Being the growing company that we are here at Contegix we consistently find ourselves searching for new talent to fill roles throughout our company.  An easy task, right?  Not necessarily.  Particularly if, like us, you really want to find those individuals who will not only excel in your environment, but who also understand the dynamics of what your organization is about and is willing to uphold those beliefs.  We’re a technical company, of course, but we do not let technical proficiency be the sole decision factor when making hiring decisions.  In fact, here at Contegix things such as culture fit and an understanding of the customer dynamic are equally important to us.

What does it mean to recruit new Contegians?  What exactly happens behind the scenes from the point of having an opening or two and actually hiring someone?  Well, it turns out, there is quite a bit of activity in the middle of the hiring equation.

As a first step, the open positions must be translated to something meaningful to the world at large and to every candidate.  That is not always as easy a task as one might think.  We know what we want and what we are looking for but sometimes it is rather difficult to express that to people outside the world of Contegix.  We use a variety of methods for sourcing candidates including recruiting firms, paid advertisements, free advertisements, career fairs, employee referrals, employee networks, customer referrals, and the like.  Some of these methods allow us to locate candidates who most closely resemble what we look for, and other methods fall short.  Regardless of the method for sourcing, they all have their pros and their cons.

We recently posted an internal blog post with a few statistics regarding the amount of effort I have personally been exerting during a current recruitment effort we have under way.  Note that the statistics listed below cover a two-week time period.

Number of resumes received: 67

Number of resumes reviewed: 67

Average length of candidate phone interview: 30 minutes

Average length of in person candidate interview: 2.5 to 3 hours

Number of regular office hours interviews (phone & in person): 16

Number of in person interviews conducted off site (in a single day): 5

Number of employment offers made (as of this post): 1

Number of employment offers accepted (as of this post): 1

We typically do a combination of phone and in person interviews with all candidates regardless of the position for which they are interviewing.  Each candidate typically does two of each type of interview before an employment offer is made.  Candidates also interview with multiple individuals within Contegix, and we try to have candidates interview with at least one individual from outside the department they will be working in if possible.

As another perspective, I spent 36 hours in a one week period working on recruitment efforts.  That includes placing ads, working with recruiters, coordinating interviews, conducting phone interviews, conducting in person interviews, and providing follow-up feedback to all active candidates.  A lot of hours?  We don’t think so.  We take recruiting seriously and feel like we get a return on the investment we put into it.

- Jason Smith

Director of Client Services