5 Tips to Become a Great Technical Hiring Manager and Hire Top Talent

How do I become a good hiring manager? What skills do hiring managers need? 

It’s not easy to be a technical hiring manager, especially when you have a difficult position to fill within a given deadline. Without a good strategy, the hiring process can be time-consuming and costly. However, hiring managers can avoid this slipup by setting clear objectives for the hiring process. 

Who is a technical hiring manager?

A technical hiring manager is responsible for making all the hiring-related decisions, such as creating a job description for the role, shortlisting candidates, conducting hiring interviews, screening the candidates, and making the best hire for a given position. Unlike an HR manager, a technical hiring manager is technically well-versed with the responsibilities of the role they are hiring for.

Here are five easy pointers to help technical hiring managers hire the best talent.

Tips to become a great hiring manager

1. Pen down your requirements. Be sure of who and what are you looking for.

   If you don’t want to waste your time in the lengthy recruiting process, ensure that you know what you are looking for. Make a comprehensive job description for the role you’re hiring for. List all the requirements, prerequisites, perks, and benefits associated with the position in this description.
   
   Creating a comprehensive job description will help you build a seamless process for vetting and hiring a suitable candidate. This step can help a candidate decide whether the role suits them or not. Most importantly, having a clear JD will ensure that you and the candidates know everything about the job role.
   

2. Leverage social media to attract the best talent

   Social media can do so much more than just marketing. You can leverage social media to attract top talent. Post on your social media channels like Linkedin and Instagram about the vacant position, showcase your company’s work culture, and reach out to potential candidates. Remember, highlighting your company’s work culture can help candidates prioritize you over the rest.
   
   You will find out that hiring through social media is way more effective than the conventional method of reaching out to candidates via calls and emails and scheduling a hiring interview. People are more likely to be active on their social handles than the conventional hiring platforms. And so, the next time you see a candidate who can be your potential employee, don’t hesitate to reach out to them via social media. 
   

3. A good technical hiring manager asks the rights questions in a hiring interview

   Flying past the technical hiring interviews won’t ensure that you land the right candidate. You will have to ask the candidate the right questions to analyze their soft skills. These questions will also help you understand whether the candidate is a cultural and behavioral fit for your team.
   A candidate who is technically sound but lacks social and soft skills will most likely end up being the wrong hire. And if they’re not a good fit, you’ll have to go through the whole hiring process again. So, as a hiring manager, ensure that you ask questions that gauge the candidate on several aspects.

4. Be a good and efficient decision-maker

   They say haste makes waste. But when it comes to hiring, waiting too long can make you lose out on a potential candidate. The job market has several great job opportunities for candidates. This availability means other hiring managers are trying to rope in top talent for their companies at the same time as you. And so, your hiring process and interview rounds should be quick and seamless so that the right candidate does not slip out of your hands.

5. A good hiring manager should build a diverse and inclusive team.

   Diverse and inclusive work culture is the key to hiring the best candidates. A good hiring manager will never restrict their hiring based on gender, race, or location of the candidate. Instead, they will hire the right candidate based on their skills and experience.
   
   Having a diverse and inclusive culture will ensure that your team feels safe and accepted in the workplace. Ensure that there is no office politics and racial or gender bias in your team. Refrain from hiring candidates who may not be able to adopt an inclusive work culture. 

So, what makes a good hiring manager?

These five tips can help you to become a great hiring manager:

1. Know what exactly are you looking for
2. Leverage social media to attract the top talent
3. Ask the right questions to your potential candidates in a hiring interview
4. Be quick in your decisions
5. Ensure that you have a diverse and inclusive team

Your decisions as a hiring manager may not always be the best ones. But a good hiring manager will learn from their mistakes and avoid repeating them in the subsequent hiring rounds. Remember, a good hiring manager is not the one who hires the best candidates every time, but someone who ensures that they build a dream team for the organization while learning from bad experiences. 

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Traditional recruiting wasn’t built for a software-first world