Screen talent or influence managers?
TechScreen was originally built to help recruiters do a more effective job in screening IT talent, which it does. However, time has revealed that screening isn’t the most impactful element our tool offers.
The biggest impact we offer is the fact we help you influence the hiring manager’s decision-making process. It doesn’t matter if you work for a staffing firm or in corporate recruiting; you won’t fill a seat until a manager reads a resume. That is, of course, you have some means of convincing a manager to see your candidate that wasn’t based exclusively on reading a resume.
I began doing deep dive technical interviews in 1998 while working in corporate TA and staffing firms before starting TechScreen. Managers trusted my recommendation to phone screen a candidate or bring them straight on site, but I never gave it much thought as to how it was happening.
The managers didn’t listen to the interviews, but I would tell them what we discussed and I would give an analysis of what the candidate’s answers meant. As these candidates became hires, trust grew and a track record was established. Our clients have to learn the difference between doing a screen and giving a manager a reason to trust their recommendation. It won’t happen just because a recruiter technically screens a candidate or if the manager gets a copy of the interview result.
Managers need to see evidence of the candidate’s competency based on criteria they helped to define by picking questions that matter to them.
A manager will never skip a phone screen and request an on-site unless they have high confidence it will be worth their time. Our clients will never get there without showing a manager the UI screens that let them pick questions from the library or add their own. Managers trust their interpretation of a static document more than a recruiter who met the candidate in person. They will have more trust in the solid performance of a candidate who went through a bunch of questions they personally selected.
Recruiters have a thankless job. Candidates are fickle and managers can be aloof. Managers place their trust in themselves, so why not leverage that fact when it comes to giving your candidates an edge? Let your managers get some skin in the game by having them pick the questions. The user experience alone gives you a distinct differentiator when it comes to how they perceive you. Give them a reason to give your candidates preferential treatment.
Managers have little appreciation for the amount of time and effort recruiters put into packaging up their candidates. Having your candidates get dismissed after a 4–6 second scan can be infuriating, so give the manager evidence to consider that relates to the candidate’s ability to do the job.
Corporate recruiters have an edge when it comes to building rapport with managers, so staffing recruiters have a bigger hurdle to achieve success. Having your revenue rely solely on a manager reading a resume just doesn’t make sense if you could do more to influence their decisions.
