How to Hire the Highest Quality Candidates in 2023

Intro

2023 has gotten off to an interesting start for the hiring market. With massive layoffs at big tech companies like Google and Amazon, downsizing of many venture-backed startups, it’s a recruiters market when hiring top talent. While you may have a slight advantage when recruiting because of the bigger talent pool at this point in time, we are sharing tips and tricks to focus on to create the most efficient hiring process and recruit the highest quality candidates.

Learn more about our top tips during the recruitment process to attract the highest quality candidates in 2023.

The Interview and Prospecting Process

Provide all details in the job description

This may seem like a no brainer, but where ever you post your job listing, be sure to include all details in an easy to read format for employees. Many candidates are applying to multiple roles at once and may only glance at the job description. The basics to include:

1. Job title
2. Duties and responsibilities
3. Location
4. Education and skill requirements
5. Salary range
6. Benefits and company perks
7. BONUS: If your social profile offers an opportunity to add a video, don’t forget to add this! It can help bring the company and mission to life.

   PRO TIP: Skip the cover letter requirement. This can feel rather outdated - rather ask for a portfolio, website, or examples of projects.

Create a concise and effective interview process

Focus on a concise interview process which consist of 2-3 rounds of interviews. This can include the initial screening after a candidate applies, a call with the hiring manager and the final interview as a technical or with multiple people from the company.

• Stage 1: Screening
  • Describe your proudest achievement.
  • Tell me about yourself and your experience as an engineer.
  • Have you worked at a startup before?
  • What excites you about this role?
  • What are you hoping to learn in your next opportunity?
  • What codebase languages are you strongest in?
• Stage 2: Hiring manager call
  • Dive deeper into the position responsibilities and expectations
• Stage 3: Series of virtual interviews
  • Typically includes a technical component such as a coding test or a project-based exercise.

Have a follow up plan

Response time is key in today’s recruiting market. A good rule of thumb is 24 to 48 hours of a response to candidates. If you are proactively reaching out to a client, make sure you respond in this time to keep the lead warm. It may also be beneficial after the initial call to provide more details on how many rounds of interviews are left.

Personalization is key

Candidates are getting approached from multiple platforms weekly even daily. Personalize your messages in ways like including their name. Use and mention their actual experience (i.e. where you found them through search). Usually a candidate can tell if you are just copying and pasting, so take the extra step to personalize along the way.

Key points to share with candidates

Leverage the company brand

Employer brand is a company's reputation as an employer, and it encompasses everything from culture to values, vision, and mission. Has your startup been in the news recently? Be sure to share or showcase any great press or news of funding and new advancements on your website or with the candidate directly. Leverage the company brand and the brand you are building to land a great candidate. Use social media to showcase your company culture and values and highlight the benefits of working for your organization.

Pay and benefits transparency early

Pay and benefits transparency is a growing trend, and job seekers today expect to have access to this information.

With the rising trends of pay transparency, be proactive about this. It will help reduce time wasted during the recruitment process to get aligned on these goals early on. Being transparent about pay and benefits early on in the recruitment process can help eliminate candidates who may not be a good fit based on compensation expectations.

PRO TIP: Use our salary calculator to get a benchmark for salaries based on role and region.

Leverage employee benefits as a differentiator

Employee benefits can be a powerful differentiator when it comes to attracting top talent. From remote work options to healthcare benefits, there are plenty of ways to make your company stand out.

Examples of unique benefits could include wellness programs, flexible work arrangements, or unlimited vacation policies. Here are eight ways employee benefits will help you recruit top talent.

Founder and leadership team

Prospective employees want to work for a company with leaders they respect and trust. Highlight the experience and expertise of your founders and leadership team on your company website and social media channels. Additionally, ensure that your leadership team is accessible and visible to potential employees, and if your company is small enough loop them into the interview process.

Reaching out to candidates effectively

We previously covered 4 tips for reaching out to recently laid off candidates and how to approach the conversation. Another important aspect of the recruiting process is the methods for reaching out for initial contact. Here’s the top ways we’ve found most effective when getting a response for a potential candidate.

Company referrals

One of the best ways to find new talent is to look inward at the current employees and network. Provide a referral incentive program to employees if they refer someone and they get hired!

Community forums and online communities

Check out different forums, events, and online communities where software developers or your type of candidate you are looking to hire are. For example, online communities like DEV have specific channels within the communities to share positions hiring. You may find higher quality candidates who are interested in your company mission.

Recruit from the Founder profile

Using Wellfound and LinkedIn (or other hiring platforms), allows you to speak directly to potential candidates. Be sure to post and share the job posting on your personal profile as a recruiter or founder. This can help bring more quality candidates just by sharing across a larger network.

Recruit through social media

Leverage social media channels and people who organically follow your company to get the word out about an open role you’re hiring for. People may re-share this publicly or privately with people in their network they know are looking for a new role.

Check out trending hashtags on LinkedIn like “#opentowork” to find candidates who may have skillsets you’re looking for. Leverage layoffs.fyi as a tracker for companies you know have talent that may be looking for new work.

Conclusion

2023 has created a new type of market for both recruiters and candidates. It’s gotten much easier to apply for roles, but matches are harder to come by. Taking the extra step in both the interview and recruitment/outreach side of recruiting can greatly increase your talent pipeline moving forward.