An Unconventional Approach to Recruiting

August 1, 2012 announcement, Global Marketing Operations, recruiting

I have been spending enormous amounts of time filling this role for a technical web project manager. Most of the candidates that I have interviewed are not web savvy enough. I couldn’t see them adding more value than assigning tasks and updating status reports. To be effective in this role, the candidate needs to understand how web pages work, be able to problem solve, and help educate our customers on the nuances of maintaining effective websites. Most of all, the candidate needs to love the web. I mean, really love it. In addition to all that, there are the standard PM responsibilities of keeping track of issues and workload management.

After sourcing candidates the traditional way, I decided to take an unconventional approach. Rather than make the job application process easy to increase number of applicants that can later be filtered (by me), I created an experiment to filter up front with this simple job application form. The form applies three filters:

  1. You need to have a presence on the web — some URL. It could be your blog or personal site, your Twitter profile, your LinkedIn profile, Google Plus, about.me, flavors.me, Facebook… This shows that you are interested in the web and are participating.
  2. You need to be curious. It is not immediately obvious how to submit the form. I know a lot of people will bail and prefer the conventional route of pumping out résumés and job applications. I want a problem solver who looks for a clever solution.
  3. You need to have web skills. The solution requires that you know your way around your browser’s developer tools and can diagnose a web display issue.

Successful form submissions get sent directly to my work email. Anyone who meets those three criteria deserves my careful consideration.

I have floated this idea by a few colleagues. Some people love it. Some are skeptical. I have no idea how it is going to turn out and that makes it a perfect experiment. The only challenge is to publicize this as much as possible so I can have a statistical sample. If you are curious about this approach too, please share this blog post and the application link: http://liox-web-pm.appspot.com/. I promise to share the results even if they stink.

If you are interested in the job, good luck with the application!

  • http://www.crypho.com Geir Bækholt

    Thanks for sharing, Seth,

    I think it is a nice idea. — This can serve as a good first filter for candidates. Anyone not able to submit (or have an url) are not relevant for the position by far. The challenge may still be too simple, so there is a risk that it really won’t act as much of a filter.
    Most 15-year olds that have tinkered with the web can do this — but perhaps this is enough to separate the bluffers from the real applicants.

    Would love to see the results!

    • http://www.sethgottlieb.com Seth Gottlieb

      You would be surprised at how many project managers I know didn’t even know where to start in solving this puzzle. As developers, it is easy to forget how untechnical most of the world is. Another early learning was that non-technical people tend not to expect a challenge like this. Developers are constantly given logic puzzles or coding exercises. I will share more results as they come in.

      In the meantime… spread the word!

  • http://www.talentanalytics.com Mike

    Good post, Seth. This is a common problem in the recruiting world – not necessarily the skills, education or even experience but finding that subtle “x factor” where the candidate is curious and thirsty to learn. We’ve solved this problem through analytics. Would love to connect and tell you how.

  • http://Offandonline.met Adriaan Bloem

    Made me smile. I know the problem, and I like the solution — though it’s only 50% of the solution, since everyone that has dealt with web forms knows that you’re either inviting the wrong crowd now (tech savvy, but rubbish PMs — e.g, the “senior” developer) or will get few responses. Though it all depends on how much people will want the job :)

    At any rate, if you could have added a similar challenge to filter out who’s a ral PM, it’d be perfect — and I’m curious about the response you’re getting :)

    • http://vedovini.net Claude

      Agree, something like synchronizing three people in three different continents over submitting the form would have helped filter on the PM side :)

  • http://edhebert.com Ed

    This is a great idea! This experiment certainly lures the curious mind. And I agree – any technical project manager worth his/her salt should be able to solve the problem. Hopefully the applicant’s URL will help you screen the PM credentials.

  • http://cpom.us Chris Pomeroy

    I think you should make it harder!

    Take out the “hey where is the submit button” that text says to me “the submit button is hidden”.
    Move the Lionbridge text way down the page further away from the form.
    Make the cursor icon, when hovered over the link, into an arrow (as in a link) versus a hand (as in a button)
    Make the form not submit (and not redirect anywhere) unless you have something in the field.

    • https://plus.google.com/u/0/102992494947018640072 Seth Gottlieb

      All good feedback. Will keep your recommendations for V2. Thanks Chris!