Learn To Hire Well And You’ll Never Lose
- Hunter Walk tl;dr: 3 tips: (1) Know what excellent looks like - if you don't know what an excellent marketer looks like, spend time with a few who excel in their domain. (2) Ask candidates who reject you to name names i.e. people in their network who could fill the role. (3) Sell past the close, in case the candidate gets a counter offer from their current employer, etc..featured in #263
Engineering Teams Are Just Networks
- Marianne Bellotti tl;dr: "If you want to hire well, have modest baseline of minimum qualifications and think of your engineering organization as a network." Marianne illustrates why this is critical: people do not work out in their new roles "because their strengths do not align with the incentives the network creates."featured in #257
Talent Development Is Key To Winning The War For Talent
tl;dr: "One of the key solutions is talent development programs, of which the reasons are twofold: First, by shifting talent development programs into a recruiting tool, employers can attract better and more applicants. Second, turning talent development programs into a focused pipeline can address roles that are at high risk for talent shortages in the future."featured in #255
‘Great Attrition’ Or ‘Great Attraction’? The Choice Is Yours
tl;dr: This article highlights factors important to employees but under-appreciated by employers e.g. flexible schedule, sense of belonging. It also prompts companies to reframe attrition as an opportunity to attract talent. This starts with asking 7 key questions e.g. do we shelter toxic leaders? Do we have the right people in the right places (especially managers)?featured in #253
Closing Calls: Tell The Best Version Of The Truth
- Will Larson tl;dr: Most hiring funnels miss a closing call and the end of the hiring process. This is 2 steps: (1) Ask for the candidates concerns. (2) Answer them by telling the best version of the truth. "The artistry of the closing call is finding the most compelling path between their starting concerns and accepting your offer. Infrequently... you’ll come to realize that the role really doesn’t give the candidate what they’re looking for. It’s far better to realize now than after they’ve joined."featured in #251
Getting To Yes: Solving Engineering Manager Hiring Loops That Reject Every Candidate
- Will Larson tl;dr: (1) Think about what you need engineering managers to do. (2) Refine those tasks into four or five key skills for the role. (3) Create an interview to evaluate each skill. (4) Create a rubric to score each of those interviews. (5) Train the interviewing team on the new rubric. (6) Remove interviewers from the loop if they refuse to use the rubric.featured in #245
Tactical Challenges In Hiring Junior Engineers
- Cindy Sridharan tl;dr: The costs incurred of hiring a junior engineer isn't always realized. "If a team isn’t willing to invest at least 1–2 years, they shouldn’t be hiring junior engineers." Investment comes in mentorship, manager's loss of productivity, and other ways outlined here.featured in #197
Tech Sector Job Interviews Assess Anxiety, Not Software Skills
- Chris Parnin Matt Shipman tl;dr: Study by NCSU & Microsoft suggests that whiteboarding interviews are deeply flawed. They create performance anxiety inhibiting coding ability, bias towards candidates who can afford to prepare and those the interviewee prefers.featured in #193
Tell Candidates What To Expect From Your Job Interviews
- Julia Evans tl;dr: Given candidates won't know your interview process from the start - which can lead to confusion - share a simple document beforehand outlining the process and how they should prepare. Julia provides Stripe's sample document.featured in #190