Recruitee Radio | Creating a data driven recruitment process

Recruitee Radio · Recruitee Radio - Creating a data driven hiring process

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In this podcast, we were joined by Prakriti Yadav, Global Tech Recruiter at OLX Group, who discussed using a data-driven approach to hiring.

Using technologies, techniques, and data to analyze a large talent pool, she explained:

• How can companies get creative when it comes to sourcing and attracting the right talent, and how does data helps to optimize this process.
• How recruitment marketing (data) such as social media, career pages, SEO, and job sites, can help achieve your hiring goals.
• How recruitment analytics will progress in 2021 and what trends she expects to see, including how recruiters can keep up with these ongoing changes.
• How recruiters and hiring managers can run successful calibration meetings and develop high-level insights into the recruiting process after closing a role.

Don't forget to check out our free playbook on how to measure success and optimize your recruitment data!

Other resources you may find useful:

• How to use data-driven recruitment for hiring success
• How to get started with predictive analytics
• How we use recruitment analytics at Recruitee
• Using HR metrics and analytics for better hiring decisions
• 5 recruitment metrics you should be optimizing in 2021
• Complete guide to tracking the right recruitment metrics
• 10 things recruitment metrics learned from sales

Do you know about Recruitee's Report Builder? 💪

Report builder is a brand new feature from Recruitee designed to turn you into a data and reporting expert.With the report builder functionality, you can use pre-made dashboards, or custom create your own, to get better insights and results on metrics such as:

• Candidate sourcing
• The candidate pipeline
• Time to hire
• And so much more!

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Podcast transcript

Sim Samra (00:01):

Welcome to Recruitee Radio, the podcast for talent acquisition aficionados, HR lovers, and recruitment professionals out there looking to get inspired and challenge traditional approaches to hiring. Here, we'll discuss the ins and outs of the recruitment process, engage fresh talent, manage tough internal hiring dilemmas, and of course, look at the future of talent acquisition.

I'm your host Sim Samra from Recruitee. I'll be quizzing the experts, asking the burning questions, and of course, bringing you great guests each episode. By the end of every episode, we'll offer a few hypotheticals, and of course, tips to take back to your team and workplace.

In today's podcast, I'm joined by Prakriti Yadev, she's the global tech recruiter at OLX Group, and we'll be discussing data-driven recruitment. Before we begin, Prakriti, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you're doing at the moment?

Prakriti Yadev (01:03):

Hey Sim, thank you for inviting me. Well, introducing myself, I'm a part of the talent acquisition team based in Berlin. I work with OLX. I bring in varied experience in consulting, services, engineering, and product companies. Some of my experience has been in leadership hiring and being instrumental in data science hiring.

Sim Samra (01:42):

All right, let's jump in. Tell me why you're passionate about data driven recruitment.

Prakriti Yadev (01:48):

The age of AI and machine learning brings data to the center stage. We all know that data makes the recruitment process more quantifiable and measurable, and it is the greatest indicator for the effect of execution. So I will not refrain from saying that it not only tells your story, but it gives a whole lot of meaning to the recruitment process. In other words, I would say data is the lifeline of recruitment.

Sim Samra (02:26):

What key recruitment metrics do you use when it comes to streamlining the hiring process?

Prakriti Yadev (02:32):

There are lots of metrics that are important and have a bearing in streamlining the hiring process. But first and foremost is the time to hire. I would say that one of the most important metrics is the calibration meeting with a hiring manager.

Following that, outreach to the candidate, covering the home interview process, the offer, and the final acceptance stage. So knowing how much time it takes at each stage helps to shape the entire recruitment strategy. And if not only uncovers where the bottlenecks are in the hiring process but also prepares those strategies to eliminate them and thus reduces the time to hire.

Sim Samra (03:40):

I'm really glad that you brought up the reference to calibration meetings. Would you be able to explain to our listeners how to run productive calibration meetings, including what should be discussed between the recruiter and the hiring manager?

Prakriti Yadev (03:55):

Sure. Calibration meetings are the initial step and come with high purpose and high outcome. So, the first step would be to prepare our comprehensive briefing form, and it is very important to formulate the right questions about the sourcing needs and the business needs. This helps to fortify the knowledge about the job requirement and helps eliminate the ambiguity, which often crops up in the middle of the process after rejecting multiple candidates and the hiring process.

The next step would be to share the briefing form with the hiring manager. Besides that, asking the right questions helps the hiring manager reflect on the actual needs and establish the right spot for the role. This whole exercise opens up the dialogue between the recruiter and the hiring manager and leads to a meaningful discussion.

Sim Samra (05:59):

Once a recruiter has started searching for candidates, how can they ensure they stay aligned with the hiring manager's expectations through the process? Do you use any tools, or do you have any suggestions on how to do this?

Prakriti Yadev (06:17):

Some of the best practices could be during the calibration meeting itself by doing research beforehand and sharing some sample profiles with the hiring manager.

Once this is done, holding a meeting with the interviewers and the hiring manager helps set the expectations for the role and ensure that there is complete communication between the interviewer's hiring manager and ensuring that the interview process remains objective.

Sim Samra (07:46):

After a recruiter and hiring manager have closed a role once they found their candidate, I just want to focus on what happens afterward. What sort of high-level insights should they be taking into account with future hiring? Are there certain metrics that they should be examining after a role has closed?

Prakriti Yadev (08:05):

The candidate experience. If the candidate is satisfied, they will likely want to work for the company in the future, even if it doesn't work out in the present scenario.

Sim Samra (09:14):

I wanted to discuss with you a little bit about sourcing. I get a lot of questions about sourcing and attracting the right talent. How can we use data to help optimize this process? Do you have any out-of-the-box techniques you're using today or any tools you can recommend to our listeners?

Prakriti Yadev (10:03):

There are abundant sourcing tools and techniques in practice in other countries, but since we are in GDPR compliant country, we are required to have an altogether different approach.

Prakriti Yadev (10:20):

So for sourcing, it's important to understand the technical terms used other than the usual ones. For example, when you talk about data science, there are various machine learning, frameworks, libraries, modeling techniques, which a candidate works on. Suppose our recruiter is aware of related technical terms and tools, and technology in that related ecosystem. In that case, it's very easy to identify some of the candidates who are very good technically but they have not written or complete a resume.

Prakriti Yadev (11:20):

Another important point in sourcing could be understanding the market, the competitors, and defining the target candidate.

We have to keep our mindset open to all the probabilities to find and source the right kind of candidates. Another point that could be useful for effective sourcing would be using common channels like meetups, and Eventbrite, where developers and most tech people enhance their skillset and want to be updated about the latest trends. When we have already identified the candidate, how we reach out to them is important, especially with the personalization of InMails. It's very important because it fetches incredible results if you do it very well.

Sim Samra (12:53):

I wanted to jump into a bit of recruitment marketing data because many companies have had to place emphasis on their social media and career pages, especially as we sort of move into this remote workplace shift. And I just wanted to get your thoughts on how recruitment marketing data can effectively help achieve your hiring goals. What can people do to really boost their social media and career pages and SEO at the moment?

Prakriti Yadev (13:26):

Social media, career pages, and SEO have a significant role in the hiring process, undoubtedly. So over the past two years, how are we implementing our internal employee reference to make it more effective and bring the standardized process across countries?

Social media recruitment marketing, such as career pages, needs to be revamped. And also, the message from the leadership during this time is very important. And reassuring employees is very important.

Sim Samra (14:45):

Yeah. I think one of the things that sort of pops up quite often when I'm talking recruiters at the moment is that a lot of their candidates are asking for greater transparency around the application process. How long is it going to take? And what sort of measures is the company taking with regards to the global health crisis as well? How safe is it to be in the office?

And also, people just want to know whether companies are still hiring. So I guess it's just about getting that messaging, right. And just making sure that companies stay in tune with what information candidates really want to know about, you know, it's really hard for people to be searching for jobs right now, especially if companies aren't relaying any messaging. So I think you make a valid point that companies need to be very clear about their hiring policies and what they are doing right now to help support remote working.

Prakriti Yadev (15:51):

That's right, as we are taking the virtual route, establishing more connect with the candidate and establishing trust is one of the most rewarding factors in 2021. During the pandemic, recruiters were faced with constant questions by the candidate, like how the company dealt with the pandemic. So, being equipped with concrete answers explaining how leadership communicates with employees during the pandemic and reassures them helps build trust with the candidates.

Sim Samra (17:08):

Okay. Do you have one piece of advice for recruiters on using data-driven recruitment effectively this year?

Prakriti Yadev (17:19):

Have up-to-date data about the acquisition. Suppose there is a past history about the recruitment process in that particular place or country and how we have succeeded in hiring the candidate. In that case, it always helps to establish and set expectations with the hiring manager. So it is always good to establish the right kind of expectations.

Sim Samra (18:24):

We're almost out of time. So I just wanted to ask you if you have any last words you'd like to share with our listeners on data-driven recruitment.

Prakriti Yadev (18:33):

For a successful recruitment process, I would say that I'm anticipating the requirements. Building the network, even when you're not recruiting, plays a very significant role because it maximizes your outreach and helps to engage with them whenever the job option is open.

Prakriti Yadev (18:59):

The second most important point for me is knowing your business and investing a lot of time in understanding the products and work the team is doing.

Prakriti Yadev (19:30):

Another very important thing for me is being transparent and keeping data up-to-date and clean. If our data is clean and up-to-date, it offers a very detailed insight into the role and helps remove the bottlenecks. When we are trying to reach candidates, it's very important to let them know what the learning opportunities are.

Sim Samra (20:17):

Excellent. Special, thanks to Prakriti for joining our podcast today. I hope you enjoyed it.

Prakriti Yadev (20:24):

Yeah, of course, Sim. Thank you so much for having me here.

Sim Samra (20:27):

And to all our listeners stay tuned for more amazing podcasts from us this year. See you at the next one. Thanks again for joining us on Recruitee Radio. We hope you enjoyed the episode, and of course, if you did, please leave us a comment and feel free to share the podcast on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you're most active. We'll see you in the next one.