How we recruited more than 200 people since COVID-19 outbreak
The COVID crisis has revolutionized almost all aspects of our daily lives, we have all had to change our habits, renew ourselves and adapt to these new circumstances.
At papernest we are infinitely grateful to be a company whose activity has been able to continue during these crazy times, and whose growth has not stopped for a second! 📈
Of course, we have had to change some of the ways we operate. For example, our selection processes have had to become 100% virtual 🖥️. And it has been a real challenge!
If you are an applicant, you may be thinking: “It was challenging enough to go through a selection process before, and now on top of this you have to do it through a screen …”
We ask you to please understand that this situation has also affected our way of work, complicating the whole recruitment process. But we have adapted, and we are always ready to learn more! 🚀
How do we hire remotely?
From the beginning, we tried to find a way to keep it simple. We didn’t want complicated programs that no one could understand. We are using Google’s Hangouts tool for all our interviews, just as we have been using it for our remote internal meetings between Paris and Barcelona since our launching in Spain.
But what happens when you’ve already had your first step interview with HR? It is crucial, especially for fast growing companies, to have excellent internal communication and inter-departmental coordination. No matter if you are applying for a marketing, business or sales position, at papernest your interview with your potential manager will follow the same procedure as the one you had with HR, and we are going to do our best to clarify all the steps and ensure you get feedback as soon as possible.
🗓️ Since the start of this Covid-19 period in Spain and France we have achieved more than 200 recruitments, and all of them experienced a fully remote selection process.
This is the case of Victor Cunill, who recently joined the paperfamily 👪 as our new Country Manager for Spain 🇪🇸. His job is to manage our relationships with all our suppliers in Spain. Together with his team he sets the strategy, negotiates the conditions and does the follow up of those B2B relations.
As Victor joined us during the sanitary crisis and we always love to hear new voices, I decided to discuss the matter with him.
📝 Victor Cunill — How I got a job at papernest without any face-to-face meeting
Elena : Tell me about your selection process.
Victor : It was the first time that I had ever been through a fully remote selection process, and actually it was pretty good. Despite it being completely online and the language barrier (English wasn’t the native language for any of us) it was a process as complete as it could be face to face. This was due to the fact that all the information and the job description were very clear.
E : How was the relationship with the interviewers?
V : I had 5 interviews. I appreciated a lot that all the steps were always explained to me, it was all very clear and the progression made sense. Everyone played their role, you could feel that they wanted you to feel at ease and have concrete ideas about the company and it’s numbers and values.
E : How is the onboarding process going?
V : I’m still adapting, this whole situation isn’t easy. It is not the same meeting people through a screen, it makes the relationships colder, but we have good communication channels. Plus, fortunately, papernest is like a big family and everybody is making a huge effort to compensate for the situation and trying new ways to operate that will be improved over time to be more efficient.
E : That reminds me of one of our values: do it lean, then perfect. But for the moment, how is your work affected by Covid?
V : Obviously the relationship with suppliers is not the same as it could be. Making business and negotiating through a screen is a bit more challenging; it is important to always use the camera and avoid phone calls.
What comes next?
We had to suddenly start with full digitalization because of Covid demands, but our plan is to continue with the improvement of all these new methods and, who knows? Maybe when the sanitary situation changes and allows us to gather freely again we may decide to continue with digital as our main interviewing method.
It is true that now we miss face-to-face interaction, which is so valuable, but switching to virtual interviews has increased flexibility and saved time for recruiters and candidates. Plus, it has allowed international applicants to be taken into consideration more than ever. If we continue like this, our candidate pool will have no geographical limitations, and we will be able to completely prioritize skills and motivations to immediate geographical availability.
In addition, a good number of new HR trends and Recruitment 5.0techniques are compatible with our new digital lifestyle. Some examples are gamification, recruitment videos or the integration of augmented reality. We are really excited about all these technologies and we’re going to start integrating the use of the ones that can be more useful in papernest step by step. The future looks promising.
In the meantime, we want to make sure everyone is comfortable with remote interviews and ready to give their best, so here’s some tips:
— Tips for candidates —
Tip #1 Get your devices ready 💻
Technical problems can always occur, but the majority of them are preventable. Make sure the camera and microphone are working before the interview and you will avoid some extra nerves and a waste of time.
Tip #2 Take care of the image you show 💁♂️
Place yourself in a quiet place and take care of the camera position: Non-verbal communication plays a crucial role in first impressions, so offer the best image of you and your background.
Tip #3 Show your interest
If you miss something because of sound bias ask the interviewer to repeat it, assertive and interested candidates are the best!!
Tip #4 Learn the most about the company
Feel free to ask more questions about the office, work environment, or anything else you are missing because you aren’t able to go there. In a job interview the information has to flow in both directions 🔃; one of its goals is letting you know the company more accurately and decide if it’s a match for you!
Tip #5 Wear headphones
The sound quality will improve considerably. 🔊
— Tips for recruiters —
Tip #1 Make things clear
Send a confirmation email 💌 clarifying all the information: date and time, who is running the interview, how to access the meeting… You don’t want anyone to get lost.
Tip #2 Adapt to the international market
Be aware of time zones! ⌚ We might forget about this when we are organizing a meeting with someone who is on the other side of the world. Let them notice that your company is more than ready to welcome candidates from wherever.
Tip #3 Start nicely 😊
Always start with some friendly comment before introducing yourself and telling the candidate about how the interview is going to be organized. We’re all facing a global pandemic, and some of us can be isolated, so it’ll always be appreciated to check how the candidate is going.
Tip #4 Take care of the image you show 💁
This is applicable for both recruiters and candidates. Face the light, this way your image will be clearer and the feeling of closeness and personalization will increase.
Tip #5 Give good information 💡
Be accurate when explaining about the job/the company. Let the candidate know the company very well even if it’s not possible for them to physically see it. If you succeed at this, you may increase the applicant’s motivation and avoid early leaving.
Tip #6 Don’t let technology be an enemy, but an ally 📲
For example, why not run a meeting with more than 2 people (Panel interview or Group interview)? But if you do it, turn off your microphone when it’s other people’s turn to talk, it will help the sound quality.
A final thought
No one said it was going to be easy to adapt to this whole situation and switch all the daily operations to digital from one day to another. But the fact is that when you combine motivation, engagement and talent, no challenge is big enough.
At first everything we try may be lean, but in papernest our mission is to work day to day until we get perfect. 🚀
