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    Challenging Conventional Practices, Learning As a Transformational Tool, & More: Talk Talent to Me September ’23 Recap

    Catch up on the September 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. 

    Increasing diversity with Jenn Tardy, Founder & CEO of Jennifer Tardy Consulting 
    Hiring for potential with John Beard, Director of Talent Acquisition at One Medical
    Learning as a transformational tool with Dr. Keith Keating, Chief Learning Officer at Archwell
    Challenging conventional recruitment practices with Amy Sheehan, Director of TA at Hormel Foods

    1. Jenn Tardy, Founder & CEO of Jennifer Tardy Consulting 
    Jenn Tardy returns to the podcast to offer an update on her diversity training experiences, including what harm looks like and initiating change to alleviate harm. She also gives a sneak preview of her Increase Diversity Summit Event. 
    “Harm can look like leaving people tokenized, using ineffective language that causes backlash, having conversations that leave some people feeling like increasing diversity does not include [them].”
    Listen to the full episode.
    2. John Beard, Director of Talent Acquisition at One Medical
    John shares his inspiring journey into talent acquisition, his passion for aligning recruitment with a company’s mission, and his innovative, candidate-centric approach. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in talent acquisition, debunks misconceptions, and emphasizes the importance of hiring for potential, not just negotiation skills.
    “For [One Medical], we want to reward the best candidates, not the best negotiators.”
    Listen to the full episode.
    3. Dr. Keith Keating, Chief Learning Officer at Archwell
    Dr. Keith Keating discusses the value of learning as a transformational tool, regardless of vocation. Dr. Keating describes the key skills that learning and development professionals need to drive value for their organizations and unlock human potential. He shares what it takes to create a “true talent ecosystem,” the importance of “future literacy,” and how talent pros can emerge as strategic business partners. By understanding the concepts of transferrable skills and the power of embracing a lifelong learning mindset, Dr. Keating believes that we can take control of our future.
    “There should always be a strong connection between learning development, talent development, and [recruitment] because we can help define the skills that are needed in the roles.”
    Listen to the full episode.
    4. Amy Sheehan, Director of TA at Hormel Foods
    Amy discusses current gaps and opportunities in the talent acquisition space and how she is shaking up the traditional approach to recruitment. She also discusses the evolving role of recruitment in today’s competitive job market and provides insights into the recruitment and onboarding processes at Hormel Foods. She also explains the value of effective communication, how to create purposeful experiences for new hires, and the role of AI in recruitment.
    “[AI] will allow [recruiters] to spend time creating experiences that matter and get [the company] top talent.” 
    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

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    Hiring a Data Analyst? What to Look for in Top Candidates Now

    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

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    Why a 30/60/90 Onboarding Plan is Critical for Developer Team Success

    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

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    Agencies versus In-House Recruiting, Building Community, & More: Talk Talent to Me August ’23 Recap

    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

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    Recruiting Agencies Pros & Cons: Why Hired is Best for Tech Hiring

    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

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    Using Data-driven Hiring to Edge out the Competition

    When times are good, and business is booming, companies can afford to make a few mistakes and sweep a few imperfections “under the rug.” And that’s okay. No process is perfect. However, when business slows down and it’s time for spring cleaning, what was swept under the rug comes to light.
    In other words, during periods of quick growth, companies tend to sacrifice quality of hire for speed. The effects of these decisions surface most clearly when the pace slows down. That can be a sobering moment for companies that stop and take stock of the decisions that worked for them and the ones that worked against them. Recruiting efficiency is an area that is quickly and clearly exposed when this happens. The inefficiencies and the lack — or absence — of sound hiring practices can be seen in cost per hire, turnover, and retraining costs.
    To find improvements in any process, businesses look at data.
    Data, data, everywhere
    We’re not talking about boiling the ocean, but there is meaningful information that can be gathered and put to use everywhere in the recruiting process. Hiring leaders who do not operate with this mindset leave money on the table, which again, is easy to measure in terms of increased cost per hire, decreasing retention, or unsustainable retraining costs.
    Without data measurement, organizations cannot optimize for “all-weather” efficiency.
    Smashfly CMO Lori Sylvia goes all in on the importance of measuring talent data when she says, “If you can’t measure it, it didn’t happen.”
    This is not a call to recruiters to build sophisticated data models, but rather to critically think about how data can help determine who they should be hiring for and how they can best appeal to them.
    Knowing that data is all around us, the question needed to make use of it is: “What data points are the most meaningful to me for this process?” Here are a few tips for recruiters — of all levels — to make leveraging data easy, impactful, and second nature.
    Ask yourself who fits into the talent pool for your business
    The last part is important here. Someone may check all the boxes for the job description and still not succeed at your organization. It can come down to various factors, like culture, level of training, the ability to multitask, or teamwork. Whatever the reason is, hiring success depends on going a level deeper into the candidate profile than the resume.
    Let’s go over an example where the goal was to reduce the number of conversations and increase the quality of conversations with candidates. Brendan Browne, VP of Global Talent Acquisition at LinkedIn, was looking for candidates to fill an engineering role. They took a quality-affinity approach that measured the candidate’s qualifications (their quality) and how highly they thought of the company (their affinity). The criteria for affinity included asking three yes/no questions:

    Do they follow the company?
    Do they share relevant content on their profile?
    Do they have a meaningful first-degree connection?

    Upon reaching out to candidates who ranked higher in affinity, the team experienced a 57% increase in the response rate.
    There was nothing highly technical about the process. It just came down to the team figuring out what data points from each candidate were meaningful to collect. It’s an easy exercise that can be applied across companies and roles.
    Take a microscope to your outreach
    Keep track of your messages. Recruiters shouldn’t shy away from testing new copy, subject lines, and time of day for their candidate outreach. It’s the most obvious yet overlooked metric to gauge the effectiveness of your outreach. Doing this enough will give you a sense of what tone is resonating most with your candidate pool.
    To have reliable data, one cardinal rule is to test one thing at a time. For example, measure how two different groups react to a different subject line or call-to-action alone rather than changing both at the same time.
    If your message has reached a point where you feel it is well and truly optimized and it’s still not meeting your goals, shift your focus to identify weak spots in the candidate journey. There may be moments where engagement is dropping off for enough candidates, signaling a trend to address with an alternative approach — and then measure the success of.
    Think about who else is talking to your dream candidate
    Chances are, the competition is also talking to the same candidates as you. Keeping tabs on competitor hiring activity can help inform your hiring strategy. Think about what the hiring experience is like for the candidate when they talk to you, versus the competition. Check out competitors’ job descriptions and ask yourself:

    How do they communicate the employer value proposition to prospective candidates?
    How candid are they about the salary and benefits they’re offering?
    How much of the company culture and company values shine through in the description?
    How easy or intuitive is the application process?
    Do they show the prospect genuine gratitude for their consideration?
    What would I look to improve in this experience?

    Doing this, even once in a while, helps make sure you’re not falling behind the competition and gives you an opportunity to raise the bar by brainstorming and implementing improvements to your candidate experience.
    Being data-savvy is simply knowing how to answer your biggest questions
    For recruiters, useful information is everywhere. The easiest way to benefit from a data-driven mindset is not to overthink it. Simply start asking questions about any aspect of your recruiting process, and then take measurements to uncover answers.
    The more confident you are about the data you have on talent, their affinity for your company, and your competition’s practices, the better your process will be in finding and appealing to the best candidates.
    Shannon Pritchett is Head of Community at both hireEZ and Evry1 (which she co-founded in 2021). As a talent acquisition leader, she remains passionate about connecting companies with their most valuable asset — people.
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    Learning & Development, Soft Skills, Cybersecurity & More: Talk Talent to Me July ’23 Recap

    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

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    Unlock the Power of ChatGPT in Recruitment: How to Increase Efficiency

    To dive into game-changing sourcing and recruiting practices using AI, Talk Talent to Me went live with these top leaders in New York and San Francisco:

    Director of Talent Sourcing, Activision Blizzard, Justin Ghio
    VP of Talent and Culture, Humane, José Cong
    Director, Talent Acquisition, Employer Branding & Awareness, PandoLogic, Jenny Cotie Kangas
    Chief Technology Officer, Hired, Dave Walters

    Time is precious so we’re sharing the top tactics from the workshops so you can start cutting down on time-consuming, redundant tasks. This frees you up to focus on what’s most important – the human-centric aspects of recruiting that maximize impact. 
    Need to get started ASAP? Get straight to our free template with the top tech candidate personas and resources for crafting your ideal outreach sequences!

    Change your approach: speed > experience
    José Cong suggests taking on an analytical perspective. Earlier this year, he did an A/B test with his team. “A” was his most experienced recruiter with over 25 years of experience. “B” was a coordinator he coached on ChatGPT. Five months later, “B” was outperforming the recruiting veteran at a 3X pace. 
    The team even recently closed their first two principal-level engineers (the highest level you can get as an IC). To him, that was not a coincidence. He saw a pattern. 
    José’s coordinator was taking his guidance a step further, dropping in the resume, job description, and manager notes into ChatGPT. He asked the tool for guidance on how to approach and hold a conversation. It was working.
    Augmented over artificial
    This experience reinforced to José that AI was trainable. In fact, he says, “I hate the terminology ‘artificial intelligence.’ It’s augmented intelligence. If we think about it from that perspective, we’ll be less intimidated by it and more open-minded. This will allow us to do what we do best. We’re in the people business. Our job is not to write a great email or come up with a list of candidates if we get to a place where we are recognizing great talent.”
    José believes talent teams now have the ability to craft a message so individuals see something different than what they’re getting and it makes them stop. He calls it the “aha moment.” 
    Focus on relationship-building
    To José, the challenge is getting to that “aha” email. He says, “How do we personalize it? How do we make it representative of our brand? How do we figure out the best way to make that connection? And once we do that, how do we initiate the conversation? Once we have them on the phone or on video, that’s the feature allowing us, as recruiters, to not waste months trying to figure out how to become an expert in a subject we don’t know.
    For a recruiter, it’s not about how many candidates you get through or how many closes. We judge ourselves in terms of the quality of people.” 
    He wants recruiters to spend time developing relationships instead of searching mindlessly through LinkedIn. A tool like ChatGPT handles the remedial work that will eventually burn us out. 
    ChatGPT in action: Intake to email
    Acting as a new recruiter, Justin Ghio demonstrates how to use ChatGPT to:

    Get closer to knowing what good looks like
    Build trust with a hiring manager
    Sound like a quality recruiter to a candidate (in a job field you may know nothing about!)

    What ten questions should I ask a hiring manager about this role?

    Linking to a job description for a Director of Product, Justin asks ChatGPT what ten questions to ask a hiring manager for the role. He points out the results are cookie-cutter questions. So, the next step is to make these more product-focused. He says, “This is where you can really see the power of it. 

    This AI technology is not output-based. It’s input-based. We are always going to be the input to make this technology powerful. Don’t be scared that it’s going to take your job. You are the key that unlocks its potential.”
    Now, with these 10 questions, you might go into the intake meeting and get all the answers. But, you still don’t know much about this rec. 
    Hiring managers want to know: Do you know about this role? Can you sell it to candidates?
    Write me a Boolean string.

    Again, tailor it to the role:

    Justin doesn’t recommend copying this output and launching it into LinkedIn, a CRM, or an ATS. Instead, he considers it a solid starting point. 
    “At Activision Blizzard, we work off buckets to create booleans. This gives you the ability to extend and find candidates quickly. Everything you know about [the company] and everything you learned from the hiring manager based on the questions you got, you then superimpose on the search to continue making it compelling.”
    Then, you might take a deeper dive into who your company is up against.  
    What companies are the main competitors?

    Write a candidate a compelling email
    By now, you’ve: 

    Completed the intake meeting and have good notes.
    Acquitted your target and know what good looks like 
    Evaluated core competitors

    Next, it’s time for outreach. Justin requests a compelling email to a potential candidate. 

    The result is a standard email but Justin wants you to ask yourself: How many quality pieces of iteration can I get done in the next five minutes? 
    Again, ChatGPT offers a starting point. Justin explains it isn’t about getting an entire email. “Maybe it’s to get the first four sentences,  the hook, or a good subject line.”
    Next, he requests something more interesting and creative. 

    “For [Activision Blizzard], which is in the creative space, this is where we see the dividends pay off because the verbiage will change thematically.”
    From here, continue optimizing.
    Make it more concise.

    Justin tells his team, “If you copy and paste this, then send it out, you’ll get a meeting from me on your calendar. But if you’re using bits and pieces, it will help accelerate. 
    Again, in the creative space, it’s really hard to come up with compelling messages for game developers and figure out what will stick. We have to use [tools] to give us a leg up.”

    Justin praises how ChatGPT “points out the key responsibilities, which are parlayed from the job description we fed it. This is extremely helpful and saves time. It allows us to show up to the first meeting with a good candidate instead of making it a two-week process.”
    Using AI in an equitable way
    Establish guidelines
    Justin explains that at Activision Blizzard, AI is “never a decisive step. It is only a guide. We believe any system we have that has automation doesn’t use any simplified output as a determinant factor. It uses it as an indicative factor. 
    It is not deciding anything, but simply giving us inference and the ability to iterate and ideate quicker. There’s power in the ability to draw inferences from candidates.”
    Justin offers further insight with this scenario: 
    “We are familiar with the DEI statistics about candidates not applying for a job when they don’t meet 100% of the qualifications. Let’s take the flip side of this as an example. Let’s say Person A didn’t add technology to their resume because they used it in one project. But their peer, Person B, wrote it on their resume. We can discover, because of AI, there’s a correlation and you should ask Person A about the technology Person B included on their resume. 
    It’s giving that inference to make an even better call. That could be the missing link between an instant reject and a potential hire.” 
    Justin believes the best results come from following guidelines around ChatGPT in combination with your “personal flair and stylistic input.”
    Be intentional
    In the case that AI does have some evil in it, José and his team “go out of [their] way to make sure [they] are investing time and effort into cycling through various demographics. I think that is the best of both worlds. You’re hopefully automating something that will take away the unconscious biases.
    Just in case it wasn’t untrained with AI, you have to be intentional about making sure you’re targeting underrepresented individuals. The best thing is you can do it at a much higher rate.”
    Use a bias checker
    Jenny Cotie Kangas points out that generative AI is trained on everything from the Internet before 2021. She says, “If you’re using it for content generation, it’s really important to have a bias checker like Textio to make sure you’re not biased against people at scale.”
    Tip: Install WebChatGPT, an extension allowing you to integrate post-2021 information into ChatGPT searches.
    A CTO’s take on ChatGPT
    Hired CTO, Dave Walters sees his team using ChatGPT more and more. He says, “We’re finding more opportunities to leverage it and make our lives more efficient. I embrace it.”
    That’s not without caution though.
    At Hired, Dave and his team are trying to “get ahead by setting policies and procedures for when it should and shouldn’t be used, and what you should and should not do with it.
    I recommend getting policies in place so teams know what to do and what not to do. Don’t let that policy be ‘don’t use it.’ You will fall behind. It’s inevitable. People will use it anyway so find the safe ways to implement it and the ways that will benefit your employees, team members, and company.”
    ChatGPT prompt ideas for talent professionals
    How else can ChatGPT help talent pros? Just ask it! Jenny says, “You can ask generative AI to be your consultant to help you figure out where you can use it.” Here’s a simple example for talent acquisition leaders: 

    “I have ChatGPT build my project plans for how I handle the day. If I need to respond to an email, I can take the email and ask it to draft a response.”
    Write a better business case
    Bring ChatGPT a specific situation. Let’s say you’re not getting the candidates you need from your job board advertising. If you need to request more budget, Jenny recommends developing a use case by asking ChatGPT to help you write a compelling argument.
    Support your talent acquisition strategy
    Legislation changes quite often and talent professionals need to stay in the loop to optimize their TA strategy. Jenny explains, “The Colorado Equal Pay Act says to put pay and benefits on a job advertisement. If I’m looking at that with my talent acquisition strategy as just Colorado, I’m missing the bigger picture. Take the block of information about the Colorado Equal Pay Act and take CCPA and New York’s Local Law 144. 
    Then, ask ChatGPT to give the meta implications of these laws to scale that instead of looking at the tiny aspect of a specific piece. That is what we should be using to build talent strategies.” 
    Sharp vs non-sharp questions
    Now that you have some questions to ask, let’s cover how to ask AI effectively. Jenny emphasizes, “You have to ask the right, sharp question to get the answer.” Here’s her example:
    “What is AI?”
    This is a non-sharp question, which will just present a broad response not specific to your individual use case. “Think of generative AI as having all the hats. To get it to respond more precisely, you want to call out the specific hat you need it to wear.” 
    This is what Jenny considers a sharp question, modified to be specific for a stronger output:
    “As a Talent Acquisition leader considering leveraging ChatGPT in my day-to-day, what are some things I should consider choosing to begin?”

    Interested in crafting better candidate outreach? Try our free template. More