In this post, Bill Osborn, Bravo LT’s Director of Technical Recruiting, and I, wanted to share the details of our hiring process – not just what it looks like now, but a more honest approach to how it used to look, and what we’ve done to continuously improve this important process. This post is broken up into questions I posed to Bill, who will shed light on lessons learned over the years, and what a potential candidate can expect right now.
What did our hiring process used to look like?
The nuts-and-bolts of our hiring process have stayed fairly consistent over the years. We’ve focused on being an employer of choice. Because of word-of-mouth, referrals and networking have driven the people we are looking for to us.
While we have been mostly consistent, the Pandemic still changed everything! I would guess that no industry in the world was unchanged by the Pandemic, and recruiting at Bravo LT was no different. It was a good opportunity to step back and look at our overall hiring practices. Geography became less important as individuals began to work remotely across the country. Whether you lived two, or two hundred miles from the Bravo office, your work location was your home. We were able to lean into that and found great results. Individuals who fit the Bravo LT mission were everywhere and able to work from anywhere, so it became our job to go out and find them!
How did we improve?
As it became obvious that the world needed to deliver products and services differently as we went home and stayed home, the technical talent market changed. Technical folks were already in high demand before the Pandemic, but after it started most organizations in the world turned to technology and development to overcome their consumer disconnect.
Therefore, we went out and found remote talent. We proactively sourced individuals from all over the country that had the skills and behaviors we look for. Through that, we were able to continue to screen individuals to ensure that they were the right fit for the Bravo LT culture. But, the difference was that we could do this at scale now! The drive to work turned into a walk down the stairs to the computer. Without geographical constraints we targeted the best of the best regardless of location. We now offer the flexibility the workforce demands, while still giving an environment of empowerment, training, and care that has always made Bravo special. From the first message, to your last day at Bravo, it’s my job to make sure that it’s a special experience.
What can a candidate expect today?
1. You’ll have a call with Isaac Ketchum or myself, the Talent Team here at Bravo
We will share who we are, what makes Bravo special, and learn about your background. From there, we come up with the right next steps for your journey with Bravo. My goal in that call is to fail fast. If a candidate wants a different experience in their work life than we can offer, then I want to help them get there. But, if we culturally align and we have the technical work that intrigues them, then we are onto the next step!
2. You’ll have a technical conversation, either internal to Bravo LT or with our clients directly
We perform project-based work here at Bravo. It is important that the candidate and the project team they will be working with get an opportunity to vet one another. Yes, one another. Interviews are not a one-way street – it is a time for the candidate to understand the work, the environment, and the personalities of who they will be working with. This is just as important as the project team ensuring the candidate has the right skills, experiences, and personality to be effective on the team.
I jokingly say that a bad interview is like an interrogation. There’s not a lot of difference between a police officer asking you where you were Tuesday at 10pm and an interviewer asking you what the difference is between path and classpath variables. Those questions can be asked and answered, but it is much easier on both sides if those are done as part of a conversation: free-flowing questions and answers from both the interviewer and interviewee. Do not walk out of an interview with unanswered questions!
3. Welcome to Bravo LT!
At this point a candidate knows Bravo LT, they have joined our Discord, seen our benefits, talked to the project team, and gained understanding of the project they will be on, and come to an understanding of salary expectations. They have aligned with the behavioral and technical skills required of the position. There’s no surprises at this point! We make the offer as it aligns to those expectations. Welcome to the Bravo LT family!
The Next Steps
Firstly, I’d like to thank Bill for his time and answering my questions about our hiring process. Our mission is to empower our clients, team, and community to succeed through compassion, professionalism, and the power of technology. Secondly, if you feel as though you align with Bravo LT’s mission and see an opening that fits you, we’d love to talk with you and kick off our simple three-step hiring process today!
Written by David Crawford, Mobile App Developer, and Bill Osborn, Director of Technical Recruiting
