Hiring Decisions: 7 Key Components of an Effective Process

The data is in, and it’s time to make the big hiring decision. What’s the ideal path forward?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to decision-making that applies to every company or every role. We see many approaches that work well. There are, however, some key components to the process that should be present, particularly in organizations where decisions are team-based. Here are our favorites:

1. Establish a central aggregator, or configure your applicant tracking system for “blind” inputs.

Avoid situations where interviewers can see each other’s ratings or comments, as this can lead to groupthink.

2. Provide a rubric for ratings, and remind the team about it.

What does a 3 vs. a 2 mean on a given competency or key result? Ensure there is a shared definition so that candidates are not rewarded — or penalized — based on their interviewing team lineup.

3. Ask interviewers for ratings and actual data points (facts gleaned from interviews) for their specific area of focus only.

Do not ask interviewers to provide a hire/no-hire decision based on their one interview alone, as this leads to all kinds of problems.

4. Send out the complete ratings/data set in advance of the meeting, with average ratings on each facet/focus area, and an overall average.

Encourage hiring team members to review it in advance and be prepared to discuss.

5. Appoint a moderator for the discussion.

If you are the hiring manager, it may be best to choose another individual who is not on the interviewing team. In addition to managing the clock, their goal is keep the conversation data-focused, ensure a balance of participation, and call out bias (supportively but directly) when it emerges.

6. Order the candidates from highest to lowest average rating.

Meetings tend to run long — make sure you devote ample time to the best candidates and (if relevant) get them an offer as soon as possible. 

7. Err on the side of skepticism.

Be honest with yourself — and with others — when you are “talking yourself into” a candidate where the data does not objectively point to a good fit. Do not move the goalposts (by, say, rewriting the job description to fit a near-miss). Yes, a vacancy is painful, but a bad hire is way worse.

Happy hiring!

This post was originally published on LinkedIn.

Jordan Burton has 15 years of experience as an executive assessor and interviewing trainer, working with top VC/PE investors and high-growth startups to help them hire the best of the best. He has trained over 3,000 executives and investors on hiring and interviewing skills. He leads Talgo's business development initiatives, managing relationships with Sequoia Capital, TH Lee, Palantir, Chainlink Labs, and over 50 venture-backed startups.

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