Podcast

26

min

January 24, 2024

Karim Gharsallah

Building a Talent Acquisition engine

Listen now on

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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