We decided to share our own experience of searching and selecting candidates for clients’ projects in this article to give an understanding of how much time, effort, and money the client can save by entrusting the search for the right specialists to us.
The recruiting department of Honeycomb Software handles the full cycle of hiring an employee, which includes:
- Identifying the hiring needs
- Search and first contact (sourcing and hunting)
- Evaluation (conducting an HR interview and technical interview)
- Composing a final offer (Job Offer)
Let’s take a closer look at where the sourcing process begins and what exactly recruiters pay attention to when reviewing CVs and communicating with candidates.
Identifying the Hiring Needs
First, it is important to clearly understand the customer’s requirements for the candidate and information about the project. A well-planned and thoughtfully crafted recruitment process helps the hiring team filter the right candidate faster.
The recruitment process starts with recruitment planning which involves analyzing and describing job specifications, qualifications, experience, and skills required to fill the open positions. From our experience at Honeycomb Software, to find the perfect candidate, it is enough to provide the following information:
- Project description, industry, technologies, responsibilities
- Seniority level of required developer/QA etc.
- Client location, team size, are there client-side developers?
- What is the stage of the project? (Existing or from scratch)
- Budget for the project
- Approximate date of start. How long can the client wait until we find the right candidate?
- Would it suit the client if the developer starts working on the project on a part-time basis? (due to the completion of the developer’s work on the previous project).
- Which technologies for the vacancy are mandatory, and which are additional (to know which ones to focus on when searching)
- Other details related to software skills, previous work experience, location, etc.
Preparing the Job Description
Write a clear job description to enable candidates to understand the job and to assess whether they are the right fit. At this stage, the Lead Recruiter prepares a job description and submits it for review to the Tech Lead and Business Developer who are involved in the requirements-identifying process with the customer. After approval, the vacancy is taken up by recruiters.
Job descriptions include the duties and responsibilities an employee is expected to perform and what qualifications and experience would be necessary to accomplish this position. In addition to this, it’s important to emphasize the company culture, values, and benefits in the job description to attract the right candidates who would fit into the company’s culture and environment.
Planning the Process
At this stage, we identify those who are responsible for:
- Sourcing, first communication, and CV screening (Sourcers who search for candidates and check for compliance with job requirements)
- HR Interview (Recruiters who are responsible for checking soft skills and English level)
- Technical Interview (Senior staff who check hard skills according to the technology stack and experience)
Searching and Hunting for Potential Candidates
The searching stage is the process of actively finding job candidates. At this stage, recruiters use all possible channels and tools that speed up the search for candidates and make it as effective as possible. This is one of the most time-consuming stages because recruiters should:
- Post vacancies on relevant channels and write first messages to potential candidates
- Contact candidates who are already in our database
- Review and process received CVs, screen and shortlist applicants efficiently and accurately, and invite those candidates who are the best fit for an HR Interview
- Create an HR Interview schedule, and prepare questions for discussion that are formed individually for each vacancy
- Conduct HR Interviews, form feedback, and select the best candidates
- Create a Technical Interview schedule for selected candidates
- Conduct Technical Interviews together with Technical experts and get feedback
- Based on general feedback, choose those who will be introduced to the client
- Constantly keep in touch with the candidates, etc.
This stage is fundamental and often takes from 5 days to one month, depending on the complexity of the position.
Interviewing and Selecting
To move forward with the recruitment process, we need to find out more about the applicant’s background, skills, and even personality to see if they fit with your company’s culture. Specialists should be potentially suitable for the position (relevant experience, experience working with the technologies required in the vacancy, English proficiency level, candidate’s location, and salary expectations).
The recruiter presents the project to the candidate, which is why it is so important to know the details indicated in the Identifying the Hiring Needs section to interest and convince the candidate that this particular project and our company will allow them to implement existing knowledge and skills as well as acquire new ones.
The Initial Interview is a conversation with the recruiter.
At this stage, recruiters tell the candidate about the company and the project, check the candidate’s soft skills, assess the level of English, ask about experience, and answer the candidate’s questions. The candidate’s values must match those of the company and the client. The initial meeting with the recruiter typically lasts between 30-45 minutes via video chat.
The recruiter invites candidates who have successfully passed the first stage to a Technical Interview. A technical interviewer, usually a Tech Lead or CTO, conducts this meeting. They determine the candidate’s level based on the correct answers to technical questions, following the client’s requirements and project specifics. The interview begins with a few basic questions, as some of the candidates may be nervous, and this approach allows them to calm down. As for the questions themselves, we try not to dive too deeply into theory but rather consider real-life cases of how a candidate would solve a unique problem. This helps to understand whether the candidate has been involved in solving complex problems or situations on the project because the ability to solve such a problem means that all the steps below are automatically covered. Technical interviewers often ask to perform a little test task (live coding) that allows us to check not only theoretical knowledge but also practical. This interview lasts 1-1.5 hours.
When the candidate successfully passes the Technical Interview and receives positive feedback from the interviewer, we prepare his CV and send it to the client. If the client approves the candidate, the candidate will be invited to the final stage – the Interview with a customer.
It is essential to emphasize that three departments are involved in the process of searching for and selecting the perfect candidate – recruiting, management, and technical. By outsourcing the recruitment process to Honeycomb Software, customers can save the efforts of their internal team and allow them to focus on their core business functions while we take care of finding the best candidates for their needs.
Job offer
If the candidate has successfully passed an interview with the customer, the recruiter sends them a Job Offer. The candidate should decide within 1 working day. Sometimes candidates reject an offer in favor of another company. Therefore, the recruiter starts negotiations with the candidate to clarify any controversial points and to convince them why they should choose our company and this particular project.
Middle and Senior level candidates usually receive many offers. Therefore, it is essential for both the recruiter and the client to act quickly and make decisions on how to proceed with the candidate.
If a candidate accepts the offer, the HR manager drafts a contract and sends it to the candidate for signing. After signing the contract, we prepare the workplace and introduce the candidate to the work team.
When candidates accept the job offer, they officially become company employees and can start working on the customer’s project.
Outsourcing the recruitment process to a reliable company like Honeycomb Software can provide numerous benefits to businesses. By partnering with us, customers can reduce the time and costs associated with the hiring process while also gaining access to a wider pool of qualified candidates. Our team of experts can help ensure that only the most suitable candidates are selected, ultimately leading to better retention rates and increased productivity for your business. With our efficient and effective recruitment process, customers can focus on other critical aspects of their operations while leaving the hiring process to us. Overall, outsourcing recruitment to Honeycomb Software is a smart investment that can yield significant returns for any business.
Inna Koltoniuk, Yulia Semeniuk and Oksana Stepanchuk,
Recruitment Department of Honeycomb Software
