Screen software recruits by tech skills or by competence and aptitude?
Why do some (but not all) technical recruiters for software developers place so much emphasis on screening or filtering candidates with specific technical skills or experience with particular toolsets rather than on the overall competence level of an applicant? Why do we not also consider bright candidates with backgrounds in similar environments, particularly if they possess strong soft skills (e.g. good ability to discuss requirements with a team or the customer), they get things done, and they have an aptitude for learning quickly?
Perhaps in this era where hundreds of resumes come across the desk of the HR professional, the poor recruiter who has no time to read through all the resumes must take the path of least resistance and rely upon screening software to come up with a short list of candidates? Unfortunately, the hiring software manager who is the one individual best-equipped to understand or distinguish if technical skills are relevant (or not) is not the one doing the screening.
In my mind, while many targeted technical skills can be easily learned on the job, there is no substitute for being a good communicator, getting things done, and being smart enough to understand what makes for a really great software architecture (see Joel Spolsky’s article at http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000073.html). For instance, recruiters may describe a job description which requires an embedded software developer who specifically has experience with embedded Linux or Symbian platforms. Shouldn’t they also consider candidates who have a strong real-time embedded development background with other operating systems like VxWorks, or QNX?
Side note: There is an opportunity here for developers of recruiting software to embed domain-specific knowledge in their filtering – e.g. identify closely-related technical skills or attributes (analogous to the soundex algorithm which can match similar surnames spelled differently).
Good Answers (2)
Gordon,
I love your question....
We all know that recruiters hire on skills but terminations or people leaving a company come from either culture mismatch or behaviors. Skillsurvey has won numerous awards for actually addressing this issue.
I would love the opportunity to discuss this with you.
Please call me 414-235-9581
George Jifas
Chad H
President, Hire Insight Group
Best Answers in: Staffing and Recruiting (5), Advertising (1), Career Management (1)
Hi Gordon,
You're exactly right. Although in some cases employees need to have a certain base of technical knowledge in order to perform effectively "right out of the gate," the fact is that knowledge and experience have less impact on employee success than most employers realize, and can often be trained on the job.
In fact, the number one factor that explains candidate performance is cognitive ability (i.e., "bright candidates"), with personality and other factors helping to explain the individual's likely fit with a particular role and organization. Unfortunately, few recruiters and hiring managers seem to measure these factors in a valid and reliable way.
This is a huge topic, but I did want to pass along some more information in case you were interested...I've taken the liberty of posting to our blog a section from an upcoming white paper that helps explain these performance factors. Definitely have a look and let me know what you think (link below).
All the best,
-Chad
