That time I used speed dating as inspiration for hiring.
Ok, I’m just going to say it: Hiring people sucks.
Also, while I’m at it…. Getting hired sucks.
I’m sure this resonates.
Maybe you’re a hiring manager who has a specific need to fill on the team. You just got 482 applications for your one open position, and you need this person urgently. Meanwhile, you’ve got 98% of the next three weeks already booked up with team meetings, stakeholder meetings, and work… oh and your kids don’t have school on Friday, because why not? When are you going to fit in interviews? The task seems daunting - how are you going to find the right person for your team, your culture, your skill gaps? This can’t take over your life, you still have a job to do! Hiring is a burden.
Or, maybe you’re looking for your next job. It’s demotivating to see that counter on LinkedIn “998 Applicants”, “3,821 Applicants!”, “2,934,298 Applicants!!!”. If your application has the best SEO and you get through the applicant tracking system filters, it’s still an uphill battle - HR screenings, behavioral interviews, cultural interviews, technical challenges, team interviews, interpretive dance competitions, manager interviews, reference checks... How are you possibly going to overcome every challenge? Getting hired is exhausting.
The scene: It was late summer 2021, I was a newly minted AVP of Product Design and had one UX design leader and one UX writer on the team.
We paused our work designing process diagrams to hop on a team call with the CPO: “I told the board we’ll release our first products in the next 12-15 months”. We joked, shared some gifs in the chat, and dropped from the call. Then, reality set in - how were the three of us going to manage a greenfield software release on that timeline?!
After several moments of staring at each other through Teams in a panic, we took a collective deep breath and asked our manager how many designers we could hire to be able to meet these ambitious goals. Her reply: “How many do you need?”
After considerably more panic and staring, we sat down and made a plan. First, what skills did we have on the team so far and what did we need? Our UX leader was an accomplished UI and graphic designer, she’d take the lead on building out a design system - ok, good. She’d need someone with deep skills in accessibility, documentation, and component creation to help her execute. She’d also need a motion designer, bonus points if they could illustrate too!
Our UX writer could handle things for a few months while we got things going, but she would need a partner when need increased. We also needed expertise in technical writing, knowledge management, and content strategy… and a leader to manage all the processes of the UX Writing team.
On the UX features front, it was just me and I was already swamped! I needed both people managers and exceptional designers. People who were skilled at visual, interaction, and experience design. Someone with deep information & experience architecture skills. Someone else with a strong eye for composition and visual design. Someone with product management or even front end development skills to help build those bridges. Perhaps just as importantly - people who weren’t like me. I wanted a team that was as diverse as the people we sought to serve. New voices, new perspectives, people who would challenge my thinking!
I sketched out something like this and told the CPO my plan. Within minutes, we had approval from leadership and were off to hire!
Next, we had to define what we were looking for in these candidates beyond the skills sketched out above. Here’s what we came up with:
Did UX before. Ok, this one feels obvious to you and me, but it sure wasn’t to the people applying for these roles. Whether through work experience or a learning program/bootcamp, we wanted evidence that they had actually successfully done a UX before.
Not an asshole. There is no room for know-it-alls, divas, or huge egos on the team, no matter how talented you are. I’m willing to teach anyone just about anything, but if they aren’t humble and open-minded, my efforts aren’t going to make a difference. Which brings me to the next one…
A curious mindset. Is the designer honest about what they don’t know, and do they clearly want to learn more? Do they ask good questions? Do they want to learn and grow? If yes, awesome.
A cultural add. I hear a lot about finding cultural “fits”, but I wasn’t looking for designers who matched me, I wanted designers who pushed me and challenged my ways of thinking. Instead of finding people who fit, we looked for people who added to our culture - a new perspective, a unique hobby or passion, a different career journey, a different way of working, something that sparked my curiosity.
With the hard skills and candidate qualities we were looking for sketched out, writing the job descriptions was easy. Posting the jobs was easy. Getting resumes in was easy too! This was going to be no problem at all! Then my Talent Acquisition partner asked me what I’d like to do for the process. He suggested something like this:
TA screens > TA interview > team interview > managers interview > leaders interview > references > offer.
I don’t have time for that!
Literally - I didn’t have time in my calendar to manage all those interviews, nor did I have months to let this process play out, the countdown to the first software release was already ticking!
Will our heroes find the time to hire out their team?
Will they design a better hiring process? Will they get the talent they need to build new software? Will the talent even stick around once hired?!
Find out next time in the thrilling conclusion to:
“That time I used speed dating as inspiration for hiring”!!!
