How EasyLlama Recruits Quality Job Seekers

By Pooja Samuel, People Operations Manager at EasyLlama

EasyLlama strives to create good stewards of the workplace through our training; internally, we aim to hire immensely talented people to do the same. We prioritize hiring through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion as we truly believe in the benefits of creating a team with lots of life experiences and varied points of view. Our People Operations team, who oversees recruiting, rely on structured and inclusive recruiting practices to continue growing a diverse Llama Herd.

What is Structured Recruiting?

Structured recruiting is a method that uses a standardized approach to evaluate candidates. This approach includes creating job descriptions, identifying key competencies, and developing a scoring system to assess candidates based on these competencies. By implementing structured recruiting, we can eliminate biases and ensure that all candidates are evaluated on the same criteria.

The Importance of Inclusive Recruiting

Inclusive recruiting is the practice of creating a hiring process that welcomes candidates from all walks of life. This includes implementing strategies that attract a diverse pool of candidates, such as posting job ads on various platforms, using inclusive language in job descriptions, and reaching out to underrepresented communities.

Inclusive recruiting is important because it allows us to tap into a wider pool of talent, which can lead to better innovation and creativity. Additionally, by creating a more diverse workforce, companies can better understand and serve their customers.

How to Implement Structured and Inclusive Recruiting

1 . Review your job descriptions: Ensure that your job descriptions use inclusive language and avoid gendered language. At EasyLlama, we use the gender decoders from Totaljobs and Katmatfield to keep our job descriptions gender-neutral. 2 . Expand your recruitment efforts: Post job ads on various platforms and reach out to historically-excluded communities. More often than not, job boards dedicated to such groups will charge to host your job on their site. Be sure to do your research and include that cost in your recruiting budget. 3 . Use a scoring system in hiring: Develop a scoring system that evaluates candidates based on key competencies. We use Greenhouse as our Applicant Tracking Software (ATS), which provides a scorecard for each competency we are looking for in our candidates. This is helpful to eliminate bias by evaluating all candidates on the same criteria. 4 . Conduct structured interviews: Create a set of standardized questions that are asked of all candidates. Similar to the scorecards mentioned above, we aim to eliminate bias and level the playing field by asking all candidates the same questions. 5 . Train your recruiters: Make sure to train your recruiters on the importance of inclusive recruiting and how to conduct structured interviews. EasyLlama is making it a priority to conduct interview training for our whole company in 2023.

By implementing structured and inclusive recruiting practices, EasyLlama can create a more positive and effective recruitment process. Not only does this benefit the company, but it also benefits potential candidates who are looking for a fair and unbiased evaluation process.

EasyLlama’s Structured And Inclusive Recruiting Process

Applicants for any role at EasyLlama can expect to experience a recruiting process that prioritizes inclusivity, communication, and the candidate experience.

Inclusivity

We emphasize inclusivity by using structured recruiting. Recruiters meet with hiring managers for a kickoff of their open requisition. This kickoff includes discussing ideal candidate profiles, essential hard and soft skills, establishing company-based competencies, and creating the right interview stages and choosing the right interviewers. Following the kickoff, we communicate interviewer roles and work to tie specific behavioral and situational questions to the requirements of the role. Once applicants are moved to the candidate stage, we ensure that all candidates experience the same interview stages and are asked the same questions, reducing bias in the interview process.

Communication

We believe communication isn’t only about communicating the next steps to candidates throughout the recruiting process. We communicate who candidates will be speaking with, what the interviewer’s role is within the company, and what the candidate can expect to be interviewed on. A timeline of the recruiting process is conveyed to candidates as well as when they can expect to hear the next steps. If a candidate is not a fit for a role, we strive to let them know as quickly as possible. Internally, we communicate with hiring managers and interviewers through weekly check-ins and candidate huddles, as well as utilizing Slack for more asynchronous communications.

Candidate Experience

We cannot stress enough the importance of the candidate's experience. Our People Ops team have seen the impact of remote work on the candidate experience. Longer interview cycles, more ghosting, and more competition in the job market. To ensure a positive experience, we have implemented consistent and concise interview stages that prioritize our candidate’s time, with our interview process lasting about 3 weeks. We have been thoughtful in how we integrate technology into our recruiting process to create efficiency for candidates as well as interviewers, utilizing a robust ATS system for interviewing and scheduling, while documenting and brainstorming our process in Notion.

Finally, we truly believe in being transparent with all our candidates. Our recruiters and interviewers speak candidly about their experience at EasyLlama, discussing our wins and challenges with the same enthusiasm. We want to ensure candidates are given every opportunity to decide if EasyLlama is the best place for them to grow their careers. In the future, we will begin to survey candidates and begin tracking a candidate’s NPS score. We firmly believe in feedback and getting feedback from candidates on their recruiting experience will only make our process stronger and more people-centric.

Learn More About Interviewing & Hiring

EasyLlama is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce through our recruiting practices. By implementing structured and inclusive recruiting, we can tap into a wider pool of talent, gain valuable perspectives, and better serve our customer base. We believe candidates should feel empowered throughout the recruiting process and make the decision that is right for them. If you’re a job seeker wanting to join the EasyLlama herd, check out the Jobs page for our currently open positions! And if you’re a hiring manager looking to learn more about creating a fair and inclusive hiring process, then our Interviewing & Hiring Training Course has just the right information for you!