While mobile technologies are still considered "new" and "emerging," mobile search service provider 4INFO hasn't had too much trouble attracting the necessary skill sets and talents it needs for its engineering team.
Yet the Palo Alto, California-based company initially faced some hurdles in handling the hiring task in-house. Parsing resumes, handling recruitment programs and defining the new job roles all proved time consuming and labor intensive for senior management and senior engineers.
That's why Markus Nordvik, director of engineering at 4INFO, pulled in a consultant to handle the recruiting phase for boosting its current staff of 14 engineers.
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The decision is clearly helping the provider stay competitive, as the impending IT talent crunch is hitting home and it's becoming harder to find qualified staff and keep the recruiting pipeline teeming with candidates.
"We initially started recruitment internally, asking employees to recommend and refer potential hires. Then we had to begin reaching out to online job sites and that just opened the flood gates in terms of unqualified resumes and noise," recalls Nordvik. The time involved in reviewing resumes, pushing recruiting ahead was taking valuable time from management and internal staff involved in hiring, he explained.
"So we made the move to hire a consultant and our needs with contingency recruiting. He's helped us define our job descriptions and does the first 'pass' on potential candidates," says Nordvik, adding that the consultant has both experience in the company's technology as well as the HR world of recruiting and hiring.
"Before he came on, we had a very long process which was kind of wily nily and which resulted in us losing some good candidates due to the lag factor. With the new hiring channel we've got a more efficient and streamlined process that's helping us get the best talent," says Nordvik.
The recruiting consultant prescreens all submitted resumes. Those with 'red flags' likely don't get past the initial review. Red flags include a history of job "hopping," a resume that doesn't indicate relevant skills at the right level or a resume so large and dense that it is hard to decipher, says Nordvik.
The resumes showing promise are then given to Nordvik or another company leader for a phone screening session. During the call the company is trying to assess communication skills and the technical expertise.
"We also want to see if the person has the drive and passion we want on staff," says the engineering leader.
Job seekers should be prepared to talk about themselves, as well as the company and its services. "My advice to candidates is to be prepared and be knowledgeable about our company so I don't have to waste time on the call relating what a candidate could easily have learned from our website," says Nordvik. He also hopes to hear the candidate offer up some questions for him as well.
"By asking me specific on-topic questions I know the person is interested in who we are and what's happening with the technology," he explains.
If the job seeker succeeds on the phone interview he or she is asked in for a face to face meeting with three senior engineers. Candidates meet with each engineer for about a half of an hour, with each engineer targeting different topics and asking different questions.
If the interview is progressing well, with good feedback from the first or second engineer, Nordvik will usually meet with the candidate after the third meeting.
"I usually do the wrap up and let them know we'll be in touch within 24 hours with a decision," says Nordvik who then reconvenes with the interview team to discuss how and where the person might be a good fit for the team. If there are remaining questions or concerns, the candidate could be invited back for a second interview.
The company is currently looking to hire at least five engineers this year, which is consistent with its hiring pace in the past few years.
"We're pretty picky about who we hire as we want a good culture and skill set fit. We want people who can pick things up quickly and apply that knowledge. How they think is much more important than what they know," says the company leader, adding that 4INFO is a compelling place to work as it's a little out of the 'startup' phrase but hasn't become bureaucratic.
"Our engineers have autonomy, they can explore things that they are interested in. We're an established company with a solid revenue stream and products in market, but still foster an innovative and dynamic work environment."
That's why the cultural and personality fit is so important, he adds.
"Communication skills are vital as we like to move fast, and personality is critical as we work in a team environment," says Nordvik.
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