‘Proof by Numbers’ — How to harness the power of Reviews and Ratings to hire the best Techies
‘Proof by Numbers’ — How to harness the power of Reviews and Ratings to hire the best Techies
In life, your most valuable asset is the number of people who know, like, and trust you
If you lost your job today, where would you turn?
Most people look to their immediate network for support.
Chances are, individuals that you have established a close relationship with can connect you with a new opportunity, and act as your personal ambassadors.
Only 7% of job applications come from employee referrals, but account for 40% of all hires
In-fact, this is how most jobs are filled. Some experts estimate that as many as 80% of new jobs are never listed, and instead are filled through the company and employee’s networks. And according to The Undercover Recruiter, 7% of all job applications come from employee referrals, however these account for 40% of all new hires!
It’s clear: the more people you have willing to vouch for your skills and attitudes, the more likely you are to have success finding a new job.
But if companies aren’t receiving enough recommendations to fill vacant roles so rely on recruiters or “cold applications”.
A study from Skill Survey of 1400 organisations found that 70% of companies check references for every applicant. On average, each employer checks three references for each employee — and of course, these references are usually given from candidates’ former superiors. These reference checks provide companies with a better insight into the human characteristics that can’t be communicated simply through a cover letter or resume only gleaned from numerous interactions.
But how often are they scripted and biased? Presumably the applicant provided a superior they had a good relationship with. But even superiors who want to get rid of an under-performing employee will give a good reference!
And why stop at three or four recommendations?
As society integrates the internet ever tighter into our daily lives, new opportunities to gain insights into applicants beyond what is currently requested during conventional hiring processes is becoming available.
70% of hiring managers search applicants search applicants
A 2018 Career Builder survey found that 70% of hiring managers were using search engines to gather more information about applicants, and 66% browsing search engine results. It’s clear that employers value individuals having an online presence, with nearly half of surveyed hiring managers stating that they’re less likely to call an applicant back if they can’t find the candidate online.
Hiring managers are less likely to call an applicant back if they can’t find them online
However, employers ought to ask themselves what is actually influencing them when viewing these profiles. Is unconscious human bias creeping in? Is stalking an applicant’s beach photos from her vacation on Instagram really teaching you how well she gets along with her co-workers? Hiring managers should instead look to seek confirmation of the applicant’s social credit with regards to employability.
Sites like LinkedIn offer employers a chance to source a range of insights that simply wouldn’t be possible within typical hiring processes. Below are social endorsements that a career Data Scientist received. These insights can paint a better picture of the applicant’s job skills, as well as giving the employer the chance to seek out further less biased references by reaching out to these endorsers.
Leverage existing proof of skills and teamwork when hiring
If you’re making hires in the IT industry, sites such as GitHub and StackOverflow can provide tremendous insights into a candidates commitment to consistent improvement and their attitude to collaboration and helping others.
Below is a GitHub contribution calendar of a final-year computer science student, proving the student was committed to practising and improving their skills alongside their studies.
However, taking the time to crawl the internet for each individual’s profile and ratings can be time-consuming, frustrating and difficult. How do you know you’ve found the right Joe Bloggs amongst StackOverflow’s 50 million monthly developers — especially when a majority of users use avatars and aliases?
How do you know you’ve found the right Joe Bloggs amongst StackOverflow’s 50 million monthly developers?
Find your diamonds in the rough
Which company wouldn’t want to hire an individual who’s contributing to the open source community and helping others online by providing complicated technical answers? What better endorsement for your company’s brand as having the best employees?
Who wouldn’t want to hire an individual who’s contributing to open source projects and answering other’s technical questions?
Applicants feel that they have an online presence that can bolster their application but don’t know how to convey the data without sending recruiters links to a bunch of sites they may have to jump through hoops like signing up or sending a connection request just to access.
Reputationaire allows you to access applicant authorised information regarding their skills and character gathered from all over the internet and verified by their friends, acquaintances and peers.
However, this isn’t a service that will scour the internet for negative information about your applicants behind their back.
Instead Reputationaire gives applicant’s autonomy and the chance to provide employers instant applicant authorised access to peer verified information proving their trustworthiness, reliability, skills (e.g. their verified GitHub and StackOverflow profiles) as well as intangible characteristics supplementing their CV and giving you insights into their fit into your culture.