Quick, Compassionate, and Diverse Hiring at a High Growth Company

Problem

"I joined a very progressive company who is on the forefront of Diversity and Inclusion. I learned a number of things from them about what it takes to not just hire a diverse team but to hire quickly and with compassion."

"I spent 6 months looking for a job when I was laid off at my last company after 9 years. I saw many mistakes being made in the hiring process. Once I met with the EVP of Engineering at a large company that recently went through extreme growth. He was looking for many Directors to manage his now 200+ engineering teams. I went to the office and spent an hour speaking with him. I didn't think I was a good fit for the role, but did not expect him to never get back to me. No one did. Not even anyone from their very large recruiting team."

"Another time I was going through the hiring process and met with many people in the organization (around 10 over a few onsite and by phone interviews). I did not hear back from anyone for over 2 weeks."

Actions taken

"The only real thing you can do in these situations is email your contacts at various intervals (the day of or right after the interview, a week later, and possibly a follow up the week after that). The first email should be your longest expressing why you would be good for the role, calling out something specific that happened during the interview or pointing out some article they could read that relates to what you talked about. The second and third emails should short and to the point."

Lessons learned

"If you are really trying to grow your organization there are a few simple things you can do to not just get people to join you, but leave those you didn't chose with a good impression of your company (you never know when you will run into people again)."

• At the end of a round of interviews, be sure to tell the person the next steps in the process and when you expect to hear from them again.
• If the day comes that you told the person you would get back to them and you don't have an answer yet, send an email explaining the truth (we are still interviewing candidates and won't have an answer for another week...we appreciate your patience).
• Always thank the candidate for their time. Everyone is busy and finding time to interview while you are working is stressful and hard. It helps to acknowledge that.
• Always be truthful and give direct feedback about why the candidate wasn't chosen. I know it is hard, but it really helps the person interviewing to get better at honing their message.