Reader,

Hey again. It's Steven, the QA Engineer who thinks he can talk about recruiting (I kid, that's what Jaclyn's here for lmao).

Story time.

While on the job hunt -- between November and January -- I interviewed with a productivity SaaS I shall not name.

You'd know who they are, probably (maybe not, some folks I talked to hadn't heard of them).

Anyway.

I got all the way to the end of their interview process but flunked their Leetcode challenge.

But the recruiter? He was top-notch 💪 Let's call him "Jake".

Oh my word, the praises I could sing of this man:

• Proactive
• Personable
• Advocated for me
• Prepped me
• Went above and beyond, in general

I wish I could say this about every recruiter I've worked with, but most do not rise to Jake's level.

If you're a QA Engineer on the job hunt, you are probably thinking why isn't this normal???

Why It's Not Normal

Because recruiters are hired to:

Now the good ones are like Captain Kirk in Stark Trek. Now, I'm no Trekkie, but I will never forget the scene where they talk about the Kobayashi Maru -- the "No Win Scenario".

You see, recruiters face their own apparent "no-win scenario":

A. Put the client first with no time left to collab with the candidate, creating a poor experience

B. Put the candidate first, which might require tougher conversations with your client

It's easy to be an order-taker.
It's takes work to be a strategic partner.

But it's not an either-or. It's about balancing the needs of both.

Jake knew that the candidate experience isn't about being a "people pleaser".

It's about giving good candidates the fairest shot at getting a role if they deserve it. It's about eliminating potential "gotchas" that might fail candidates due to preventable problems like:

• lack of knowledge about the hiring manager
• being underprepared for a specific kind of interview
• ensuring the technical assessment aligned with the requirements
• uncertainty about when to show up, what topics to expect, etc.

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A strong candidate experience starts with clear communication and giving people the information they need to perform at their best throughout the interview process. If budget and role needs are aligned, the only reason for rejection should be true lack of fit.

This is a win-win for the candidate, the recruiter, and the hiring team.

Jake's Process

From the get-go, I was given confidence that if I performed well in the interviews, Jake would do everything in his power to get me an offer with the best compensation possible.

After our first chat, he immediately scheduled a briefing before the next interview, and a debriefing after it.

During the briefing, he explained the kind of technical challenge I was up against, and what the interviewer would be looking for.

During debriefs, he asked how I felt about the interview, shared what he was allowed to share about the interviewer's feedback (general "good" or "bad" vibes, usually), and asked me if there was anything I wanted to communicate that I felt was missed.

He repeated this process for each interview, and made himself available for questions throughout the process.

This is a solid 4-star service from a recruiter, and it's rare.

But you know what? It's good for the client.
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Why? Because it builds a strong reputation in the market and positions the company to attract top talent.

Now. Where did he miss that final star?
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As I mentioned earlier, there are a few key “gotchas” recruiters are responsible for preventing and one of the most important is ensuring the technical assessment aligns with the actual role.

Jake had a solid process, but lacked the support and education to push his leadership team to properly align the assessment with the job.

That part became clear during our final debrief.

Now, after all that effort and feedback, he’s back to square one having a chat with his managers.

Such a waste of time.
All this work is still on his plate.
He lost a candidate who fit the culture and role.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

On Friday, we'll dive into the tech assessment I failed, and more importantly how the recruiter could use candidate feedback to inform changes to this company's interview process 😎

I'll show you the skills the req asked for, and how those skills might have been tested differently by a tech assessment.

-Steven