Squad Goals: Reality Based Hiring

REALITY BASED HIRING

SQUAD GOALS:

With Genghis Philip

EMPTY?WHY IS THIS SEAT

THREE KINDS OF NEEDS

• Need specialized talent (Get It) • Motivation (Want It) • Horsepower (Capacity for it)

We’re going to assume it’s a Capacity or Get It hire for now, because ‘want it’ is a culture change question.

The next sections are going to be about building an expectations document and a case study.

The expectations document is BASICALLY an internal job description that describes the lowest bar expected.

The case study is an activity you use to have a candidate show they can do the job.

INTERVIEW STAKEHOLDERS

You need to figure out the shape of this hire. Interview the team, the direct manager, and the executive above this hire.

You’re going to ask questions to help YOU write an expectations document and job description.

ASK THE TEAM

• What do they need? From a specialist? From a teammate?

• What isn’t getting done?

• What would we do with more capacity?

• What qualities matter most?

• What specific tech needs do we have?

• What sucks about this team?

ASK THE MANAGER

• What do you wish you had on the team?

• What does this role actually require?

• How long can you afford to onboard?

• Salary hardcap?

ASK EXECUTIVES

• What are your goals for this team this year?

• How will this hire be sold to the rest of the company?

• Willingness to pitch the candidate for you?

WORK AUDIT

WORK AUDIT

• Look at the accountability chart

• Look at Zendesk/Jira/Etc and compare to KPIs

• Look for REQUIRED specialization versus a perceived need for specialization

WHOSE NECK?

• Who is training this person?

• Do you have onboarding ready? • Construct an expectations document —

Example at https://goo.gl/O1PH1B

Actual example on the next slide

EXAMPLE EXPECTATIONS DOCUMENT

This is going to inform your job descriptions, how your team evaluates candidates, etc. Also a great way when later you need to remediate an employee.

YOUR JOB DESCRIPTIONS SUCK

Even good job descriptions suck.

FRONT AND CENTER

CORE VALUES

CORE VALUES

ATLASSIAN

• Open company, No bullshit

• Build with heart and balance

• Don’t f**k the customer

• Play, as a team

FACEBOOK

• Be bold

• Focus on impact

• Move fast

• Be open

• Build social value

JOB DESCRIPTION GUIDELINES

• Personality -Don’t write for a machine. -Don’t write LIKE a machine. -Don’t front.

• Responsibilities -Why is the work interesting? -You’re selling the team.

• Experience -YEARS or FLUENCY? -Nice to have? No shit.

If an algorithm isn’t picking your candidates, don’t write like one is.

THE CASE STUDY

HOW TO CREATE A CASE STUDY

• New task.

• Tests for why you’re hiring.

• Not a stress test.

• Not domain-specific.

• 3-4 hours total.

• Example at https://goo.gl/wTPP3P

INTERVIEW RHYTHM

INTERVIEW RHYTHM

• One Phone Interview

• One Case study

• One or Two in-person interviews

EXPLAIN THE WHOLE PROCESS TO THE CANDIDATENo surprises

EVERY STEP IS A REAL GATE.Phone screens should make sure the candidate is a culture fit and is interested in filling the ACTUAL need you have. Not just one or the other.

CAVEAT: NO PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE CANDIDATE

EXAMPLE INTERVIEW RHYTHM

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Phone interview (30 min)

Case study scheduled

Case study sent out to candidate

Case study submitted

by candidate

Case study reviewed

(~3 hours)

In-person interview requested

First in-person

interview (2 hours)

Final in-person

interview (1 hour)

Offer sent!

INTERVIEW CRITERIA

SELECTING INTERVIEWERS

• A couple small groups

• Diversity — roles, seniority, gender, race

• Every interviewer has to be all-in

• Get buy-in on the expectations document

I like 2 groups of 2, but you do you.

This is a major piece of interviewers’ work lives until the seat is filled.

INTERVIEW COLLATERAL

WHAT STUFF DO YOU GIVE YOUR INTERVIEWERS?

INTERVIEW COLLATERAL

• Completed case study

• Expectations document

• 4-6 questions per group. No Either/Ors.

• Really. 4 to 6 questions.

• Fight me.

Gonna click through each bullet for lols.

ACTUALLY INTERVIEWING

THE ACTUAL INTERVIEW(S)

• Communicate location and dress code

• NO DEAD SILENCES.

• Answers beget more questions

• Take notes, but make eye contact

• Respect timeboxes

Coaching interviewing sucks.

The only way to get better at it is to botch it a couple times.

HAS MORE THAN ONE GOOD CANDIDATE

MR. FANCY OVER HERE

DECIDING BETWEEN CANDIDATES

• Numerical rubrics? Not Great Bob.

• Ask team if they’d be comfortable working with both/all of the candidates.

• Focus on expectations, actual need.

Ultimately a lonely decisionIf you’ve done your job, ANY choice will be a good one. Don’t vapor lock trying to find the perfect one.

Reject candidates well: explain why you liked them, explain why the fit was better with a different candidate, ask their permission to reach out when you are hiring next.

MAKING AN OFFER

MAKING AN OFFER

• Verbal agreements are great. Don’t celebrate yet.

• Include specifics on Salary and Title.

• Broad strokes on everything else.

• Put a HARD deadline on signed acceptance.

Tell the Adam story w/out names.

Broad strokes on — Bonus, Insurance, PTO, Perks.

You’ll PROBABLY have to give specific commission terms to salespeople, even though they won’t understand your business/market enough to know what that translates to.

CONTACT ME

• @hawksfire

• genghis.philip@gmail.com

Get these slides:

• Get the example documents -Case study: https://goo.gl/wTPP3P -Expectations document: https://goo.gl/O1PH1B