When you have great recruitment practices, good things come. The right talent can directly support a companies’ prospects, but it influences the experience of your customers, too. We like to think that, here at Fidel, we’ve taken that message to heart.
We believe that a great hiring process has to be both agile and scalable. However, we take it a step further. For a hiring process to deliver that exponential value, it really should cover more than that, taking into account diversity and carefully considering the candidate experience.
In this article, we’re going to explore how we hire at Fidel, the core values of our process and - when we’re popping those champagne corks to celebrate another hire - that our new joiners are supported and can support us in achieving positive growth that sets us on the path for positive exponential growth as a company. Also, the talent team just really likes Champagne.
Diversity in Hiring 🌈
This one goes without saying but, at Fidel, we believe that all candidates should be considered, regardless of who they are, be it gender, age, race, religion, or sexual orientation. In order to put this into practice, we've put a few measures in place.
Job board diversity: When it comes to hiring and maintaining a diverse team that distances from any discriminatory biases, in the first place, we work to ensure that we’re posting our open positions on a diverse range of job boards that make it possible to attract talent from a variety of different backgrounds and locations.
Neutral job adverts: Every job advert is entirely neutral and assumes absolutely nothing about the candidates’ background. At Fidel, we believe that in an equal workplace and that needs to stand since the moment we post jobs, so everyone feels welcome regardless of gender.
Anonymous mode: All Fidel applications are reviewed in an anonymous mode within our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This means that when reviewing organic applications, the reviewer has no access to the candidates' personal information such as name, photo, location, or age, for example. This helps us to scout talent-based entirely on skillset and character, without unconscious bias.
Interview training: All training areas are important. Hiring is no exception. In order to provide the best candidate experience and conduct interviews fairly, we have regular training organized by our Talent Team, as well as resources always available in our knowledge-based tool. Those resources include detailed templates, instructions on how to provide feedback, guidelines on how to conduct interviews, questions that should be avoided, and more information regarding implicit bias.
The Candidate Experience 🗣
Hiring is a two-way street. We take measures to guarantee high-quality hiring processes in all the different departments of Fidel. However, we also have guidelines in place to guarantee an exceptional experience for our candidates as well.
Transparent hiring process: In order to manage candidates' expectations, we always share what the hiring process will look like, providing guidance for the candidates to prepare. That way, candidates will have insights into how long the process will take and can consider their next steps better.
Timely response: When application volume is high, it can be a real struggle to answer all applications quickly. However, we commit to answering a candidates’ first application within a maximum of a week’s time.
We provide feedback: Regardless of whether a candidate is a match or not, we always aim to provide constructive feedback to candidates. We believe that being honest when it comes to hiring can not only help refine our hiring process but also supports our candidates in their job-hunt.
Candidate feedback: It’s a two-way street, remember? We have space for candidates to review our hiring process by requesting a Net Promoter Score (NPS) and an opportunity to give us comments on their experience. Being open to feedback is core to Fidel, and it motivates us to improve our processes, whilst giving a voice to our community.
The Hiring Process ✍️
Screening Interviews
If the application matches the requirements of the job role, firstly: Yay! Once we’ve finished high-fiving we proceed to invite the candidate for their first screening interview. All screening interviews at Fidel are managed by our Talent Team. The main goal is to get to know the candidate's background better and provide context on the team here and the job itself.
For technical roles like Engineering or Developer positions, if the team believes the candidate might be a good fit, we’ll usually invite the candidate for a technical assessment to make sure they’re comfortable with the particular stack we use. If the candidate isn't familiar with our stack, this can also a great opportunity to test their adaptability skills.
Team Interviews
Team Interviews can vary between roles, however, they’re super important for every job role we hire for.
When it comes to commercial roles, if the screening interview goes well, we have two more additional steps with the team. One is a Hiring Manager call - a chance to ask more specific questions about the job and the team but also to be asked about previous experience and motivations. The other step is a skills-based Interview where we expect the candidates to prepare a very short presentation on a defined topic they’re confident with and discuss it with the panel, often the team they’re interviewing to join.
When it comes to Engineering roles, if the technical assessment goes well, this is followed by the technical interview. For this, two of our senior Engineers will conduct a retrospective of the technical assessment and ask questions. It's a great opportunity for candidates to get a bit more detail on Fidel engineering practices and our product roadmap.
Final Steps 🤝
The final step is usually a founders’ interview. We’ll invite candidates for a final meeting with our founders, where they can gain a holistic view of the company and learn a bit about Fidel’s founding philosophies. Candidates also get a chance to discuss their own experiences and industry knowledge.
In Summary
Current challenges have meant some candidates don't get the chance to experience the office atmosphere and meet other team members in person. We’re happy to add extra meetings to provide these candidates with the chance to meet more of us. The same applies for management roles, it's mandatory for those candidates to have a round table with their new teams.
When we think about scaling a company, we immediately think about growing the workforce. That workforce shall be aligned with the values of the company but also with its needs. A strong hiring process makes it possible to not only target the needed talent but to build a team that shares the same vision and values.
With quality, scalable, and agile hiring, we can set more ambitious goals for ourselves, too.
We see the hiring process as the first stage of planting a seed. Without putting in the time and attention, you won’t ever see the flowers at the end. Thanks to our multi-step process we can find talent wherever it might be, nurture that talent and set up both the employee and employer for longer-term success. We want people to choose to stay with Fidel for a long time, too - that’s why we invest in each of our people from day one of hiring, so they want to invest in us right back.
Bringing in the best people is never just a talent team mission because when we find the right person for the job, everyone benefits - and that’s what Fidel is all about. *Champagne corks pop in background*🍾
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