelors or higher degree d) The degree requirement for the job is common to the industry and thus the job can only be performed by an individual with a degree For the individual to qualify to accept a job offer in a specialty occupation they must meet one of the following criteria:
Have obtained a U.S. bachelors or higher degree from an accredited college or university Hold a foreign degree that is equivalent to a U.S. bachelors or higher degree Hold an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification that authorizes the individual to
fully practice the occupation and be engaged in that specialty where they are employed
Have education, training, or progressively responsible experience in the specialty that is equivalent
to the completion of such a degree Note: The prospective employer must file an approved Form ETA-9035, Labor Condition Application (LCA), with the form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant worker. Source: US Citizenship and Immigration Services
3.
F-1/OPT Optional Practice Training

This visa is for students who are currently on an F-1 visa and wish to start a business or work in the U.S. in a role that is directly related to their area of study. OPT visas are issued for a maximum 29-month period, specifically issued at 12 months, with a 17-month science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) extension. Please refer here for more details.
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About OpenView Labs OpenView Labs is the strategic and operational consulting arm of OpenView Venture Partners, a global Venture Capital fund that invests in expansion-stage technology companies. More Information Visit the OpenView Labs website for more ideas and inspiration for senior managers of technology companies. To learn more about OpenView Labs or OpenView Venture Partners, contact us directly at (617) 478-7500 or info@openviewpartners.com. You are welcome to republish excerpts from this eBook, as long as you link back to OpenView for attribution. Please also share this eBook in its entirety with anyone you think would be interested. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

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Get More Talent!

How to Build the Talent Factory Your Company Needs to Scale

Chapter 2: Assembling and Managing a Top-Notch Talent Team......................................... 7

Chapter 3: Executing the Six Phases of an Effective Recruiting Process............................ 15

Chapter 4: Employing the Tools (and Technology) of the Recruiting Trade.......................... 31

Chapter 5: Deploying Metrics to Measure and Improve Your Talent Factory........................ 40

End Note.................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix.................................................................................................................... 46

Keith Cline Principal, Dissero

Is an In-House Talent Factory Right for Your Business?

All of these activities are vital to the talent acquisition process.

The Benefits of Building a Talent Factory

Driving higher ROI

Shaping your companys culture

Creating a greater sense of urgency

Who Will Benefit Most from this eBook?

Does Building a Talent Factory Make Sense for You?

Hiring a director of talent and/or talent team members

Identifying the resources your talent team needs

Assembling and Managing a Top-Notch Talent Team

The Composition of a Talent Team

Getting Started: How to Hire Your Talent Team

effectively manage another team?

Hiring a Director of Talent

Hiring and terminating

Hiring for high-level roles

What to Look for in Candidates

including responsibilities for hiring/firing and budget management

and performance management

Hiring Talent Specialists

Employee engagement/ HR-related projects

Managing Your Talent Team

Dividing and Managing the Teams Workload

What is a Talent Specialists Capacity?

Setting Up the Ideal Day for Your Talent Team

What to Do Once Your Team is Assembled

Executing the Six Phases of an Effective Recruiting Process

Phase 1: Planning Your Search

Hosting a Kickoff Meeting

involved. A standard set of interviews might proceed as follows:

and other stakeholders

manager for review

Creating a Job Description

Want to Win the War for

Top Tech Talent?

Setting Clear Expectations and Timelines

Are You Working with a Recruiting Agency?

Phase 2: Sourcing Candidates

Proactively Sourcing Candidates with Effective Messaging

Appealing facts about the position

A clear call to action

How Do You Pitch a Role Successfully?

Highlight unique cultural facets of your company

Call out awards and recognition

Share recent news

Create cultural/ recruiting videos

Develop marketing collateral

Establish an internship program

Phase 3: Phone Screening

Ensuring a Positive Candidate Experience

Respect the Candidates Time

Outline Next Steps

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