It takes about 58 days to hire an engineer, according to data from recruiting platform Workable.
At Vorto it takes seven or less.
Leaders behind the AI-driven autonomous supply chain platform implemented an accelerated hiring process last year that has helped Vorto scale to nearly eight times the size it was at the time of its adoption.
“We’ve grown from a team of 20 to about 150 within 10 months,” said CEO Priyesh Ranjan. “We continue to add about five teammates a week and should reach 200 employees within the next few months.”
As part of the process, the team identifies prospects from a deep talent pool that includes international candidates and new college graduates based on their alignment of skills, mindsets and behavior, and mission-driven purposes.
Once selected, candidates strap in for two to four interviews within the same week while completing multiple technical assignments. They are not compared to other candidates and they do not wait on hiring managers’ availability.
I can’t remember a time when a hiring manager has said we’re hiring people too quickly or when a client has said that our delivery of service and products is too fast.”
“We trust our teammates’ decision-making abilities and find backups to support others for interviewing if someone is not available,” Ranjan said.
From there, candidates hear back within 24 hours, and those who do not advance are provided feedback — a tactic aimed to enhance the overall interviewing experience.
The impact has not gone unnoticed by both Vorto employees and their clients, Ranjan said.
“Having great talent in the door, faster, is very helpful for team morale due to the additional support and delivery of product and service it brings to clients,” Ranjan said. “I can’t remember a time when a hiring manager has said we’re hiring people too quickly or when a client has said that our delivery of service and products is too fast.”
For more on Vorto’s unique hiring strategies, Built In Colorado caught up with Ranjan.
What inspired Vorto’s expedited hiring process? How do you identify promising fits?
Speed is most important to us, but we also need a great culture fit in the way we find talent. We look for candidates who do well with ambiguity; have a high sense of ownership, speed of delivery and grit; and are risk takers.
Supply Chain Makeover
How do you ensure inclusive hiring practices on an accelerated timeline?
We’re very fortunate to have so many different representations at Vorto. When you have leadership that reflects diversity, it naturally attracts people of all different backgrounds. We focus on a person’s experience and skill sets while having multiple locations to increase our candidate pool. We have created multiple college partnerships, allowing Optional Practical Training for F-1 students and H-1B visa sponsorships for more inclusivity. The larger the talent pool, the greater the likelihood for diversity and inclusion.
Are there any downsides to this approach either internally or externally with clients?
I might not know everyone we’ve hired immediately, but it’s worth it when it comes to the client experience. We are leaders in our space and that has happened due to the speed of innovation and value we’ve created for them.
The hiring team has sprints and thinks like a tech team with close partnerships across all divisions.”
How can you tell if your hiring strategies are successful?
Our philosophy is to move fast, drive action, measure outcomes and make tweaks for improvement. Metrics and data are pretty clear. How many people are passing the technical challenges and at what rate? How many people are going through the interview process? What’s the rate of people getting offers from interviews?
We look at our interviewing matrix to see if it’s still identifying great talent and adjust if the job scope is changing or not yielding great results. We also update and change our technical challenges and look at the flow in the interviewing process to see if it’s leading to good results. The hiring team has sprints and thinks like a tech team with close partnerships across all divisions, and they scale the people team for acceleration as needed.
We take an ownership and action-oriented approach where we encourage teammates to bring new ideas, test them out and make improvements for delivery.
