With over 10 years experience working solely in the Data & Analytics sector our consultants are able to offer detailed insights into the industry.
Visit our Blogs & News portal or check out our recent posts below.
We appreciate that an interview gives you the opportunity to rate a shortlist of candidates against one another but consider this – in a candidate driven market you often need to sell your organization too. Its becoming more important in Data and Analytics recruitment to create an engaging and professional experience for candidates to ensure your organization passes their interview too!
So what is the best way to get the most from your interviews in a candidate driven marketplace?
Have a consistent set of benchmarks
Use the right type of questions
Consider the STAR technique
Be considerate with your timing
Sell the vacancy!
Have a consistent set of benchmarks
Use objective measures and work to a set interview format – this will ensure that whoever conducts the interview, the information obtained will be consistent
Develop a set of questions that are asked in each interview, Competency Based Interviewing is commonplace nowadays. This method gives structure to an interview which benefits both you and the candidate.
Try to keep the number of interviews per candidate to a minimum. Only in special circumstances should you add additional interviews into a particular candidates recruitment process – but avoid this wherever possible.
Use the right type of questions
Use questions that will delve into an individual’s ability to do the role, not information that could wrongly influence your decision. Using competency based questioning helps to avoid subjective views having an impact on your decision. Have a scoring sheet to mark candidates against the key attributes that are important to the specific role and business will help.
Consider how they match up against your company values
Do they have experience of working on similar or transferable projects?
Do they have the required level of SAS or SQL for this role?
Consider the STAR technique
Another type of interview technique is STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) which again ensures you obtain all the relevant information about a specific capability that the role requires. As well as giving structure to the interview, which is good for the candidate, this format is said to give a good insight into future on-the-job performance, for example:
Situation: Candidate is asked to give an example of a recent work challenge/objective set.
Task: What did they have to achieve?
Action: What did they do to achieve the objective?
Results: What was the outcome and did they meet the objectives?
If the candidate is being interviewed by other people in the organization, arrange to review all feedback once all the interviews have taken place, this way you are not influenced by other people’s opinions before you meet the candidate. And ensure that the candidate is not kept waiting between interviews – have someone co-ordinating the meetings to ensure everyone keeps to their allotted time.
Ensure your questions are clear and not double ended. Ask one question at a time and wait until you have received a satisfactory answer. Don’t over complicate the interview by asking 2 questions at once or asking ambiguous questions.
If competency based interview or STAR techniques don’t give you the level of information you want, consider including a test of some type, in addition to a formal interview. If this is your preferred method – you must let the candidate know they will be expected to sit a test, if so then they can prepare properly. Its worth considering however, that introducing too many stages can lead you to miss out on good candidates in a candidate driven market.
Be considerate with your timing
If you know early on in the interview that the candidate is not suitable, they should still be given a fair interview. Don’t cut the interview short after 10 minutes s if you decide they aren’t the one – remember the candidate experience! The Analytics market is a small world and you don’t want the candidate telling their colleagues and industry contacts about what a bad experience they’ve had.
At the other end of the scale, if an interview is likely to be long, let the candidate know this in advance. Giving an approximate interview time of 1-2 hours is better than saying an 1 hour and have it run over. Manage their expectations as they may then be under pressure to get back to work, which could affect their concentration and how well they present themselves in the interview.
Sell the vacancy!
And lastly, if you like a particular candidate, then sell the vacancy to them while you have a captive audience! Give them ample chance to ask questions and really focus on promoting the role and company, maybe even give them a quick tour of the business. Above all, let them know that you are an employer that is genuinely passionate about this opportunity. Remember, they are likely to be speaking to other companies who are doing just that, so don’t let your business go unnoticed!
US$140000 - US$160000 per annum
Chicago, Illinois
This telehealth company is working on changing its customer experience with the help of AI
US$140000 - US$150000 per annum
Boston, Massachusetts
This Boston based defense company is looking to bring in an experienced leader in autonomy to lead one of its newest programs
US$200000 - US$225000 per annum
San Francisco, California
A well-established bay area company is looking to add an experienced manager to their ranks.
US$230000 - US$250000 per annum
Boston, Massachusetts
Do you have proven progressive experience leading agile analytics teams at some of the top eCommerce and/or internet companies?
US$225000 - US$250000 per year
Massachusetts
Are you a Customer-centric Advanced Analytics leader?
US$115000 - US$125000 per year
Massachusetts
Are you a story teller and strategy focused analyst with a passion for media?
US$240000 - US$250000 per annum
Boston, Massachusetts
A top E-Commerce organization is seeking a seasoned Marketing Analytics leader to join a team that is set to scale rapidly this year!
US$210000 - US$230000 per annum
Boston, Massachusetts
Looking for a great growth opportunity? Join a leading online retailer looking to expand and optimize their Marketing Analytics team.
US$150000 - US$165000 per annum
Washington, District of Columbia
Want the chance to work on developing some of the most advanced systems that will be used by the government?
US$230000 - US$250000 per annum
Massachusetts
If you are looking for professional growth and want to step into a leadership position, this could be the next step in your career!
US$110000 - US$130000 per annum
Detroit, Michigan
This company develops UAVs for a unique purpose
US$220000 - US$250000 per annum
San Francisco, California
An autonomous vehicle company is looking to add a Senior Deep Learning Engineer to their well-funded team.
With over 10 years experience working solely in the Data & Analytics sector our consultants are able to offer detailed insights into the industry.
Visit our Blogs & News portal or check out our recent posts below.
18. February 2021
11. February 2021
Take part today in the longest continually running salary survey covering the
Data & Analytics mark globally!
Covering salaries, diversity, benefits and technologies, our published Salary Guide
is known for reflecting and driving trends
within the Data & Analytics industry.
VIDEO: A DECADE OF DATA
Read about Harnham's corporate social responsibility initiatives
Find our more about the causes we support.