Level Up Your Hiring Process: 7 Lessons from CEO Boris Portman on 'The Art of Hiring' Podcast

In a recent episode of "The Art of Hiring," Boris Portman, CEO and founder of BetterEngineer, sat down with Christine Kull for her inaugural podcast. With his extensive background as a VP of engineering, Boris understands the challenges of hiring top-tier talent. He emphasizes the importance of having meaningful conversations with hiring managers to grasp their true goals rather than merely filling job openings.

7 Lessons from CEO Boris Portman on 'The Art of Hiring' Podcast

One of the standout points Boris discussed is how companies can scale their hiring processes while still maintaining the quality of candidates. You need to fill those open positions fast, but you don't want to compromise on finding the right tech talent. And you can absolutely do both. At BetterEngineer, we pride ourselves on offering a personalized ("high-touch") hiring experience, even as we efficiently find and hire senior talent ("at scale"). This balance is key to our success. Here are 7 tips to develop a high-touch, scalable approach:

1. Streamline your process with clear communication.

Streamlining communication is key to a successful hiring process, and it all starts with a transparent, direct, and branded job description. Research by Glassdoor shows that 69% of job seekers want to know about a company's culture before they apply. So, ditch the generic templates! Write compelling descriptions that showcase the role, your team culture, and the real impact the new hire will make. Highlight exciting projects and challenges they'll tackle. But don't stop there! Develop a clear list of must-have skills and experience and use this to create a screening process with online assessments or quick technical challenges. This will weed out unqualified candidates, saving you and them valuable time.

2. Use smart platforms or applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Invest in an ATS to manage the influx of applications. These tools can automate tasks like scheduling interviews and sending communication updates, freeing up your team to focus on high-value interactions with top candidates. Studies by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) show that Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can reduce time-to-hire by up to 50%.

But if you don't have enough resources, don't worry! Here's where a specialized hiring partner can be incredibly valuable. They'll leverage these technologies and their expertise to manage the initial candidate pool, freeing up your internal team's time to focus on high-value interactions with the most qualified talent. For instance, at BetterEngineer, we connect you with the right software engineers in Latam so you don't have to waste time and resources managing a flood of applications. With our tech expertise, smart platform, and a pre-vetted talent pool, we'll handle the heavy lifting for you.

3. Be ready for your next tech hire:

If you notice there are roles you're constantly filling, you can continuously cultivate a pool of top tech talent. Leverage applicant tracking systems and social media engagement to keep the conversation flowing - even when you don't have an immediate opening. This strategy ensures you have a ready pool of qualified candidates who are already familiar with your company culture and excited about potential opportunities.

4. Get referrals from employees you trust.

Ask the right people and create referral programs to stimulate them. We usually chat with engineers we know and respect, the ones who consistently impress us. They recommend their friends who share the same passion and skills—the kind of talent who'd be a perfect fit on your team. It's a win-win! You get high-caliber candidates who are already excited about your company, and we keep building a strong network of amazing tech talent. It's like having an insider's advantage in the tech hiring game.

5. Look beyond the resume.

A LinkedIn profile can only tell you so much. To get the real picture, you need to vet them deeper. During the episode, Boris called out a powerful technique for conducting interviews: behavioral interviewing. This involves asking specific questions and analyzing their responses. "We pay close attention to the sentiment behind their words, the language they choose (positive or negative), and how they talk about themselves compared to their team. This is just the first step, though. We follow it up with some technical interviews and live coding exercises to see their skills in action."

6. Diversity brings value!

You probably know this, but what type of diversity are we talking about? At BetterEngineer, we believe that we help with diversity as a whole because we're not just focused on gender and race. Backgrounds, and certainly geography and cultural perspectives, add significant value to many companies and products that have been distributed in Latin America.

There is a lot of research to corroborate this idea. According to Harvard Business Review, cross-cultural teams provide more creative solutions, outperforming homogeneous teams by up to 87% in problem-solving tasks. Besides, a 2020 study by McKinsey found that companies with above-average diversity in nationality and origin reported a 19% increase in revenue from global markets. This isn't surprising. 

7. Hiring is proactive, not reactive.

During challenging times, companies are exposed to problems like hiring freezes, layoffs, and budget uncertainties. So, instead of simply asking what obstacles to hiring great talent to build their team, hiring managers can ask themselves: What can I do today to hire great talent to build a strong, lasting team? By being creative and resourceful, they can discover great solutions and opportunities for growth. One of these solutions is to leverage proactive talent pipelining (as mentioned before).

Scaling effectively is about being strategic. With these tips, you can build a smooth and efficient hiring process that attracts high-caliber tech talent while saving you valuable time and resources. And don't forget to create a process that feels personal and engaging for candidates. Even with a larger applicant pool, focusing on building relationships and clear communication will help you attract and retain these talents. To learn more about BetterEngineer's processes and insights from our CEO, Boris Portman, listen to Episode 1 of The Art of Hiring now!