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Pitfalls of an Unstructured Interview

Pitfalls of an Unstructured Interview

“Experienced interviewers do not appear to differ markedly from inexperienced interviewers in their descriptions of either the ideal or typical applicant. I would hypothesize that the lack of information characteristic of unstructured procedures leads interviewers to categorize on the basis of their prior conception and, as a consequence, lowers the validity of their decisions.”

– Dr Robert L Dipboye, Professor of Psychology at University of Central Florida

Most technical interviews are unstructured in nature. A typical unstructured interview is vulnerable to a variety of biases in information gathering, judgement and decision making.

In an unstructured interview, the interviewer does not have a clear charter on what to look for in the candidate. Their evaluation on the candidate is based on their views on what is required in the job.  Lack of systematic approach results in gathering interviewer’s personal opinion rather than knowledge, skills and abilities of the candidate to perform the job.

There is a lot of evidence supporting the “similar-to-me” effect in which the interviewer gives more favorable evaluation to the candidates who are similar to the interviewer on background, education, attitudes and other factors.

Research indicated that performance of the candidate in an interview session depends a lot on the way the interview is conducted. The interviewer’s conduct of the session can influence the quality as well as the quantity of the information gathered.

In summary, unstructured interviews:

  1. Are less likely to collect job-related data about knowledge, skills and abilities related to the job.
  2. Are not run consistent across candidates making it difficult to objectively compare and contrast candidates.
  3. Are influenced by interviewers biases that may negatively impact decisions lowering the quality of hire.

Adopting a structured interview approach would eliminate most of these issues and will improve the quality of the hiring process.

Easyhire.me is an online platform for conducting structured interviews to deliver consistent hiring results. It allows the hiring manager to:

  • Define an interview format, appropriate questions, and rating criteria.
  • Conduct an engaging interview with live video featuring shared code editor.
  • Track feedback, scores, and interview recordings.

Hire by reviewing interviews and making data driven decisions.

How do you run your job interviews – unstructured or structured?

How do you run your job interviews – unstructured or structured?

This is a four-part series that discusses structured interviews. The upcoming articles in the series are “Pitfalls of unstructured interviews,” “Benefits of structured interviews,” and “How easyhire.me can help you run a structured Interview.”

Interviews without a specific format are referred to as unstructured interviews. Unstructured interviews are unplanned. They tends to be free flowing with the interviewer asking questions spontaneously based on the candidate’s responses and proceed like a friendly conversation.  As a result they vary across candidates and are inconsistent in the way the candidates are evaluated.

At the other end, structured interviews are based on thorough analysis of the job requirements and in-depth understanding of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) required to perform the job. On the basis of the analysis, interview questions and scorecards are crafted. The candidates are asked the same questions and their responses are assessed in a standardized manner against job-specific criteria using a predetermined scorecard.

Structuring the interview selection process reduces the magnitude of interviewers’ biases, enhancing the reliability and validity of the interview decisions. Overall, structured interviews help in establishing a clear link between performance as a candidate at the job interview and performance as an employee on the job.

The table below compares the two approaches. Use the table below to determine if your interviews are unstructured or structured.

Unstructured Interviews

  • Little or no planning of the interview session.
  • The evaluation criteria used by interviewers vary across applicants.
  • The interview questions are not pre-planned. They are spontaneous and free flowing.
  • Interview sessions are not consistent across applicants of the same job.
  • Little or no control over the type or amount of information collected across applicants.
  • Irrelevant information influences the direction of the interview.
  • There is no emphasis on note-taking or maintaining interview records.
  • No standardized metric is used in rating the applicant.
  • The interviewer’s personal biases influence the evaluation of the candidate.
  • No formal training is provided to the interview team.

Structured Interviews

  • There is careful planning of interview objectives and evaluation criteria.
  • The factors evaluated by the interviewers are based on a thorough job analysis and are consistent across candidates.
  • Interview questions are pre-determined and linked to job criteria (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities).
  • The applicants of a particular job are asked the same questions.
  • Questions are planned and controlled. Same sets of questions are asked across applicants.
  • Irrelevant information is disregarded.
  • Detailed notes are taken during the interview session that is shared, analyzed, and stored.
  • Applicants are rated and scored based on a standardized metric created for the job.
  • The interviewer’s personal biases have less influence than the ratings across different job related parameters.
  • The talent acquisition team is provided with the interview template and rating metric before conducting the interviews.


Research shows that structuring the interview process reduces the influence of interviewer’s personal biases in the selection process. It also increases the reliability and validity of the interviewer’s judgement. In other words, structured interview results improve the quality of hire in the organization.

easyhire.me platform provides all the elements for conducting a structured interview.  Plan your interviews ahead by choosing a series of question from easyhire.me question bank and crafting the scorecard attributes. Run an efficient interview using easyhire.me’s Interview Room – it features video, code editor, and scorecards all in one place. Record and track the interviews for a data driven decision making.

Event Recap: Find Interviewing Success

Event Recap: Find Interviewing Success

We recently attended an event, “Interview Training,” held by RockIt Recruiting. The event reinforced many of the ideas and beliefs that EasyHire is based on. Here, we give an overview of the event and how our unique platform can allow you to succeed.

The event made it clear that bad interview training leads to poor evaluation and of candidates and bad candidate choices for hiring. The first speaker, Natalia Baryshnikova, spoke about how different approaches and proper tools can impact the speed and effectiveness of the interview process. A confusing system or unorganized process can wreak havoc on recruiting and hiring the best candidate for the position. A structured interview significantly speeds up the hiring process meaning less time and money spent by the company. EasyHire is an all-in-one interview platform that gives companies the ability to proceed through the hiring process quickly and in an organized fashion. Our platform allows companies to focus time and resources on moving their business forward rather than getting stuck building up their team.

The second speaker, Gayle Leakmann McDowell, spoke about the importance of making the interview process as perfect and seamless as possible for better results. She also discussed the need to know the extent of a candidate’s tech knowledge in order to make the right hiring decision. EasyHire understands how crucial it is for the hiring team to have the tools to make the best business decisions to reach the company’s goals. The EasyHire platform gives hiring managers the ability to test a candidate’s tech skills directly within the interviewing system. With this unique feature, recruiting teams are able to fully evaluate a candidate and develop an accurate picture of him or her.

The final topic we found really hit home in regards to our platform was the importance of finding and using appropriate interview questions. EasyHire has a robust library of questions for the interview to choose from and use as well as document the answers given right in the platform.

Stop wasting time, money, and resources on a seemingly endless recruiting and interviewing process. EasyHire has what you need for hiring success. We found RockIt Recruiting’s event insightful and are proud to offer solutions to the obstacles companies are facing in today’s market.

RockIt Recruiting Event: http://rockitrecruiting.com/blog/22

Giving Hiring Managers the Power

Giving Hiring Managers the Power

An article was published on April 8, 2015 titled “The 7-Step Hiring Blueprint that Built Netflix” by Carlie Smith (http://bit.ly/1cmBBPK). In step six, Smith discusses the importance of a hiring manager taking charge of the interview process.

Many of the tips focus around organization and quick and effective communication to ensure the best candidate is hired. EasyHire recognizes the deep importance of this part of the interviewing and hiring process and has developed its platform around these very concepts.

It is essential that an accurate impression be given from the beginning. Candidates strive to articulate their skills and ability to perform the job in the hopes of being hired. But what about the first impression of the company? It is often overlooked that companies also need to provide detailed insight into the company culture and team dynamics. EasyHire makes this easy for hiring managers by allowing them to immediately showcase the top tier communication skills and technology they value. A problematic or chaotic hiring process can make a qualified, perfect candidate turn down an offer. But by using a platform that makes the process easy, efficient, and advanced, the candidate is immediately aware of the company’s smart business sense.

The article also discussed how involved a hiring manager should be when interacting with candidates before and after the interview process. We all know that making time is a challenge for most business professionals. However, EasyHire’s video-based platform makes it simpler to conduct interviews anytime, anywhere. Interviews should no longer be confined to a stuffy conference room. Video interviews avoid the confusion and hassle of finding a time that works in everyone’s busy schedule to meet in person.

The last topic we found interesting in Smith’s article was her suggestion to use an “interview scorecard.” And here, we have more great news: EasyHire has this built into its platform! No longer worry about keeping notes, figuring out which questions where used by which interviewer. Our platform allows the hiring managers and their team to keep the process organized and in one place.

EasyHire.me is a manager-centric product with workflows that fit the hiring manager’s needs. Smith’s article shows the importance of creating a blueprint to establish a successful business. Whether you are a small company or a sprawling, well-known business, hiring is important so don’t skimp on finding the best talent in the best way possible.

Four Factors That Impress Candidates

Four Factors That Impress Candidates

Technical talent is in high demand. You want the best of the best when you are recruiting. So what should you know as you enter the market to find and acquire the talent many companies are vying for?

1. Move Quickly – It is no secret that experienced technical talent is swooped up fast. Companies are willing to pay big and go big when it comes to enticing these candidates onto their teams. Reach out when you find a candidate that seems to fit your needs and culture and be prepared to move the interviewing and hiring process along quickly.

2. Make it Easy – Times have changed. Candidates do not have time to attend multiple in-person interviews, especially if they still hold a current full-time position. The easier the interviewing process is made for them, the more appealing the position.

3. Benefits – It is not always just about the money. Candidates now look at the entire package when picking a company to join. Benefits, perks, culture, and atmosphere have all become factors in decision-making.

4. First Impressions – A candidate’s first impression of a company could be a “make-it or break-it” deal for them. If the process of even getting an interview is complicated, communication becomes crossed, or managers do not appear to be involved, this all affects the talent’s final decision. Start off on the right foot by using a platform that keeps the entire process moving along swiftly, organized, and on-time.

Gone are the days where candidates went door-to-door passing our resumes. Gone are the days when a candidate would put in hours of time with a company they do not know much about. Companies who are able to offer insight into the position and their culture are more likely to engage with interested and serious candidates. Use a platform that allows both sides to see the entire picture from the beginning.

EasyHire. Technical Interviews Made Easy.

Training Hiring Managers Webinar Overview

Training Hiring Managers Webinar Overview

Carmen Hudson’s webinar “How to Train Your Hiring Manager” openly discusses the struggles of recruiting top tier talent with unprepared hiring managers. Recruiting can put in countless hours and effort to find the best of the best. But if the hiring manager is unclear as to how the process works or unwilling to professionally make the leap to a decision, those efforts can go to waste.

A hiring manager could cost a company not only money, but also important talent. Hudson expertly recognizes hiring managers that don’t understand the recruiting process often display these characteristics: unresponsive, no-shows, unprepared for interview, don’t provide feedback, and are indecisive.

Hiring decisions are some of the most important business decisions a company makes and therefore all those involved need to be on the same page. Hudson recommends creating a clearly defined process for recruiting. Spell out what steps will be taken at what times during the hiring process. In this way, you can expect hiring managers to be accountable for specific steps along the way.

Avoid setbacks from the beginning by following these steps:

  • Ensure the job description is accurate and detailed. This prevents wasting time interviewing candidates that don’t have the skills you are looking for but that also aren’t listed in the description.
  • Engage hiring managers from the start. Their decision and thoughts on candidates that could potentially join their team are important.
  • Know when to say no. Some candidates may look great on paper but not meet any expectations during the interview. Say no and move onto the next qualified candidate.
  • Move quickly. Time is of the essence when it comes to hiring. Be prepared to offer the position to a candidate in a timely manner to avoid counteroffers from other companies. Efficient communication within the company is key here. EasyHire.me offers the platform necessary to make this communication easy, fast, and clear to move this step along.
  • Tap into emotions. What makes you enjoy working for the company? Offer a competitive package, perks, and benefits to entice top talent to your company. The competition in the market is stiff so know what it takes to stand out and do it!

Working with hiring managers is no simple task for recruiting. EasyHire.me makes it easy to keep the decision-makers connected and on the same page.

Check out the full webinar here: http://bit.ly/1Mk1UGs

EasyHire.me Product Update

EasyHire.me Product Update

We are excited to announce new updates to our interviewing platform, EasyHire.me. Today we are releasing a new version and improved features in the Interview Room.

Our new features include:

  • Ability to invite your team to interview candidates
  • Upload your favorite questions to the private question bank
  • Easy access to candidate’s resume and LinkedIn profile from the Interview Room
  • Download and share the interview transcript with key stake holders

Contact us today or login to your account to learn more about these enhanced features and how they can help your recruiting and hiring strategy.

Preparing for Your Interview

Preparing for Your Interview

Preparing for an interview can be a nerve-wracking experience. Follow these steps to ensure you are ready when you step into that room.

  1. Research the Company – Nothing sends an interview into a downward spiral like a candidate not having any background information on the hiring company. Looking through the company’s website and social media can reveal a lot about what they do and how they function.
  1. List Keywords – Create a list of keywords you would like to remember. Whether they are about your work experience, the industry, or why you should be hired, writing these words down and having context around them will help you remember them during the interview.
  1. Get Sleep – Make sure you get a good night’s sleep the night before your interview. Being well rested will allow you to be more alert and on top of your game when answering questions and interacting with the hiring managers.
  1. Have an Outfit Ready – Do not spend your morning worrying about what to wear. Have the outfit already picked out and set aside. This will also prevent last minute emergencies of finding stains or tears on clothes.
  1. Eat Breakfast – Going into an interview on an empty stomach can throw you off. You will not be as alert or focused as having had a healthy, filling breakfast beforehand.
  1. Decide on Questions – Know the questions you will ask your interviewers ahead of time. Pick questions based on your research of the company or from the job description. Having questions prepared shows your interest and professionalism.
  1. Breathe – It’s natural to get anxious before an interview. Many people get a little flustered, sweaty, shaky, or red. To help calm your nerves, don’t forget to breathe. Take a couple deep breaths as you walk in, smile, and get ready to shine!
The Challenges of Recruiting

The Challenges of Recruiting

Every company, no matter the location or the industry, is vying to recruit to best talent possible. The success of a company can be directly linked to the professionals who work diligently in moving the company and its business strategy forward. But actually finding this talent? Well, that comes with a new set of challenges. What holds a company back from being able to identify and successfully onboard talented recruits?

  1. Time – Browsing websites, reading resumes, and scheduling interviews adds up quickly. Human Resources departments and recruiting experts can spend weeks digging through potential candidates without finding the perfect fit.
  1. Money – All of this time spent on researching adds up to money. A company is paying these employees to help build a team of professionals. The more time this takes, the more money is spent.
  1. Resources – Some companies have the luxury of having an entire team dedicated to recruiting talent. Others have a one-man show trying to advance the business plan.
  1. Organization – The actual recruiting process can be a confusing one. Beginning with the job posting and lasting through the offer letter and actual recruitment, you have to remain organized and quick to remain effective in your recruiting purposes. A normal recruiting process can go through these phases: job posting; resume research, phone interview, in-person interview, second in-person interview, testing, management meeting, and final decision.
  1. Success Rate – When you do find that perfect match, how often do they accept the offer you extend to them? No matter what, every company has to contend with the fact that even though a candidate has gone through the entire process, that does not mean they will accept the official offer. When this happens, you are usually forced to start the entire process over again.

These are just a handful of challenges that come with recruiting the best talent. By recognizing these weaknesses ahead of time and forming a plan to improve the process, you put yourself ahead of the game. EasyHire.me is a platform that helps manage and control all of these challenges. It is an all-inclusive platform that allows the recruiter to attract the best talent in the industry in the most efficient way.

Why Does Recruiting Need a Platform like EasyHire.me?

Why Does Recruiting Need a Platform like EasyHire.me?

Why are we still having challenges in recruiting?

“In the year 2015 the landscape of talent acquisition is a war zone littered with wasted money, broken dreams, and endless frustration. It’s not pretty, and the casualties are mounting by the minute.”

~Dr. Charles Handler, a thought leader, analyst and practitioner in talent assessment and human capital space.

Recruiting high-tech employees is a challenge with so many fast growing companies competing for similar talent. When it comes to recruiting, employers are constantly looking for more effective and efficient ways of hiring using social networks for sourcing candidates and online tools for interviewing them.

While successful enterprises are incorporating increasing amounts of technology into their core business processes, the adoption of technology in the talent management space is still quite sparse. According to a recent Deloitte report, more than 90% of large enterprises in the U.S. have ways to model and predict budget, financial results, and expenses but less than 4% of those have any visibility into their workforce.

This problem is not the lack of interest or expertise but is a lack of quality data to perform any meaningful analysis. Existing tools used for recruitment are too fragmented or they are simply not designed for generating metrics or data analysis.

Attracting Candidates

Classic job postings that were successful in the years 1990 – 2010 are no longer effective. Candidates are looking for a more interactive, transparent and socially connected experience when applying for jobs. Impersonal job listings modeled after print media advertisements are definitely out of tune with the rest of the Internet-based services that we have come to except and value. Companies that fail to invest in time and resources to engage directly with candidates and market their brand and culture often find it difficult, if not impossible, to attract the right talent. Glassdoor does an awesome job at presenting candidates career-related visuals, CEO approvals and recommendations to candidates. Resumator is a startup company that helps organizations to create a branded career page that is accessible from any device. The reality today is that the sourcing challenge is no longer finding candidates; it is about attracting candidates.

Engaging Candidates

Technology has added another dimension to the area of talent acquisition. An always-connected lifestyle is so commonplace that we hardly mention it anymore, nor can we imagine any other way of life. Technology is revolutionizing the way we connect in our personal lives and has made it possible for us to engage with people on multiple levels. However, the experience is still fragmented for candidates and hiring manager alike. Existing consumer tools cannot easily allow us to separate work life and personal life. Enterprise tools do not have the flexibility or ubiquity that we need to stay engaged with candidates.

Social Recruiting

While LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are still the mainstream social networks used for recruiting, GitHub or StackOverflow are the places to look for top IT talent. Poachable.co targets passive candidates by tempting them with matched job listings. For candidates, JobFusion is a startup that crawls the user’s social network to find jobs in companies where their friends work. “Hackathons” and coding challenges offer another way of engaging directly with the top talent. Research from social recruiting platform Jobvite indicates that the vast majority of recruiters (94%) either uses or plans to use social media for recruiting. Meanwhile, research firm Aberdeen Group says that 73% of 18 to 34-year-olds found their last job through a social network.

Hiring Right

While attracting candidates is a sourcing challenge, making the right hire remains the most impactful process. A recent study published by Personnel Psychology (3) puts top performers producing four times more while being paid less than 20% more than the average workers. Just as important as hiring top performers is to productivity, bad hiring decisions are expensive and tend to have an adverse effect on the existing team including top performers. The difference between an “A player” and an “A-plus player” is the difference between a million in revenue and a billion in revenue, said Paul English, Co-founder of Kayak. The online interview platform EasyHire.me makes it easy to hire the right tech talent by arming the hiring managers with live video, online code editor, and a databank of questions, packaged together to provide a one-screen interview experience.

Recruitment Workflows

What is stopping us from following a data-driven approach to recruitment? The short answer is fragmentation of data across tools making it difficult, if not impossible, to analyze and improve.

Let’s look at a possible set of tools that a company uses for recruitment:

  • Glassdoor to create a company profile
  • Resumator to create a career website
  • ZipRecruiter to post the job listing to multiple websites
  • Careerify to manage employee referrals
  • Greenhouse.io to manage the recruitment workflow
  • EasyHire.me for scheduling and conducting interview
  • Checkr for background check
  • Workday to manage onboarding and other HR workflows

While there are products and services that aim to provide a unified workflow for managing recruitment and talent management, the current talent acquisition landscape is a war zone, fragmented and frustrating to employers and candidates alike. There is tremendous opportunity for platforms that try not to address every aspect of talent management but instead allow easy integration of services; and for services to address specific needs efficiently while offering APIs to integrate easily.

Conclusion

Given the current trends in cloud computing, the established value in building services around talent management and recruiting, it is possible in the very near future for us to expect a more data-driven approach to recruitment. It would turn the trend and cause companies to invest significantly more on technology around workforce as well as talent acquisition and management.