our 5 step process to hire for excellence - kayako webinar slides

Hire for ExcellenceOur 5 Step Process to

Sarah ChambersDirector of Support

Jamie EdwardsCo-Founder and COO

Grow your business through better customer service with Kayako, the unified customer service platform.

Used by over 131,000 support heroes to deliver effortless customer service

kayako.com

@kayako

Our 5 Step Process to Hire forExcellence

Phone screening

The first round interview

A take home test

Second round interviews - the “Focus” interview

Founder fit interview

BONUS: Chasing up references

The first step before ANY hiring!

The first step before ANY hiring!

Align your hiring team

You need a candidate scorecard, and an interview structure.

How to align your hiring team

How to align your hiring team

The Scorecard:

The scorecard is not a list of job requirements. It’s a description of the results you want the candidate you hire to

achieve.

Scorecard: Behavioral traits and skills

CSS

HTML

Troubleshooting

Honest

Intuitive

Respectful

Empathetic

Detailed

Customer support

Written communication

Problem solving

Time management

Technical Skills

Personality traits

Skills

Good to have

Experience in (your industry)

Remote working experience

Second language

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

1 2 3 4

27

How to align your hiring team

MissionYou are trying to accomplish a specific mission and you need

a candidate who can do it.

OutcomesMany job descriptions go wrong because they describe

activities instead of results.

CompetenciesDefine the characteristics of the candidate you are trying to

hire. Competencies are both behavioral and cultural.

Phone Screening

Phone Screening

Why phone screen?

Phone Screening

How to use a 30-minute phone call forscreening candidates

The first round interview

The first round interview

Use the Topgrading approach to interviewing

The idea is to find out is to find out how their career path has progressed

You are not trying to grill the candidate into submission

Source: topgrading.com

The first round interview

Use the Topgrading approach to interviewing

For every job in a person’s career history, ask the following questions:

Source: topgrading.com

The first round interview

Use the Topgrading approach to interviewing

For every job in a person’s career history, ask the following questions:

What were you hired to do?What accomplishments are you most proud of?What were some low points during that job?Who were the people you worked with?Why did you leave that job?

Source: topgrading.com

A take home test

A take home testCreate a test that is concise, but will help you evaluate core

competencies that are most important for the position.

Hi Support,

Your system is impossible to use! When tickets are closed, I want them to stay closed. Why can customers keep opening them? It means I can’t get the right data from closed tickets. Why don’t you have a status beyond closed to keep tickets from reopening?

This is ridiculous, I need you to fix this yesterday.

Thanks.Jesse.

Second round interviewsthe “Focus” interviewWhat is a Focus interview?

Geoff Smart’s, Who: The A method to hiring

Focus interview best practices:Three team members conduct separate, one-on-one interviews Interviews last between 45 and 60 minutesGive your team members a scorecard to focus their attention and questions aroundUncover specific items on your scorecard within these themes:

Technical skillsPersonality traitsEssential skillsGood to have

Founder fit interview

What is the founder fit interview,and who is it for?

Founder fit interview

BONUS: Chasing up referencesBONUS: Chasing up references

BONUS: Chasing up references

How to contact a candidate’s references,and what to ask them:

BONUS: Chasing up references

How to contact a candidate’s references,and what to ask them:

Be open about wanting to contact their reference

Review your interview notes to select the people to call to get the information you need

“In what context did you work with the candidate?”“What were the candidate’s biggest strengths?”“What were the candidate’s biggest areas for improvement back then?”

“How would you rate his/her overall performance in that job on a 1-10 scale? What about his or her performance causes you to give that rating?

“The candidate mentioned that he/she struggled with in that job. Can you tell me more about that?” (Learn to listen between the lines.)

Some questions to ask references:

Introduction and screening call First interviewTake home testInterview with you and a team lead Founder fit interview

We like to follow these hiring stepsYour interview should have

taken this structure:

Questions?

Interview structure is the way tohire for excellence!