Building a Talent Acquisition engine

TalentBuzz Podcast Summary with Guest Karim Gharsallah from Recruitee

Joining Recruitee in a Dynamic Market

• Karim Gharsallah joined Recruitee in early 2021, a year into the pandemic.
• Initially, there were hiring freezes, followed by a surge in recruitment activity.
• Recruitee, being a recruitment software company, experienced significant growth.

Challenges and Responsibilities in Talent Acquisition

• Karim was the first full-time person in recruiting for business operations at Recruitee.
• He found existing processes inadequate and focused on establishing standardized, scalable hiring processes.
• His role involved setting clear steps for decision-making in hiring and defining responsibilities.

Balancing Candidate and Company Needs

• Karim emphasizes understanding the role's impact on the business and communicating it transparently to candidates.
• He believes in a two-way assessment process, where both the company and candidate evaluate if they are a good fit for each other.

Building Scalable Recruitment Processes

• The focus was on establishing a repeatable and scalable hiring process.
• Karim prioritized creating a structure that allowed for fair and consistent candidate assessments.
• He also stresses the importance of skill-based interviewing over reliance on past experiences.

Supporting Hiring Managers in Recruitment

• Recruitee developed a training course named "License to Hire" for hiring managers.
• The training focuses on collaborative hiring processes and interviewing techniques.
• Karim believes that being a senior manager doesn't automatically equate to being an effective interviewer.

Building the Talent Acquisition Team

• Karim started with hiring freelancers, followed by permanent recruiters.
• The team was structured to handle both tech and non-tech recruiting.
• Later, they introduced a dedicated role for employer branding.

Recruitment Strategy and Balancing Full-Cycle Responsibilities

• Recruiters at Recruitee handle full-cycle recruitment.
• Depending on the volume, external sourcing agencies are sometimes employed for high-volume roles.
• Karim envisions recruitment evolving more into a marketing function, focusing on storytelling and nurturing talent.

Measuring Success and Setting Goals

• Key performance indicators include the number of hires and ensuring they are the right fit at the right time.
• Karim measures success through feedback surveys and a candidate fit MPS score.
• The focus is on quality hires rather than just filling positions.

From Operational to Strategic Partner in Recruitment

• Recruitment strategies must align with business challenges and growth plans.
• Karim advocates for involving talent acquisition in early-stage headcount planning.
• A strategic approach involves understanding the impact of each role on the business.

Navigating Market Changes and Hiring Freezes

• Karim suggests using downtime for improving processes and focusing on employer branding.
• He encourages recruiters to contribute to other departments during hiring freezes.
• A strategic approach to recruitment prepares the company for market changes and future growth opportunities.

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