Whilst a CV will of course give you a good idea of what a candidate is like, an interview will of course reveal a whole lot more. However, sometimes the standard interview format, the questions and answers are just not enough. If you want to get a much greater insight into potential candidates, one of the best ways to do this is to be a little more creative and set them an interview task. Here, we outline some tips on how you can do just that.
Why should you set a task?
Rather than simply accepting that they are competent in particular areas because they tell you so, by setting them a task, you can actually verify any key skills that are essential for the role. This in turn can help to put your mind at ease. You can set a task to check for certain skills, for example, Excel, SEO or copywriting. You could also use it to assess their ability in areas such as setting KPIs and sales targets, creating a marketing strategy or even coding.
One of the by-products of setting a task, is that it also will test a candidate’s critical thinking, how well they structure things, how competent they are in using Word or Powerpoint or even how effective their presentation skills are. It will also help you assess their timekeeping skills. Do they get the task completed on time or do they need an extension?
Setting a task can also help you test your candidate’s genuine commitment and interest in the role. Will they jump through those hoops? How much effort have they put into the task itself?
In addition, it can really help you to give a candidate an idea of what the role is actually like. By giving them some idea of the types of tasks they could be doing, you’ll actually be giving them a much greater insight and providing them with more context. That way, it will help both the candidate and you decide if they will be ready for this role or even if they would actually enjoy it in the first place.
What skills do you need for the role?
It’s best of course that you take some time to think about what skills are actually critical for the role you are hiring for and then test for those skills specifically - the skills that you really need. The skills that you are testing for need to be entirely relevant to the job that the candidate would actually be doing. After all, if a task appears completely irrelevant, it will in turn reflect pretty badly on your company.
What should be in the task?
When you’re considering what should be in the task, you should perhaps use some real examples of what could potentially happen in that role. Consider using real data and actual customer profiles (although obviously anonymised and adhering to GDPR guidelines). If, however, you don't have real life examples, you could maybe look for examples from other companies of a similar size or in the same industry or sector. You could even perhaps create some examples, based on what you would typically expect the data to be.
It’s essential though that you don’t make it appear like you want the candidate to do work for you for free. For example, if you ask them to come up with a ‘detailed’ strategy or plan, remember that is a significant piece of work that would take days of time. People want to do great work and showcase work that really represents them, therefore asking for a detailed strategy could take a week.
Also, do ensure that the level of complexity of the task is suitable for the level of the role you are hiring for. If it is too junior a task, it may come across as an entirely pointless and even insulting exercise. Likewise, if you set a task that is too complex for a more junior candidate, chances are they will do badly.
How long should it be?
It’s important to be mindful of how long a task takes. Generally, it will always take longer than you think because the candidate will not necessarily know the context, the language and the jargon, or your customers.
If a task is too short, it will come across as irrelevant and will appear to be a waste of time, whereas if it’s too long, you risk losing the candidate, especially if they are a particularly strong candidate and applying to lots of other roles.
Clients tend to always think that their culture is the best, but the reality is that many startups have great cultures, provide great career prospects and have great customers! Don’t make the task overly complex, meaning that great candidates will think hmmm I’ll go elsewhere…
Also, you don’t want to make it appear as though you want the candidate to do work for you for free, so the ideal task time should be around 4 hours, perhaps half a day.
How long should I give for the task to be completed?
When you’re setting the task, try not to set unrealistic deadlines, or short deadlines that you might think is testing a candidate’s commitment to the role - after all, your candidates might be already working full time, or have families. Instead, you should try to be collaborative without being lenient and remember that you still want to make it a challenge.
It can be worthwhile setting a timed task. You can ask the candidate for an agreed time window, for example, a 4 hour window within which they can both complete the task and send it back. This can be particularly useful if you want to perhaps compare candidates and see what work people can produce in the same amount of time. It is however a lot more challenging for people who flummox at time pressures, or who prefer to take time over their work.
You could also set a fixed deadline for a task, perhaps providing the candidates with a 3 day window or a week to complete it. This will give the candidates some sense of ownership and enable them to fit things around their existing commitments. Whilst this is great for candidates to enable them to do things at their own speed, it’s bad for you, as you can’t compare how long each candidate took to do a task.
What instructions should you give with the task?
When actually setting the task, make sure that your instructions are simple and clear, check that there is no company jargon or acronyms that are not widely known. Always include timescales, deadlines, formats and details of where it needs to be sent to. Remember to set your candidates’ expectations early on, add details on ‘interview processes’ to your job spec, for example a video interview, a task, second interview, whatever, ensuring that they are fully prepared.
Some general notes and thoughts on setting interview tasks...
Senior Candidates doing tasks
Be mindful that if you are dealing with more senior candidates, you can end up in a subconscious battle of the egos. It is a fine balancing act between ensuring they have the right skills and a sense of the role and the candidate’s time and desire for the role. A great candidate will have a bunch of options available to them, and, yes, whilst you may have a great culture, and game-changing product, there are many companies that have these - you may not be that unique! If a great candidate is faced with a poorly thought-out task, or one that is too junior, it may come across as a pointless exercise, or even appear like you’re chasing free consultancy. This in turn will then create a bad impression and they may be off! On the other hand, if you have a well thought-out task that takes a reasonable amount of time to do and gives a good indication of the role and the candidate refuses to do it, then their ego is most likely going to be too big for a startup role!
If you don’t know the actual job
Whether you are recruiting for your tech startup and you've never hired for the role before, you’re not skilled or experienced in the job, or you are unsure how to test the skills, or even what skills to actually test, you should seek external help! Speak to other founders and their teams, your advisory board, or FB founders’ groups. Ask someone to suggest a task for you, or work with you to design a task and ‘mark’ it for you. Remember, there will be other people who will have hired for this role before you...
Selling the task
Whilst tasks can be a great way of ensuring that both sides understand the role and the skill set required, remember that nobody really likes doing tasks - they can bring back lots of memories of exams from school!
It’s vital therefore that you fully explain the ‘why’, emphasise the relevance of this task and highlight that its purpose is to give both of you a clearer idea of what to expect if they were to get the role!
Who we are
Offering personalised, consultative service, at TableCrowd Talent we’re a specialist recruitment agency with our finger on the pulse of the startup and scaleup scene. We are committed to matching graduates, professionals and C-level executives to exciting startup and scaleup jobs across London, the UK and Europe.
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