How to source and shortlist {role_name}

Hiring guide

About {role_name}

Job description

Source and shortlist candidates

Structured interview

Progression and salary

Where can you find qualified {role_name}?

  • Professional networks:
    • Leverage your professional network and reach out to former colleagues, industry peers, and tech community members to ask for referrals.
  • Educational institutions
    • Top universities with strong computer science programs. Participate in job fairs.
  • Your company's career page
    • Use company career pages. Make sure your company’s career page is up-to-date and highlights the specific technical skills required for the role.
  • Tech-specific board
  • Geography-Specific Job Boards:
  • Referrals can be an excellent source of high-quality candidates. Here’s how to leverage them effectively:
    • Employee referral programs : Encourage your current employees to refer qualified candidates by offering incentives.

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What are the best practices for headhunting {role_name}?

Headhunting involves actively seeking out candidates rather than waiting for them to apply. Here are some best practices:

  • Personalized outreach: Make sure your messages highlight why the candidate would be a great fit for the role and your company.
  • Emphasize what sets your company apart, such as innovative projects, a strong team, and career development opportunities.
  • Share success stories and testimonials from current employees.
  • Follow up: If a candidate doesn’t respond initially, follow up with a friendly reminder.
  • Leverage LinkedIn: Use linkedIn’s search features to find and connect with potential candidates.

How to shortlist candidates?

Once you have started to get applications from applicants, a thorough screening process and shortlisting of prospects will help you make the most of your time spent with the most qualified ones. 

Automated shortlisting tools :

Automated screening quickly filters out unqualified candidates, saving time for manual review. This allows the manual process to focus on the most promising candidates, ensuring the best ones are considered for further evaluation.

Screening questions to auto-shortlist based on predefined criteria

like qualifications, location, experience, and skills. Either use job board or use an ATS such as whitecarrot. Here are some questions for {role_name}

  • "How many years of experience do you have with Java?" 
    • Auto-reject if less than 2 years)
  • How many years of experience do you have in DevOps practices?"
    • (Auto-reject if less than 1 year)
  • "Are you located within [specified location] or willing to work remotely?" 
    • (Auto-reject if not willing to work in the specified location or remotely)

Skill based question to auto shortlist candidate

Analyze the skill test data to automatically shortlist top-performing applicants. (recommended screening test time - 15 minutes). Here are some skill test questions for {role_name}

Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

Assessing the candidate's understanding of the software development lifecycle and methodologies.

  • "Which phase of the SDLC involves requirements gathering?"
    • Options:
      • A) Design
      • B) Development
      • C) Requirements
      • D) Testing
  • "What is the primary goal of the testing phase?"
    • Options:
      • A) Writing code
      • B) Finding and fixing bugs
      • C) Gathering requirements
      • D) Deploying software
  • "Which SDLC model allows for simultaneous development and testing?"
    • Options:
      • A) Waterfall
      • B) Agile
      • C) V-Model
      • D) Spiral

System Architecture

Evaluating the candidate’s knowledge of designing and implementing software architectures.

  • "Which of the following is a key component of a microservices architecture?"
    • Options:
      • A) Monolithic deployment
      • B) Independent services
      • C) Centralized database
      • D) None of the above
  • "What does 'scalability' in system architecture refer to?"
    • Options:
      • A) The ability to add more users
      • B) The ability to handle increased load
      • C) The ability to deploy quickly
      • D) The ability to write code faster
  • "Which architectural style is best suited for large, complex applications with many modules?"
    • Options:
      • A) Layered architecture
      • B) Microservices architecture
      • C) Event-driven architecture
      • D) Service-oriented architecture

DevOps

Testing the candidate’s knowledge and experience with DevOps practices and tools.

  • "What is the main purpose of CI/CD in DevOps?"
    • Options:
      • A) Continuous integration and continuous deployment
      • B) Code integration and code debugging
      • C) Code implementation and code documentation
      • D) Continuous improvement and continuous design
  • "Which tool is commonly used for container orchestration in DevOps?"
    • Options:
      • A) Jenkins
      • B) Docker
      • C) Kubernetes
      • D) Ansible
  • "What is 'infrastructure as code'?"
    • Options:
      • A) Writing code in the infrastructure layer
      • B) Managing infrastructure through code rather than manual processes
      • C) Developing software directly on infrastructure
      • D) None of the above

Note - Auto reject candidates if scores less than 70% in this section

One way video interview

Recruitment Bullet

Use tools like hirevue, whitecarrot.io to ask candidates pre-recorded questions about their experience and skills.

Recruitment Bullet

Use sample question given in scorecard.

Collect other information 

Recruitment Bullet

Collect data from shortlisted candidates, such as salary expectations and visa status.

Manual candidate profile shortlisting:

Recruitment Bullet

Thoroughly review the CVs of the top scoring candidates from the automated process

Recruitment Bullet

Look for evidence of the required skills, experience, and achievements

Recruitment Bullet

Review the candidate’s portfolio or GitHub repositories to see examples of their work.

Schedule recruiter calls with the candidate

Recruitment Bullet

Use a tool like calendly or whitecarrot to allow candidates to self-schedule calls based on your availability

Recruitment Bullet

Confirm the call details (date, time, dial-in info) with the candidate via email

What questions to ask in the recruiter phone screen?

Recruitment Bullet

 Use scorecard for rating candidates for recruiter

Recruitment Bullet

Sample scorecard : 

Criteria and Sample Questions
Criteria Sample Question Rating (1-5) Comments
Software Development Explain the steps you take to conduct a software development project.
System Architecture How do you design a scalable system architecture?
DevOps Describe your experience with DevOps practices and tools.
Communication Skills How do you ensure clear communication within your team?
Adaptability Give an example of a time you had to adapt to a sudden change.
Problem-Solving How do you approach solving complex technical problems?
Leadership Describe a project where you led a team of developers.
Teamwork How do you collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams?
Recruitment Bullet

Check for consistency in responses from the candidates.

Recruitment Bullet

Record such scorecards in an ATS like whitecarrot or use google doc

Hiring guide

About {role_name}

Job description

Source and shortlist candidates

Structured interview

Progression and salary