Employer

Hiring the right data analyst is crucial for your business. It’s like having a skilled navigator on your journey—it helps you steer your ship through the vast ocean of information. From enhancing marketing strategies to predicting market trends and even advancing healthcare, data analysis plays a central role in decision-making across various sectors.
But what qualities does a data analyst need to possess? That’s exactly what we’re going to find out in this guide.
The growing importance of data analysis
Data analysis isn’t just an optional tool; it’s become a cornerstone of modern operations. 
The global big data analytics market is worth $307.52 billion and is projected to hit $745.15 billion by 2030—a 13.5% CAGR. But why is data so crucial?

Data from Fortune Business Insights
Similar to having a trustworthy GPS system, data directs enterprises toward their objectives. Analytics does this by revealing trends and vital information that allow businesses to make important short and long-term decisions. 
This is why hiring the right person for your data analytics role is so important.
The impact of hiring the right data analyst
Think of hiring the right data analyst as selecting an experienced captain for your expedition. The captain should be capable of providing solutions when you need them the most. 
For instance, in times of crisis, such as tech layoffs, hiring the right data analyst who aligns with your company’s values is crucial. The analyst will help you determine how the proposed layoffs may affect the organization’s productivity and morale. 
Here are four key benefits of hiring the right data analyst:

Improved Decision-Making: A competent data analyst lowers your risk of making ill-informed decisions by offering insightful data analysis.
Enhanced Efficiency: They are able to streamline procedures and spot opportunities for improvement, ultimately saving time and money.
Competitive Advantage: With the right data analyst, your organization can gain a competitive edge by staying ahead of market trends and customer preferences.
Innovation: Data analysts can find opportunities and patterns that are hidden and lead to new ideas within your company.

The essential qualities of a data analyst: Technical skills
There are four main areas to concentrate on when it comes to the technical side of being a data analyst. These skills are the nuts and bolts that allow your data analyst to navigate the data landscape effectively. 
1. Working knowledge of data analysis tools
Your data analyst should be well-versed in using software and tools specifically designed for data analysis. For instance, your company could be using a Vonage VoIP for small business system that generates a wealth of data on call volumes, call durations, and customer interactions. 
Familiarity with tools like Excel, Python, R, or specialized software like Tableau is essential to uncovering insights. These insights can go on to drive significant positive results for your business. For example, by adopting Tableau, PepsiCo was able to reduce the time it takes to produce reports by up to 90%. 
Related: Hired’s 2023 State of Tech Salaries report

Data from Tableau
Data analysis tools help in cleaning, processing, and transforming raw data into meaningful insights. For instance, when dealing with sales data, proficiency in tools like Excel can help identify trends and patterns in revenue generation.
2. Programming skills
Programming skills are the coding language that data speaks. A competent data analyst should have a working knowledge of programming languages like Python or R. They can perform sophisticated data manipulation and statistical analysis thanks to these languages. 
For instance, when analyzing customer data for an e-commerce business, programming skills enable the automation of repetitive tasks, such as calculating purchase trends.
3. Database management
Databases are like the library of your organization’s data. Data analysts need to be adept at managing and querying data from various databases. Knowledge of SQL (Structured Query Language) is invaluable here, as it helps retrieve specific data from large datasets efficiently. 
For example, when working with customer databases, a data analyst may use SQL to extract information about customer demographics and preferences.
4. Data visualization expertise
Data visualization is the art of turning numbers and statistics into visually appealing and understandable graphics. A proficient data analyst should be skilled in creating charts, graphs, and interactive dashboards. 
Tools like Tableau, Power BI, or even Python libraries like Matplotlib and Seaborn come in handy here. When presenting quarterly sales reports to a team, data visualization expertise makes it easier for everyone to grasp the key insights at a glance.
Note that recruitment tech like applicant tracking systems (ATS) can efficiently source and filter candidates based on specific criteria, including data visualization expertise. These systems can help you find data analysts with relevant skills and experience in this specific area, allowing you to narrow down your pool of candidates to the best ones.
The essential qualities of a data analyst: Soft skills
Soft skills are the intangible qualities that make a data analyst not just effective but exceptional. They enable the analyst to navigate the human and organizational aspects of data analysis, making a real impact. 
1. Teamwork
Because they frequently work in groups, it’s essential for data analysts to have strong collaboration skills. For instance, your marketing team may need to launch a retargeting strategy for e-commerce. 
Such a strategy would require insights into audience segmentation, ad performance, and customer behavior patterns, which data analysts can provide. A data analyst with poor teamwork skills would hamper the success of the retargeting campaign. 
2. Adaptability
Analysts need to stay current with the continuously changing data landscape. Adaptability ensures that analysts can thrive in a dynamic environment. For instance, when working on a project where the data source suddenly changes, an adaptable data analyst can quickly adjust their approach to maintain data integrity.
3. Communication skills
Free to use image sourced from Unsplash
Imagine having an excellent idea but being unable to communicate it; you won’t get very far. Data analysts need to communicate their findings effectively, both to technical and non-technical stakeholders. 
They should be able to translate complex data into plain language and compelling visuals. This skill is crucial when presenting market insights to a group of executives or explaining data-driven recommendations to a customer.
4. Analytical skills
When it comes to finding hidden patterns and insights inside data, a data analyst needs to be a skilled investigator. They ought to be adept at analyzing intricate data sets, identifying patterns, and coming to insightful conclusions. 
Consider a scenario where a company has implemented call center cloud solutions to handle customer inquiries and complaints. Without skilled data analysts, the wealth of data generated by these interactions remains untapped.
5. Problem-solving abilities
Data analysis often involves resolving complex issues. Your data analyst should have a knack for approaching problems methodically. They should be able to break down large, intricate challenges into smaller, manageable parts. 
When a retail company, for instance, has to determine why its sales have declined in a particular area and how to reverse the trend, this quality is vital.
6. Attention to detail
Data analysts should be meticulous in data collection, cleaning, and analysis to ensure accuracy. When, for instance, a financial institution is auditing transactions, attention to detail is essential to spot anomalies that could indicate fraudulent activities.
Other important factors to consider when hiring a data analyst
When searching for the right data analyst, their experience and specialization are vital aspects to consider. These factors ensure they can effectively navigate the specific challenges your organization faces. 
1. Years of experience
While years of experience alone aren’t the only indicator of a great data analyst, they do matter. 
More experienced analysts often possess a better understanding of cutting-edge methods and proven problem-solving abilities. 
For instance, when dealing with historical market data, an analyst with several years of experience may have insights into market cycles that a less experienced analyst might miss.
2. Industry specialization
An analyst with industry specialization has an in-depth understanding of specific sectors. For example, a call center utilizing auto-dialing software will benefit from hiring a data analyst with experience in the call center industry. 
Such an analyst would be skilled at identifying specific call dispositions that lead to successful outcomes and recommending strategies for tailoring auto-dialing scripts to maximize results.
3. Project portfolio
Think of a data analyst’s project portfolio as their resume in action. It’s a collection of past projects they’ve tackled, showcasing their ability to deliver results. 
For instance, a data analyst’s portfolio might include projects where they improved supply chain efficiency, optimized marketing campaigns, identified cost-saving opportunities, or analyzed the traffic of an OnlyDomains website. By looking at their portfolio, you’ll be able to better gauge whether their past expertise is a good fit for your company.
Hiring a data analyst with confidence
With the ever-increasing prominence of big data, working with a skilled data analyst is paramount for businesses across all sectors.
A well-rounded data analyst should demonstrate a special mix of abilities, knowledge, and experience. Use the tips listed above to make the right choice when hiring tech talent for your business. 
Remember that recruiting the right data analyst is more than just filling a job vacancy; they are a calculated investment in your success in the future. More

Get a Free 30/60/90 Template
You need a plan to onboard engineers onto your teams successfully. Why? Onboarding new software developer team members to become full contributors typically takes several months. In order to maintain a positive candidate experience and solidify their place on the team, it’s crucial to spend the time and energy coaching them up to speed on your product, internal processes, and coding standards. Investing in this work helps developers contribute early and often, plus it leads to greater retention down the road.
During the “The Great Resignation,” the tech industry saw a 4.5% increase in resignations during 2021 alone, and in 2022-2023, software engineers were among the 100,000 tech employees laid off.
Each developer costs upwards of $20,000 to $35,000 to become a full contributor, not to mention the incalculable amount of time consumed across your team. So, it makes sense to invest in doing it well with a solid onboard plan for engineers.
How Does Great Developer Onboarding Fit in, and Why Does it Matter?
In short, developer onboarding is closely related to retention, job satisfaction, productivity, and success. 
Despite pinpointing all the downstream effects of onboarding, consistently successful onboarding has a long way to go.

Source: Reddit
There is no “one-size-fits-all” onboarding solution, but there are best practices worth considering.
Hired partnered with Educative to craft an eBook to outline detailed steps to create an efficient and successful onboarding framework (along with key tactics to personalize for each employee) and a free downloadable 30/60/90 template.
Get the eBook for your customizable onboard plan for engineers on your team.
Use this as your guide to streamline the onboarding process for all your new hires.
Why a 30/60/90 Onboard Plan Determines an Engineer’s Success
Onboarding is essential, but many organizations struggle with it, especially in remote or hybrid work environments. 
Here are three key reasons you need to use a 30/60/90 plan to onboard your tech talent:
1. Increase Retention
Only 12% of U.S. employees said their company did a good job onboarding, according to Gallup analytics. One in five employees rated their experience as poor or received no onboarding at all. 
On the other hand, 70% of the employees with exceptional onboarding experiences highly rated their jobs and were 2.6x more likely to be satisfied with and stay at their workplace.
Turnover is not a new challenge, but an effective onboarding program will significantly reduce high turnover rates, especially during those all-important first 90 days.
2. Clear Onboarding Milestones Define Success
What’s the reason for onboarding failure? Atul Gawande, author of “The Checklist Manifesto,” writes that there’s a clear distinction between errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don’t know enough) and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we make because we don’t make proper use of what we know). 
Failure in developer onboarding results from both “errors of ineptitude” and “errors of ignorance.”Engineering Managers and team leads have a lot on their plates to meet company goals. Despite having access to online resources, documentation, and personal knowledge to create a successful onboarding solution, the implementation often falls short. This is often due to limited bandwidth.
On the other hand, murky company goals or differing expectations from leadership can result in misaligned onboarding milestones due to errors of ignorance. This happens frequently in newly-created roles or those part of new initiatives. 
Related: Opening a new role? Check out 5 Tips Where You Should Begin
Creating a 30/60/90 onboarding plan tackles both types of errors by capturing refined knowledge and documenting clear milestones to align expectations across the company.
3. A Mentor’s Training Defines the Onboarding Experience
It’s not entirely up to the new hire for a successful onboarding process — the mentor holds just as much responsibility.

Source: Reddit
Training is a multi-stakeholder task; documenting expectations for mentors involved in training keeps all team members on the same page and minimizes confusion from miscommunicated or unspoken expectations. 
As a mentor, encourage questions and be a helpful resource during the onboarding process by setting clear expectations. It’s natural to want to impress the new team or supervisor, so some new hires may be hesitant to show ignorance or confusion OR bite off more than they can chew within the first couple of weeks.
Related: How to Foster Psychological Safety in the Workplace, from Interviews to Management
Top-of-mind Priorities in a Software Engineering 30/60/90 Plan
Before we dive into the specifics of the onboarding plan, let’s cover 3 top-of-mind priorities for your 30/60/90 plan. Think of this as an outline blueprint for what a new employee will accomplish within 90 days. 
Prioritize the following elements when developing an engineering 30/60/90 plan:

Technical Setup and Tool Familiarization
Personalize the Process
Team Integration & Culture

1. Technical Setup and Tool Familiarization
Set your new hire up with the tools and documentation needed to do their day-to-day tasks. 
Some considerations include the following:

Development Environment: Ensure new developers have all necessary tools installed, licenses obtained, and access granted. This includes the IDE (Integrated Development Environment), source control, databases, and other essential tools.
Codebase Access & Overview: Grant access to the repository and provide an introduction to the codebase. A high-level architectural overview is invaluable for understanding how different components interact.
Documentation: Point new developers to existing documentation about coding standards, design patterns, and workflows. If possible, assign a reading list for the first few days. Better yet, point your new developer to well-written code.

Source: How Docs as Code Can Supercharge My Dev Team
2. Personalize the Process
How does your onboarding plan for engineers meet your new hire’s specific needs?
Every developer enters your company at a different starting point. Joseph Gefroh, VP of Engineering at HealthSherpa, manages this by tailoring onboarding to varied learning needs and experience levels.
“A person can be great at one thing but junior in another. Identifying where your team’s individual strengths and weaknesses lie is, therefore, the key first step in leading them.” – Joseph Gefroh, VP of Engineering at HealthSherpa
Just because you’re hiring multiple people for similar roles doesn’t mean each of those tech engineers will have the same learning path. One may have completely different qualifications and require additional training modules.
Need help upskilling or refreshing a new hire’s skills? Try DevPath from Educative.
3. Team Integration and Culture
How does your engineering onboarding process include the rest of the team?
As you build your plan, note the action items required to familiarize your new hire with the team’s processes and culture.
Include items such as

Buddy or mentor system
Intro meetings and meeting purposes
Company culture
Team-specific rituals and values
Team lunches and social events
Feedback loops

Following the framework above, let’s dive into building your 30/60/90 onboard plan for engineers with some pre-boarding.
Pre-boarding (T-7 days)

Summary: Key Action Items for Pre-boarding Phase

Send or prep welcome materials
Send paperwork

HR documents
Benefits information
Tax forms

Provide company overview

Company mission, values, goals, history

Prep equipment

Laptop, mouse, keyboard, headset, chargers, adapters, monitors, and desk
Contact IT team

Before a new hire’s official start date, collaborate with your HR team to ensure a smooth first week. Consider these items as the “pre-boarding” tasks:
Send or prep welcome materials
If your company supplies any type of welcome package (company swag, welcome letter, personalized items, etc.), prepare these for arrival or ship to remote employees. Add a quick message with a 1st day schedule.
Send paperwork
Are there items you need to send early to acclimate new hires (HR documents, benefits information, etc.)? Give them a heads up of documents or types of IDs they’ll need to bring/send. If they’re completing tax or other government forms remotely, provide a sample of a completed version to guide them.
Company overview
Send key company information, such as main mission, values, goals (annual and overall), history, or need-to-know operational details.
Prep Equipment
Work with your IT team to set up a workstation or ship all necessary equipment and hardware (laptop, mouse, keyboard, headset, chargers, adapters, etc.). Be sure to complete this well before their first day in case of delays. Nothing’s worse than a new team member without equipment on Day 1.

Source: DevPath
You’re Ready to Welcome Your New Developer or Engineer and begin a strong onboard plan!
Congratulations, you’ve done the work to plan and prepare for a great onboarding experience for developers on your team. 
Grab actionable steps for the first three months and a professional template (for free) by downloading your free 30/60/90 onboard plan for engineers:

Originally published Dec. 8, 2021. Updated by Hired Content Team and Educative on September 18, 2023 More

What did you miss on last month’s episodes? Listen in on August 2023 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast featuring recruiting and talent acquisition leadership who share strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry.

Working for an agency versus in-house with Kyle Samuels, Founder of Creative Talent Endeavors
Building community with Maggie Mannion, Founder of Kindred
Being your own boss with Kaylee Estes, Founder of Estes Group

1. Kyle Samuels, Founder of Creative Talent Endeavors
Kyle explains his entrepreneurial journey and why he decided to leave a big brand to start his own agency, Creative Talent Endeavors. He shares about the early days at Creative Talent Endeavors and the process of finding clients, including how he managed to take on Taco Bell as the first one. Kyle also tells us about the benefits of an agency over an in-house recruiting gig.
“I do like the variety of having different clients and different things to work on every day.” 
Listen to the full episode.

2. Maggie Mannion, Founder of Kindred
Experiencing a career transition is overwhelming, to say the least. But that doesn’t mean it has to be lonely or shameful. Maggie founded Kindred, a community of professionals navigating career transitions together. She explains what led her to start the company, which professionals Kindred targets, and how she curates content relevant to a variety of professions.
“Kindred is all about career transitions and really is built on this thesis that career transitions and navigating career transitions don’t have to be a solo pursuit.” 
Listen to the full episode.
3. Kaylee Estes, Founder of Estes Group
To stand out as a recruiter, you need to shift your focus from being transaction-based to being relationship-based. Kaylee discusses the agency side of recruiting and why she decided to start her own staffing firm. She also delves into unconscious bias, the freedom that comes with being your own boss, how functional recruiters fit into the recruiting world, and how she makes sure she is representing companies well.
“Yes, people need to know how to make hires but at the end of the day, they just need to make good hires and they need help with that.”
Listen to the full episode.
Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?
Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More

Developing an employer value proposition (EVP) is essential for any organization that wants to attract and retain top talent.
The EVP is a statement that summarizes the unique value that a company offers to its employees. It is a promise to employees about what they can expect in terms of compensation, benefits, development opportunities, and overall work experience.
An EVP is essential for any organization that wants to attract and retain top talent. It helps communicate the company’s culture and values and shows potential employees why they should choose to work there.
But how do you know if your EVP is working? And how do you know when it’s time for a refresh?
That’s where Link Humans’ Employer Brand Index (EBI) comes in. The EBI is a comprehensive analysis of your employer brand that tells you what candidates, employees, and alumni are saying about your company online.
Mars, Inc. is a global company with over 140,000 employees in 80 countries. They recently used the EBI to guide an EVP refresh for their organization.

Refreshing an EVP on a Global Scale
Mars is a complex organization with a wide range of businesses. Their EVP needed to be something that could resonate with employees and candidates all over the world.
The first step in the refresh process was to conduct an EBI survey. The survey asked respondents about their perceptions of Mars on a variety of factors, including career development, culture and values, and work-life balance.
The results of the survey showed that Mars had a strong reputation among its employees and candidates. However, there were a few areas where the company could improve. For example, respondents felt that Mars could do more to promote its mission and purpose.
Using the EBI to Supplement Internal Surveys and Focus Groups
In addition to the EBI report, Mars also conducted internal surveys and focus groups. These surveys and focus groups provided additional insights into the company’s culture and employee satisfaction.
However, the EBI data had some advantages over the internal surveys and focus groups. First, the EBI survey was anonymous, which allowed respondents to be more honest. Second, the EBI survey reached a wider audience, including candidates and alumni.
How Mars Uses the EBI
Mars now uses the EBI to measure the effectiveness of its EVP on a regular basis. The company also uses the EBI to inform its decision-making on a variety of topics, such as talent acquisition, employee engagement, and corporate communications.
Establishing Your EBI Baseline
The EBI is a valuable tool for any organization that wants to attract and retain top talent. By using the EBI, you can get a clear understanding of how your employer brand is perceived by candidates, employees, and alumni. This information can help you to identify areas where you can improve your EVP and make your organization a more attractive place to work.
To follow Marie Codet’s work in employer brand, connect with her on LinkedIn. For help gathering data and insights you can act on to improve your own company, get in touch.
Share this post: More

You may have considered turning to recruiting agencies to fill tech and sales roles. Even when inbound candidates are plentiful, finding the right top talent is a challenge. However, are agencies the best way to find future team members with long-term tenure potential? In this blog post, we explore the pros and cons of using recruiting agencies, shedding light on the factors to help you bring the best tech and sales talent to your organization.
Recruiting Agency Pros
1. Access to an extensive network
Recruiting agencies often have connections to a vast pool of professionals. On top of that, they proactively reach out to potential candidates – even those who are not actively seeking new opportunities. Instead of taking a shot in the dark, employers have the opportunity to leverage an agency’s existing database of people. The best agencies have developed industry connections and built relationships with qualified candidates.

Hired candidates are engaged and actively looking. As a result, employers see response rates double or even triple, what they’re used to – often 60%+ compared to the 14% industry average. With access to a database of candidates in the millions, and tens of thousands active on the platform, Hired customers have more opportunities to connect with the right talent, right away.  

2. Efficiency
Most employers know finding and hiring the right candidate can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Because recruiting agencies specialize in talent acquisition, you offload these responsibilities to focus on core business operations. With agencies handling screening, interviewing, and shortlisting, businesses reduce speed-to-hire.

Spread thin? Add on Hired Sourcer for temporary or ongoing help sourcing, pre-screening, shortlisting, and managing communication with experienced candidates. Whether you’re without a dedicated recruiter or busy hiring managers need support, Hired Sourcer fills the gaps. (And it’s typically a fraction of the cost of hiring a contractor or agency!)

3. Specialized knowledge
While finding top tech and sales talent is hard, finding candidates with niche skills can be even harder. Tech recruiting agencies possess industry-specific knowledge and understand the nuances of the tech landscape. Their expertise in niche areas helps them identify candidates with the right skill sets, ensuring you find the candidate that checks off the list of requirements.

Bundle Hired Assessments into your Hired solution to standardize tech skills assessments and free up your teams from live proctoring. Some candidates proactively take them to earn badges for their profiles. Save time when you use our filters to find talent who’ve proactively verified their skills with these technical assessments. By leaping ahead to interviewing tech talent with proven skills, it’s easier to hire faster and reduce your cost of vacancy.

4. Tech & sales hiring market insights
Recruiting agencies stay abreast of market trends, salary ranges, and candidate expectations. This valuable knowledge can provide you with a competitive advantage, helping you craft attractive job offers and tailored recruitment strategies. Agencies also offer insights on market demand and supply, assisting you in aligning your talent acquisition plans with current industry dynamics.

Dedicated support from our Customer Success Managers works in collaboration with the Candidate Experience team to ensure you have a pulse on candidates in process. We are the leader in offering data and competitive insights to share with internal stakeholders at every step of your hiring funnel. Many customers highlight competitive insights as one of their favorite aspects of partnering with Hired for their tech and sales recruiting.

5. Enhanced candidate experience
Recruiting agencies have experience in managing the candidate journey from start to finish. They understand the importance of a positive candidate experience and ensure candidates are well-informed, engaged, and supported throughout the recruitment process. This professionalism reflects positively on your organization and helps to build a strong employer brand.

Candidates on Hired benefit from a variety of resources, including workshops, AMAs, guides, a salary calculator, and a dedicated Candidate Experience Team to support them on their journey and provide insights 

Recruiting Agency Cons 
1. “They’re expensive”
While recruiting agencies provide value, their services come at a cost. Most agencies charge a fee based on a percentage of the candidate’s annual salary. For startups and small companies with limited budgets, this expense may pose a financial challenge. It is essential to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using an agency compared to the potential benefits they bring to your recruitment efforts.
2. Lack of deep organizational knowledge
Recruiting agencies operate externally to your organization and may have limited knowledge of your company’s culture, mission, and specific needs. This can sometimes result in candidates who might not be the best cultural fit or fully aligned with your organizational objectives. 
3. Limited control over the recruitment process
Outsourcing recruitment to an agency means relinquishing some control over the hiring process. While agencies work closely with you, the final decision-making authority rests with your organization. Some stakeholders might prefer to be more hands-on throughout the recruitment process, which may be a challenge when working with an external agency.
4. Potential candidate pool overlap
There is a possibility of overlap in candidate pools if multiple organizations engage the same agency for their recruitment needs. This can lead to competition among clients for the same talent, potentially diluting the exclusivity of your candidate search. 
“We’ve used recruitment agencies in the past, but they’re pricey, they’re expensive,” says Logikcull’s Head of Talent Laura McDermott. “Sometimes agencies push somebody too hard who’s not actually a good fit. At Hired, there isn’t any of that.” Hired frees her from navigating the conflicts and external pressures that often come with recruiting agencies.
Unlike commission-incentivized recruiting agency personnel, Hired’s Candidate Experience team is unbiased about whether talent accepts a role. They are purely there to offer support and resources, such as interview coaching, salary calculators, evaluate options, and more. 
Why Hired is a better tech and sales hiring solution  
Hired is not a recruiting agency, a job board, or a social network. It is a solution directly connecting employers to vetted talent with thousands of skills across 50+ tech and sales roles. 
Organizations find in-demand tech candidates primarily in Software Engineering, DevOps, UX Design, Product Management, and Data Science. Employers needing sales candidates in Customer Success and revenue-based roles, such as Sales Management are also in luck. 
Essentially, Hired offers easy access to the best talent along with everything employers need to know about them from salary requirements to work preferences. 
“I think the best thing about using Hired is everything I need to know and would like to know as a recruiter from the offset, is almost always straight in front of me.”
Joe Miller, Senior Recruitment Manager, RVU
Hear from Joe about his experience with Hired and how it helped his tech recruiting productivity exponentially.
What’s more, in Hired’s full suite employers get unbiased insights, DEI features for more diverse hiring, tech skill assessments, and dedicated Customer Success Managers to support teams as they fill open roles efficiently. 
For lean teams within global enterprises or startups with a dedicated recruiter, Hired Sourcer comes to the rescue. Short or long-term, an experienced professional acts as an extension of your team to source, shortlist, and screen tech or sales candidates. They’re also great at maintaining consistent communication and keeping candidates engaged. 
Considering Hired over a recruiting agency? 
Companies switching from recruitment agencies to Hired often say their shift is driven by a lack of quality candidates with specific skills from agencies. Employers find they are more focused on speed over quality. On Hired, employers get both. In fact, companies have immediate access to candidates they need and save 45 hours of sourcing time per hire. 
Hired also specializes in matching experienced talent with employers they likely won’t see in the pipeline – even with an agency as the middleman. Typically, top senior-level engineers are not thrilled to work with agency recruiters due to constant badgering. Hired yields higher response rates and engagement from candidates – the platform has an 85% candidate response rate to all interview requests.
In addition to a vast pool of candidates, talent is also responsive on Hired. Candidates typically respond within one business day and have a 50% interview request acceptance rate. Plus, Hired integrations mean you can directly connect with candidates to avoid doing twice the work of updating a third party.
Speaking of saving time, agencies do not always understand your requirements. Hired specializes in identifying tech and sales talent across niches. Talent pros don’t have to waste precious hours reviewing resumes and conducting interviews unlikely to be a match. 
Hired positions candidates for long-term success; increased retention
Reflecting on her experience with Hired compared to recruitment agencies, Hired fulfills Logikcull’s interest in long-term employee success over making a placement McDermott adds, “We really pride ourselves on the tenure of a lot of our employees. Many have been here 10+ years… We’re recruiting people who are looking for a career and not just a job to come in and bank a paycheck. We want people who are looking to grow. We want people who really want to be able to make an impact.” 
For companies looking for tech and sales candidates interested in a career over a job, try Hired. Candidates placed through Hired have an 18% longer tenure with employers than average.
One financial services TA leader told us, “I think the challenge we had with a lot of third-party recruiters was the candidates they would present would frequently job hop. We look for long-term employees. I think the unfortunate reality of working with a lot of recruiters is their interests are not exactly aligned with ours because if their candidate stays for 0 days and then they place them somewhere else, they still get paid. 
They tend to present candidates that churn every year. Beyond that, sometimes it’s been finding specific skill sets, especially on the technical side, developers who know specific languages, etc.”
Cons often outweigh pros of recruiting agencies
Remember, partnering with a recruiting agency is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Assess your specific requirements, weigh the pros and cons of recruiting agencies, and select the approach that aligns best with your organization’s goals and resources. 

About Hired: 
Hired is the most efficient way to fill tech and sales roles today. With unbiased insights, DEI tools, tech skill assessments, sourcing services, and dedicated Customer Success Managers, Hired works with companies around the world, placing more than 20,000 active and qualified candidates in new roles. Using better data, curated matches, and ways to reach new markets and talent with higher acceptance rates, employers save an average of 45 sourcing hours per role using Hired’s solutions suite. Backed by The Adecco Group, Hired is rated by G2 as a leader in Recruiting Automation, Job Search Sites, and Diversity Recruiting. More

Catch up on the July 2023 episodes of Hired’s Talk Talent to Me podcast featuring recruiting and talent acquisition leadership who share strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry. 

Learning and development with Christina Pinheiro, VP of People at Sibros
Soft skills with Stephane Rivard, CEO & Co-Founder of HiringBranch
Why cybersecurity is so important for individuals and companies with Jane Frankland, Cybersecurity Expert and Founder of The Source
The difference between talent attraction and talent acquisition with Victoria Myers, Global Lead for Talent Attraction at Amdocs

1. Christina Pinheiro, VP of People at Sibros
In this episode, Christina discusses what sparked her passion for helping people and creating a positive employee experience, which ultimately led to a career in HR. She shares her thoughts and views on the impact of learning and development, and what that looks like at Sibros through their Lunch and Learn sessions. She tells listeners about her favorite session on Interview Bias, and what she thinks about anonymizing parts of the interviewing process. 
“I really emphasize on the benefits of continuous learning and [how] attending these sessions contributes to personal and professional growth.” 
Listen to the full episode.

2. Stephane Rivard, CEO & Co-Founder of HiringBranch
Stephane shares how his company HiringBranch is revolutionizing hiring by creating a platform where candidates can showcase their abilities in real-time simulated scenarios. He highlights the importance of soft skills and explains how HiringBranch’s assessment works, breaking down the types of skills they assess in candidates. Plus, hear his insights into the AI recruitment revolution, which may just be paving the way for a more accurate and effective way of finding the right talent.
Related: ChatGPT in Recruitment: How to Unlock its Power & Increase Efficiency
“What [the HiringBranch platform] does, especially for high volume jobs, [is give] you a standardized way to evaluate everyone.”
Listen to the full episode.
3. Jane Frankland, Cybersecurity Expert and Founder of The Source
Jane is a tech entrepreneur, author, speaker, advisor, and founder. She has identified several discrepancies in the hiring process and in this episode, she shares her advice for ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace from the get-go.
“We have a real problem with wellbeing [in the cybersecurity industry]; with mental health, with brain health, with stress and burnout. It’s absolutely horrific. It’s at a higher level than healthcare workers at the moment.”
Listen to the full episode.
4. Victoria Myers, Global Lead for Talent Attraction at Amdocs
In this episode, we dive into the fascinating field of segmented recruiting marketing. Victoria explains Amdocs’ forward-thinking, long-term approach to talent attraction and acquisition and how they are bringing it to life through their newly-developed AI-driven talent marketplace. After listening, you’ll understand the difference between talent attraction and talent acquisition, what a successful proactive sourcing model looks like, and why you should always try to do work you love!
“At the end of the day, the best experience in the world is giving someone an offer and them saying, ‘Yes, I accept.’ That is rewarding work right there!”
Listen to the full episode.
Want more insights into recruiting tips and trends?
Tune into Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, to learn about the strategies, techniques, and trends shaping the recruitment industry—straight from top experts themselves. More

HelloFresh is a global meal kit delivery company that operates in 18 countries. This gives them a unique challenge when it comes to talent acquisition: they need to find local talent with niche skills to support their complex distribution and logistics.
In this article, we’ll explore how HelloFresh has solved this challenge by upskilling their talent engagement team. We’ll also share five actionable tips from Carolina Guillen, Head of Global Talent Marketing and Engagement at HelloFresh, on how you can engage your own talent team in employer branding.
The Talent Challenge of Global Logistics
HelloFresh is headquartered in Berlin and New York, but they operate in eighteen countries worldwide. The core business model of delivering meal kits remains the same from country to country. However, the logistical problem of storing, packaging, and shipping ingredients so that they arrive fresh at a customer’s door in all of these different markets creates a unique hiring challenge for Guillen and her team.
Different countries have different regulations governing food safety, food storage, shipping, and so on. This means that HelloFresh needs to fill roles locally in supply chain, fulfillment, and technical specialist areas to meet these requirements in each market.
“We often need to find local talent that comes with a very specific skill or certification,” says Guillen.
In short, there’s a lot of work to be done in talent acquisition and talent engagement. And that got Guillen thinking: could we engage this team to activate our employer brand?
How HelloFresh Upskills Their Talent Engagement Team
The talent engagement team at HelloFresh comes from a background in traditional sourcing and recruiting. However, Guillen has started to upskill them with marketing and project management skillsets.
“Our main goal is for them to be delivering 360 solutions for top-of-funnel needs,” she says. This means that they’re responsible for developing event, talent community, and referral strategies. They’re also involved in developing strategies for reputation management and social media marketing.
This approach creates alignment between Guillen’s employer branding team and the people who put it into action throughout the recruitment and hiring process. Talent acquisition has a say in what they’re being asked to do and also participates in developing strategies for employer branding.
Moreover, upskilling these employees into comb-shaped experts with new skill sets gives them more flexibility to grow into the career they want at HelloFresh.
In the episode, we asked Guillen for some actionable tips you can use to engage your recruitment team in employer branding work.
Here are her 5 Ideas for Recruitment Team Engagement:

Create a content strategy with talent acquisition in mind. Your talent acquisition team members have very direct control and influence on the candidate journey, so they can help you build pieces that are aligned with your employer brand.
Fall in love with your candidate, not your brand. We put a lot of energy into developing an employer brand, but sometimes that makes it difficult to take a step back and see what’s working. “From my point of view, it’s much more beneficial to be a critic of your brand,” says Guillen. Instead, fall in love with your audience and build content that is made just for them.
Don’t be afraid to reuse content. Developing quality content takes energy and focus. But when you’ve got something that works, how can you be sure it’s getting in front of the right people? And how can you get the most ROI for your efforts? Guillen recommends rehashing and recycling your campaigns and the pieces of content you create. You can get a lot of extra value by changing formats or platforms. One thing they’re doing at HelloFresh, for example, is transcribing videos they made earlier to use as the basis for new series of blog posts.
Every good story needs a hero. Use stories about real people to tell the story of your company and to connect with candidates on a personal level. “When you can tell a story that is authentic and relatable, it really resonates with people,” says Guillen.
Build for scale by making “recipes.” This will help you document your processes and make it easier to replicate them in the future. “We’ve created a lot of playbooks and templates that we can share with our team,” says Guillen. “This helps us to scale our efforts and make sure that everyone is on the same page.”

To follow Carolina Guillen’s work on employer brand, follow her on LinkedIn. For help creating data-driven, actionable strategies you can use to make real change in your company, talk to us.
Share this post: More

The success of every company hinges on its people. But attracting the best talent isn’t always an easy feat. Companies often invest significant amounts of money into the bottom of the recruitment process — job boards and recruiters. But at Flexa, we’ve found that a great employer brand can reduce hiring costs whilst attracting the high-quality candidates your company needs to grow.
At its simplest, employer branding is a combination of:

Your employee value proposition (EVP), which will probably centre around your working environment and flexible working policies

Your company culture

Your employees’ voices.

And then, importantly, knowing exactly how and where to shout about all this hard work!
Here’s how it’s done.
1. Identify your Employee Value Proposition
A strong employer brand is built on authenticity, transparency, and a positive reputation. Start by working out what you want to be known for, what you represent, and what you can offer employees that other companies can’t (this is your EVP). This is the perfect time to identify any areas for improvement that don’t reflect positively on your brand. It’s never too late to shake up company culture to attract and retain a happy team.
When setting out your EVP, make sure to be authentic. There’s no point in making promises you can’t keep, as this only leads to disgruntled new hires later on.
Once you’ve identified your EVP and what makes you unique, you can start shouting about it.
2. Leverage social media
Social media is an indispensable tool for employer branding. Create a strong presence on relevant platforms (at Flexa we love LinkedIn) and consistently share content that reflects your company’s culture, values, and employee achievements. Engage with potential candidates through relevant hashtags and participate in industry discussions (hosting your webinars can be a great way to draw people in). By utilizing these platforms effectively, you can reach a broader talent pool and reduce reliance on expensive recruitment agencies or job boards by having talent excited to be part of your company when you are ready to hire.
3. Encourage employee advocacy
There are no better advocates for your company than those who already work for you. They’re your biggest ambassadors and the most authentic marketing tool. Encourage employees to share their positive experiences and wins on social media; and amplify their stories through company channels and website testimonials. At Flexa, our team often posts about how they’re making the most of flexible work.
By leveraging employee voices, you can tap into the networks of trusted employees whilst giving potential candidates an invaluable window into your world, so they can make an educated decision about whether you’re the right fit for them.
Remember though, this needs to be authentic: people are smart; they can tell when someone has been told to post something nice about a company. The real stories from real employees will have a much more significant impact!
4. Shake up your success metrics
Many companies will measure their employer brand’s success using applications and hires alone. But your employer brand is far more extensive than that, so you need to evolve the marketing metrics you use to measure it.
Employer brand is a strategic marketing effort. Therefore, when starting out, consider measuring the success of your efforts using metrics like reach (impressions/profile views on company and employee pages), engagement (company saves/likes/subscribes/ speculative interest), and audience relevance (diversity/geography/ skills of candidates coming through the pipeline).
Lower down the funnel, you need to measure applications and hires, as well as things like alignment and diversity. If you focus on getting maximum relevant reach to start with, you will drive down your ultimate cost to hire.
5. Foster positive candidate experiences
Treating candidates with respect and providing them with a positive experience during the hiring process can significantly impact your employer brand. Maintain clear communication throughout the process, provide timely feedback, and offer a smooth and efficient application process. Even if a candidate is not selected, leaving them with a positive impression can lead to recommendations or future applications. This approach helps build a strong employer brand and reduces the need for extensive and costly recruitment efforts in the future.
6. Don’t just focus on employer brand when you’re hiring
An employer brand doesn’t just need your attention when you’ve got roles to fill. If you want to build a strong talent pipeline, you need to have a true focus on your employer brand all year round.
Rather than forcing applications reactively when you have vacancies, focus on proactively nurturing relationships with potential candidates and engaging with passive candidates online, on platforms like Flexa, and at networking events and conferences all year round. Maintain regular communication with these individuals using the free channels at your disposal. Being consistent in these efforts will pay dividends when it comes to bringing great talent through the pipeline and reducing your cost to hire.
Employer branding should be an essential part of your talent attraction and marketing strategy. If you’re not doing it, take a few steps to get started. It’s easy once you know how.
By Beth Carter, Head of Growth at Flexa.
Share this post: More