4 best ways of screening tech candidates
You are here because you have decided to recruit a new tech employee or a team member. You have spent an enormous amount of time discussing what the new hire should bring to the table with your team, and you have posted the best job description on your careers page and online job boards. If everything goes smoothly, you will have a ton of applications to go through. You think the hard part is over, right?
| HR Tips & Tools
February 3, 2021
Sorry to disappoint you, but no!
More than 30% of business failures can be attributed to poor hiring practices. Screening manually through all the applications and finding top tech candidates in your talent pool can seem like a herculean task.
Here are our recommended methods for screening candidates in a breeze.
More than 30% of business failures can be attributed to poor hiring practices. Screening manually through all the applications and finding top tech candidates in your talent pool can seem like a herculean task.
Here are our recommended methods for screening candidates in a breeze.
Screening resumes
Screening candidates, with the help of resumes in the application phase, is an old school technique. That being said, resumes are also a way for candidates to showcase their abilities to potential employers. With the advent of AI, recruiting tools such as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) provide recruiters with resume parsing ability that eases the screening process by automating data extraction and filtering out candidates from the talent pool. Almost 64% of staffing firms use an ATS to screen resumes.
Six seconds is the average amount of time recruiters look at a resume.
If manually screening, then some of the things you should look out for include:
- Resume formatMessy resumes with grammatical errors and typos may indicate a lack of attention or someone who is not detail-oriented. Hiring such candidates is risky for positions that require attention to detail, such as software testers. However, if the candidate seems like a good fit for the job based on other skills, you can evaluate these skills using assessment tools.
- Work experienceRecruiters should look for only relevant work experience mentioned in the resume and skills and tools used in each position.
- Unexplained job gapsUnexplained job gaps in the resume can be alarming, but it should never be the grounds for disqualifying candidates. This is something that recruiters can address during the interview and determine what the applicants did during this time.
Video interviews
Conducting video interviews is the next best thing for employers to evaluate applicants' qualifications and skills during the hiring process. Since it is a great way to screen the talent pool remotely, video interviews are implemented early in the hiring process. AI video interviewing platforms screen candidates by evaluating their answers and physical cues such as eye movements.
Video interviews are of three main types:
Video interviews are of three main types:
1
One-way video interviews
One-way video interviews, also known as pre-recorded video interviews or on-demand video interviews, are among the best methods of handling a large volume of applicants. Interviewers are not required to be present in such a form of screening, and applicants can record video responses to preset interview questions.
2
Live video interviews
In live video interviews, an interviewer connects with each candidate face-to-face in real-time. The entire video conversation is recorded so that the interview can be played back to review candidates and their skills. Live interviews are a good alternative for hiring remote employees.
3
Pair programming video interviews
Over 90% of hiring executives say that finding qualified professionals in tech is challenging. Pair programming video interviews help employers assess the applicants' tech skills faster than traditional whiteboard coding assessments. With audio and video features, interviewers can effectively evaluate the interviewee's hard and soft skills with a shorter decision time.
Conversational skill assessments
Traditional forms of skill assessments are one of the reasons for the extensive skills gap that we currently see in the talent pool. Most employers use some conventional form of pre-employment assessments to consider if a candidate is a good fit for the position or not.
Bad hires can end up costing organizations almost $14,900 on average.
The solution for this is automated conversation-based assessments (CBA) or conversational skill assessments. Conversational assessments allow employers to screen applicants for on-the-job tech skills, necessary aptitude skills (such as a fluid intelligence test for assessing the logical reasoning of entry-level employees), and soft skills. Such AI-based intelligent platforms have a powerful capacity to evaluate candidates based on their conversation with the AI. They can provide pass, fail, or borderline pass/fail recommendations to the recruiters.
Automated skill assessments are great for those applicants who aren't necessarily good at selling their skills on resumes. AI-based skill assessments screen candidates for on-the-job skills using quizzes and tasks.
Automated skill assessments are great for those applicants who aren't necessarily good at selling their skills on resumes. AI-based skill assessments screen candidates for on-the-job skills using quizzes and tasks.
Paid project assessments
The most widely recognized issue that numerous employers face is understanding that certain applicants look incredible on a resume and may perform well in the interviews yet have difficulties with on-the-job tasks.
Instead of hiring the wrong person for the job, try offering them a paid project assessment. Project-based assessments allow employers to take a look at a prospective candidate's performance before hiring them, lowering the risk of a bad hire. Businesses that screen their talent pool with project-based interviews invest significantly less time and money recruiting the best individuals for the position. This also allows the candidate to learn of the job and demonstrate how effective they are in utilizing the tools to get the job done.
Instead of hiring the wrong person for the job, try offering them a paid project assessment. Project-based assessments allow employers to take a look at a prospective candidate's performance before hiring them, lowering the risk of a bad hire. Businesses that screen their talent pool with project-based interviews invest significantly less time and money recruiting the best individuals for the position. This also allows the candidate to learn of the job and demonstrate how effective they are in utilizing the tools to get the job done.
Keeping an open mind
While the screening process may be the most time-consuming part of the talent acquisition funnel, there are always better ways to up your game for efficient screening and hiring. For most recruiting leaders, the challenge is to reconsider the things they do naturally and see them differently.
However, the willingness to do so is essential to win the talent war. Flexibility and continuous learning are crucial to all careers, and recruitment is no different.
However, the willingness to do so is essential to win the talent war. Flexibility and continuous learning are crucial to all careers, and recruitment is no different.
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