The Speed to Hire Show

Princess Polly is an online fashion brand based in Australia that provides a vast range of stylish and affordable clothing, beauty products, and accessories. The brand is renowned for its playful and vibrant designs, featuring bold prints, statement pieces, and striking details. 

Princess Polly values individuality, diversity, and self-expression both in its brand messaging and hiring process. The company places people at the forefront of its hiring and employee engagement strategy, prioritizing accuracy, convenience, and efficiency in the recruitment process.

AU Recruitment Manager, Samantha McCaul, shares how consistent and bold brand messaging coupled with people-first recruiting and hiring processes has helped Princess Polly build a strong and cohesive team.

Since its establishment in 2010, the company has amassed a devoted fan base of young women who enjoy its fast-paced fashion and unique style. With a growing social media presence and collaborations featuring influencers and celebrities, Princess Polly has expanded its reach nationally and internationally.

Samantha McCaul has experienced firsthand the impact of being part of a company that places its highest value on people since joining the Princess Polly team. She believes in being transparent about the company culture and looking beyond the resume to find people who fit, you can make the happiest and best hires. She shares tips to make meaningful connections with hiring managers and get everyone on the same page during the hiring process in this episode of The Speed to Hire Show.

Key takeaways

5:16 - Attract top talent with authentic employer branding content - consistent and clear brand messaging attracts the best-fit talent to your team and keeps them on board.

13:46 - Build strong connections with hiring managers to improve collaboration - creating trusting relationships with hiring managers and other team members ensures clear communication and effective collaboration.

15:46 - Look beyond resumes to keep high-quality candidates out of the "no" pile - resumes alone do not always provide a full picture of candidates’ potential and fit on your team. Screening processes need to allow candidates to validate their skills as well as their passions and personalities.

27:44 - Stay competitive to attract top talent in a candidate-driven market - candidate expectations of the hiring process and branding change so your brand and hiring process need to be adaptable to stay competitive while staying authentic.

32:08 - Build a people-first talent acquisition strategy for a resilient hiring process - putting people at the forefront of hiring strategies and decisions ensures the hiring experience is positive for candidates and hiring managers alike.

Additional resources

Rocket Lawyer is an online legal services company that provides individuals and small businesses with affordable legal resources. Rocket Lawyer's mission is to make legal services accessible and affordable for everyone and to empower individuals and businesses to protect their rights and interests. This is a mission job candidates can get behind. Rocket Lawyer has grown to include offices in several US states as well as international locations. This expansion requires a smooth and consistent hiring process across branches. JD Conway, Head of Global Talent at Rocket Lawyer brings his experience and fresh perspective to the hiring process. He shares his tips for getting in the sandbox to try new strategies, learning from mistakes, and running a well-oiled machine to create a fast and efficient hiring process.

Key Takeaways

Spanning the globe with 40 offices and 11 brands, Publicis Health boasts a team of more than 3,000 experts in advertising and branding, data and analytics, strategic planning, service design, digital media and technology, science, and medicine. Hiring professionals for several high-demand roles presents a challenge for the organization's hiring teams, who must navigate a competitive and complex candidate market. 

To expand their talent pool, Publicis Health relies heavily on connecting with interns, recognizing that catching high-quality talent early in their careers plays a critical role in meeting their hiring demands. In this episode of The Speed to Hire Show, Publicis Health’s Program Manager Lori DePace shares her lean team’s secret to successful hiring. 

Publicis Health is a revolutionary Health Engagement Platform that integrates data, content, and technology to create a seamless experience for its users. With a focus on marketing and business transformation, this platform provides healthcare clients with easy access to world-class talent and cutting-edge capabilities. Lori DePace has worked up through the ranks at Publicis Health for 13 years. As the Program Manager for the intern program, Lori facilitates company growth through screening and hiring high-potential talent straight out of college.

Key Takeaways

Chicago-based Built In launched as a social channel to empower startups through content and building meaningful connections in 2011. Company leaders soon realized that by empowering startups to tell their stories, shedding light on their passions and values in a way no other channel could, new businesses were being discovered by an untapped talent source.

Director of Talent, Stephani Studebaker shares how the company evolved into the recruitment tech powerhouse it is today. In this episode of The Speed to Hire Show, Stephani reveals how Built In creates an efficient process to engage hiring managers and empower her hiring team to make the best hires fast and effectively.

Built In offers innovative recruiting solutions through community building and communication. For over a decade, Built In has provided a unique social channel for startups to blog, chat, and make connections that lead to improved recruiting outcomes. Stephani Studebaker, Director of Talent for Built In constantly looks for ways to engage her team, foster retention, and improve future hiring outcomes by streamlining internal processes for ongoing development of hiring decision-makers.

Key takeaways

Additional resources

Relationship-building is an essential part of the recruiting process, but only the best recruiters take it to the next level. The candidate experience within a recruiting and hiring process that nurtures authentic and meaningful relationships from start to finish is exponentially more positive. This has a major impact on brand reputation, offer acceptance rates, and even quality of hire.

Josh Rock, Talent Acquisition Manager at Nuss Truck Group understands the importance of making connections with candidates that provide long-term gains for both the company and the talent that passes through the hiring process. He sat down with Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hire, to talk shop about the recruitment process and what it means to build relationships with candidates for optimal hiring results.

Nuss Truck Group is a family-owned and operated business providing commercial and industrial trucks, construction equipment, parts, and diesel mechanic services for over 60 years. Bootstrapped from a private diesel truck garage to a full-service trucking company employing hundreds of employees, Nuss Truck Group has seen remarkable growth by building strong relationships with candidates and maintaining high standards of service for customers.

Talent Acquisition Manager, Josh Rock, believes in nurturing quality relationships with candidates to build a healthy talent pipeline. He shares his tips for helping high-potential talent map a clear course toward success and into the Nuss Truck Group talent pool.

Key Takeaways

11:04 - Understand the pathways candidates can take to reach career goals - Not every candidate will be the best hire for the open role you’re recruiting. But by helping high-potential and passionate candidates map their path, you can build a strong talent pool for future openings.

13:42 - Pull from diverse skills and experiences to make stronger connections - The best recruiters pull from a variety of experiences and backgrounds to tune in to the best way to build relationships with candidates in the recruiting process.

16:18 - Deliver quality hires through relationship building - There’s not a one-speed-fits-all recruiting process. You land the best candidates by nurturing them.

20:03 - Remove unnecessary hurdles for candidates - cut out friction in the hiring process by removing the unknowns for candidates.

23:30 - Consider the big picture for offer acceptance - It’s not always just the candidate’s decision to accept an offer. Family can be an important influence, so consider more than just pay when candidates are weighing the decision.

26:01 - Set clear expectations about hiring criteria and goals - Map out the recruiting strategy from identifying the caliber of candidates you need to how that will impact your growth.

Additional Resources

High-volume hiring is the norm for many organizations and maintaining optimal hiring velocity requires a high level of structure to succeed in this climate. The University of Notre Dame sources, screens, and hires high-quality candidates by the thousands, requiring talent acquisition associates to practice extreme consistency and efficiency in their hiring strategies.

Erica Mendelson, Talent Acquisition Specialist at the University of Notre Dame helps to streamline hiring for the university including administrative, academic, and supporting staff. She shares with Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hire, how her team navigates high-volume hiring with a structured interview process and high standards for communication.

The University of Notre Dame has grown exponentially since founded in 1842. Talent acquisition teams fill hundreds of open roles to keep the university running efficiently from administrative to academic and supporting staff across campus.

Talent Acquisition Specialist, Erica Mendelson, works alongside a lean team of recruiters at the University of Notre Dame, to source, screen, and fill open campus positions. With 40+ open requisitions at any given time, she relies on a structured and reliable candidate screening process to prevent bottlenecks in the hiring process.

Key Takeaways

12:42 - Empower candidates to tell their story - implementing video interviews helps candidates show their fit and skills, speeding up the hiring process by revealing high-quality candidates faster

15:25 - Improve time management while screening more candidates - adopt early screening practices that allow you to widen the talent pool to avoid missing out on top talent

16:25 - One-way video interviews reveal top candidates you may have passed over - implementing a convenient way to learn more about more candidates quickly and easily ensures top talent isn’t overlooked due to time constraints

18:06 - Streamline collaboration to make more confident offers - collect feedback from hiring decision-makers from step one to make better-informed decisions faster

26:04 - Boost employer branding content - help candidates connect with your brand by using social media channels to show off your culture and open roles

Additional Resources

A challenging talent market affects candidates and hiring professionals alike. While your team cannot control factors that influence hiring, like the economy and unemployment rates, you can have a major impact on the candidate experience. Creating a consistent and positive candidate experience is a simple and significant way to differentiate your company from the competition – and promote hiring success. Eric Conway, Director of Talent Acquisition at [solidcore] sat down with Josh Tolan, CEO of Spark Hire, to share his experience in recruiting for over two decades and offer tips for standing out to talent in a competitive and sometimes uncertain market.

[solidcore] has offered a unique opportunity for people to optimize their strength and wellness through engaging and effective fitness classes for a decade. Starting in 2013 in Washington D.C. as Abs Morgen, [solidcore] is now nearly 100 nationwide locations strong and growing. Director of Talent Acquisition, Eric Conway, leads [solidcore]’s hiring strategy, recruiting and screening new fitness coaches at a rapid rate. He applies 20+ years of experience recruiting with military police to hiring for fitness by focusing on [solidcore]’s core value of community and authentic branding that empowers coaches and customers to reach their goals.  

Key Takeaways

Turnover is an anticipated part of the employee lifecycle. Hiring velocity (the rate at which your team hires new high-quality candidates) can impact companies differently based on size and industry. No matter the circumstances, having a healthy talent pipeline ensures your team is prepared to grow in any talent market. Building a fast and accurate candidate screening process helps your hiring team always be recruiting. 

Spark Hire CEO, Josh Tolan, talks with Janae Daniels, CEO and Founder of DIY Hiring about how companies can be proactive to hire more effectively and efficiently and make high-quality hires fast.

Janae Daniels launched DIY Hiring as a result of seeing the pains small business leaders experience while hiring. She witnessed the impact of making effective hiring decisions while helping her husband’s real estate business grow. Her solutions and tips for fast and accurate hiring have helped businesses from industrial to medical to real estate, and more to reach sustainable growth for two decades.

Key Takeaways

9:39 - Fill the roles you need to improve your hiring process first - if your hiring decision-makers do not have the bandwidth to make effective and efficient hires, your process will be slow and inadequate. Hire the help you need to improve the hiring process first.

15:08 - Respond to candidates quickly - candidates expect quick and clear communication. The faster your team responds to and identifies top-qualified candidates, the more likely you are to land them in your talent pipeline.

23:15 - Learn how to objectively hire - remove the emotions from hiring and accurately identify what roles you need to hire and the objective qualifications candidates need to succeed with your company.

29:53 - Define your culture and core values - outline a clear and accurate set of details your hiring team can look toward to make fast and effective hiring decisions. Determine what it means to fit your culture and align with your values, salary, responsibilities, and what roles you need to fill first. Then build on what’s next.

32:30 - Map your hiring process with your end goal in mind - look beyond what’s now or even the next day's to-dos and start with the end in mind so you can clearly map your path to reach it.

34:51 - Lean into a repeatable and reliable process - build a hiring process that works no matter the role you are hiring for or how many roles you need to fill.

Additional resources

Some industries require more red tape than others in the hiring process to ensure new hires meet very specific requirements. This is particularly true in the public sector. From fire and police to parks and recreation and every role in between that serves and protects the public, HR hiring professionals in government rely on structure and reliability in the candidate selection process. This can sometimes lead to stagnant hiring strategies that slow down hiring for some of the most essential roles in a city. 

Spark Hire CEO, Josh Tolan, discusses with Kristi Wong, Director of Human Resources for the City of Sachse, the importance of being open to innovative hiring solutions and being proactive about making faster and more effective hiring decisions.

Key takeaways

5:52 - Seize the opportunity to make improvements when filling a role - each time you enter the hiring process, look for ways you can improve the role, responsibilities, and performance outcomes with a new hire

7:55 - Create an adaptable system for screening applicants - certain roles could require a different process to effectively assess talent. It’s important the process aligns with the job

13:55 - Offer candidates the opportunity to connect with team members - when candidates get to meet with employees and leaders, they can asses for their fit with the team and culture in the hiring process

19:09 - Build a solid hiring team that’s open to change - when building your hiring team, consider hiring decision-makers that are open to making improvements to create a fast, effective, and resilient hiring process

21:47 - Be proactive about innovation in the hiring process - be open to change as new technologies and processes evolve to meet the demands of the market

Additional resources

Even the most structured and efficient hiring process can come to a crawl when the demand for talent far exceeds the supply. This is especially true when it comes to filling empty seats in the education industry. Spark Hire CEO, Josh Tolan, discusses with Rita Kelly, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Acelero Learning, the significance of having a refined and reliable process to consistently hit critical hiring goals.

Key Takeaways

6:50 - Moving quickly in the hiring process: start with a strategy call to develop a clear job description and evaluation process

14:11 - Screening for roles with a high number of applicants: build a clear profile of each candidate by structuring the early screening process

19:34 - Consistently looking for opportunities to streamline processes: identify the bottlenecks in the hiring process by opening the floor for feedback from hiring managers

26:09 - Getting hiring manager buy-in: encourage change-management ambassadors to demonstrate the benefit to everyone and employ coaching

29:04 - Reducing bias in evaluations: create a system to mitigate groupthink and/or the influence of a singular perspective

About the guest

Rita Kelly, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at Acelero Learning

About the host

Josh Tolan, CEO at Spark Hire

Bonus resources