How are we hiring ?

Having a minor in Human Resources, I have scathing opinions of typical hiring techniques in the high-tech sectors. I have spent most of my career in the Silicon Valleys (north and south) and most of that as a consultant. I have also been a founder of a start-up which went on to be listed on the stock exchange. The usual hiring scenario is this:

• An HR person asks the manager what he/she are looking for, including the skill sets and experience required. The manager usually has no specific clue and will list all the small stuff that might *perhaps* apply. Like "Must know Perl" if the department has a few .pl files in their day to day operations.


• The HR person takes a look at the title of the position (like "Senior Programmer") and the list of knowledge and skills that the manager listed and then proceeds to apply some weird algorithm that has been given to them by their grandmothers or something.... So now, the "Must know Perl" becomes "Must have 7 years of Perl programming experience", or god forbid "Must have 10 years experience in Web 2.0".... I was constantly floored when I was asked to have 7 years experience in C# when it had only been out for 5.


• An ad is put in a newspaper, and on websites like Monster.com


• A gazillion resumes are received. 500 more trees die. Spam is mistaken as legit applications.


• The HR person has to apply a "scoring system" to all of these to decide which ones make the first round. This is where the HR person feels they are the "value added" in the system. So, our "7 years of Perl" becomes 14 points, and our "15 years of Web 2.0" becomes 30 points; even when it should be obvious that the candidate lied through his teeth on that last one...


• The top scoring 10 or 20 candidates are kept and their resumes are forwarded to the manager.


• The manager reviews the resumes and apply their own scoring system and keep about 5 to 10 candidates. They report these to the HR person who schedule the interviews.


• The candidates come in and meet the HR person for a quick 10 mins interview and then meet the manager for an extended interview. Fun is had by all. The manager is looking for a "team player" or some other soft skill. The candidate is encouraged to spew buzzwords at the manager. If the candidate is really unlucky, they will get to be interviewed *very briefly* by one of the department's techies.


• The manager asks the candidate what salary they are expecting. They candidate replies that he/she is very flexible, and what did the manager have in mind ? This continues on back and forth until someone says a number. The first one to say a number loses.


• The candidates are all thanked and the nephew of a VP is hired.


• OR, if the VP has no relatives to hire: The candidate with the lowest salary requirement is hired.

I wish I was joking.

We are in 2006. This procedure is total crud. We are in the information age, and hiring is still in the dark-ages. Very few managers know how to really describe their departments needs, and only a handful of companies actually test the skill sets required. Those that *do* test, typically do so at the last round of qualifications. They might as well hire randomly...

We should be testing our requirements first. Have a questionnaire on the Web and demand that applicants answer before submitting their resumes. We must have a way for the candidate to demonstrate their skill upfront, with their application. I am not proposing a boilerplate solution here, just that receiving even one resume must be accompanied with some form of skill demonstration. It is up to a real HR department to show the proper initiative and craftiness necessary to cull the crud from the cream. Anyone can lie on a resume. I find they are totally useless as a hiring mechanism. Also, a lot of candidates do not have the writing skills necessary to show well on a piece of paper.

Let the techies of the department review the skills answers. If the candidates had to code a certain function as part of their application, let the techies review each of the code bits.

When the techs have a few answers that they like, HR should contact about 6 candidates at a time and bring them in for interviews *at the same time*. When they come in, they are given a piece of paper and asked what salary they are expecting. That information is to be kept hidden during the "group" interview.

The group interview can take a few forms, depending on what soft skill-set is necessary. You will be asking your candidates to participate in a game. The game will try to bring out a skill for the interviewers to assess. The department manager is usually the one to oversee the group interviews. Here are a few examples:

• Create two identical Lego sculpture. Same colors, same blocks, same positions. Make it *really* complex. Now break apart one of them and put the pieces in a box. Take the other sculpture and put it behind a blind. Designate one candidate as the "describer". He/she gets to describe the sculpture to the rest of the candidates. The rest of the candidates must work together to duplicate the sculpture that is being described to them. At any time, a candidate may ask to take the place of the describer. Watch the sparks fly.
  
• Have a list of technical questions, and ask the group for answers. The first one who raise their hands gets to answer. Don't keep score. Just watch if the candidates are confident enough in their knowledge to show little stress during the questions.
  
• Have the candidates split into 3 teams of 2. Explain a problem to which they must design a solution. Have them write on a piece of paper their name and their answer. Have them give in their individual answers. Then get them to discuss and debate the design with their partner. Have the team give you the team design. Compare that design with the individual answers. See which candidate was able to compromise best.
  
• Make up your own
  

The HR person gives the salary requirement answers to the manager after the manager has picked 2 or 3 candidates.

If you still must know how the candidates fit with the rest of the team, bring the team and the candidates out to lunch together. Then ask the team what they think.

Summary

1. Test the skills first.
2. Involve the co-workers of the position as soon as possible in the culling process.
3. Interview in groups, not as individuals. This way you see how the candidates react under real stress.
4. Salary is not part of the main interview items.
5. Team interaction should be tested on a social setting.

Even will all this, I must admit that the chances are that you will still be forced to hire the VP's nephew...