Talent42 2014 Presentation

1. COMPETING AND
WINNING AGAINST BIG
BRANDS
Boris Chan, Associate Director, Toronto

2. TRANSFORMING
HOW THE WORLD
MAKES SOFTWARE

3. FROM XTREME TO PIVOTAL
• Xtreme Labs:
• Built recruiting machine that
competes with the likes
Zygna, Amazon, Google,
Facebook
• We got acquired (Pivotal)
• Pivotal Labs:
• Big recruiting hubs – SF
and Toronto.
• Large offices are NY and
SF (HQ) – Toronto is
biggest.
• Now helping spread the
religion to other companies.
PEOPLE
PROJECTS

4. @BORISC
• Engineer #2 to Director of
Engineering at Xtreme Labs
• 6 (2008) to 200+ (2013)
• Then: Recruiting,
Interviewing, Onboarding,
Hiring, Building teams
• Now: Growing engineering
practice at Pivotal Labs
Toronto

5. THE XTREME WAY:
- ALWAYS BE HIRING
- START WITH INTERNS
- MEANINGFUL WORK AND
PLAY
ATTRACTING TALENT

6. ALWAYS BE HIRING
How do we get to talk to tech
talent?
• Always have a posting – you
never know who’s going to
apply, who’s available
• Referral program, LinkedIn,
Stack Overflow, Alumni sites
• Virtual Bench – keep in touch
for when there’s an opening
Hiring is not a ‘mode’ – can
you be always on?

7. ALWAYS BE HIRING
Every opportunity is a recruiting
opportunity:
• Go to meetups, hackathons,
community events.
• interesting@ / events@
• Speak at events.
• I’d walk up to the front and
write on the whiteboard:
"always looking for smart
people”
• Only give t-shirts out to those
who have worked here:
• People want them – but only
get one if have worked here.

8. VIRTUAL BENCH
• Always interviewing and
keeping a pipeline of hires
(means always have
candidates in later stages)
• Keep in touch for when
there’s an opening
• This will also let you get
folks who want to work with
you, but need time

9. START WITH INTERNS

10. WHY DOES IT MATTER?

11. INTERNS
• Can hire 65+ interns a term from
Waterloo in the first round
• Get more resumes than Facebook,
Microsoft, Twitter, Apple, Square,
Yelp, Foursquare, etc.
• High return and conversion rates
• Can give job offers to interns up to
two years in advance of graduation
(and they show up!)

12. HOW TO GET THEM
• Conferences
• Career Fairs
• Info Sessions
• Have a clear purpose + move fast
• Forget T-shirts:
= 1000 resumes
+

13. GREAT WITH INTERNS
• Pairing
• There are no intern jobs!
• Give FT offers when you like them
(not when they graduate)
• Builds your college hiring pipeline

14. MEANINGFUL WORK AND PLAY

15. A DAY IN THE LIFE

16. FIRST, WE FEED
Because code won’t be
written on an empty stomach.
But really it’s about the social
context and aligning the day.

17. THEN WE STAND

18. AND STAND AGAIN

19. Pivotal Labs ConfidentialPivotal Labs Confidential 19
AND THEN PAIR

20. WE TAKE OUR BREAKS

21. AND REPLENISH AT 6PM

22. COMMON HOURS
– 8:45 Breakfast
– 9:05 All Hands Standup
– 9:15 Team Standups
– Lunch noon-ish
– Done around 6pm (and people go play sports!
Socialize! Do fun things! Recharge!)

23. IT’S ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY
– Consistent, predictable delivery is at a premium
– Tired developers leave bugs
– Tired developers leave
– Short-term bursts of productivity cost more in the long
term
We want engineers who value long-term success, the impact of teaching others
and care about a sustainable fast pace.

24. MEANINGFUL WORK
Frame what makes working for you
amazing and motivating (Daniel Pink):
• Mastery
• Learn from the best by working
with the smartest (Pairing,
constant collaboration)
• Autonomy
• Small teams, working directly
with clients, no micro-
managing
• Purpose
• Deliver an amazing experience
for the world’s leading
companies, used by millions

25. RETHINKING ATTRACTING TALENT
– If you’re always hiring, you’ll find them before you need them and you’ll have
a virtual bench of candidates waiting to align opportunities with you
– By building great pipeline of interns and college hires, you’ll get an amazing
alumni network for pursuing industry hires
– Small companies can offer an alternative path to a high impact and a
successful career for engineers through a different approach on meaningful
work and play

26. THE XTREME WAY:
- EVERYONE IS A RECRUITER
- INTERVIEWS ARE HORRIBLE
PREDICTORS OF
PERFORMANCE
- MOVE FAST AND CLOSE
THINGS
HIRING TALENT

27. EVERYONE IS A RECRUITER
Your employees are your best
recruiters.
They can speak candidly,
passionately about your
company with authenticity.
Who? (Everyone!)
• Engineers
• Designers, PMs
• Sales Reps
• HR/Operations/Facilities/IT
• Alumni!

28. INTERVIEWS ARE MUTUAL
Interviews are often mutual:
• Invite candidates to ask your
interviewers about their
working experience
• How new employees get on-
boarded
• What work do new hires start
with?
Train your staff to speak about
the above during:
• Recruiting events
• Speaking opportunities
• All stages of recruiting:
referrals, interviews, closing

29. INTERVIEWS ARE
HORRIBLE PREDICTORS
OF PERFORMANCE

30. INTERVIEWS ARE HORRIBLE PREDICTORS OF
PERFORMANCE.
• No good proxy for actual
performance
• Past performance does
not guarantee future
performance
• Hiring for current fit vs.
hiring for potential
• Ability to learn on the job
and adapt to
organization’s process
and cultures

31. PROCESS – IT’S ALL ABOUT FIT
Would you hire an actor without an
audition?
Engineers:
• Repeatable Pairing Interview
• Actual Pairing
• At XL: Written test, Top Coder on
whiteboard, hiring decision round
Designers:
• Portfolio review
• Interview and design challenge
Sales:
• They pitch us
• Meet separately with each level, and
finally with VP Sales

32. INTERVIEWS ARE HORRIBLE PREDICTORS OF
PERFORMANCE.
How do you sustain "hire
fast"?
Finding fit is continuous: 30 /
60 / 90 Day check-ins
We’ll give someone an offer
before they leave interview
days. Same day.

33. MOVE FAST AND CLOSE
THINGS

34. MOVE FAST AND CLOSE THINGS
How do you win candidates?
- Heard of your company through the recruiting channels
- Get that they can have impact through meaningful work and culture
- Interviews where they learn about their role from people who are doing it
- What’s next?

35. THE CLOSE PROCESS
How the same day process
looks:
• Written Test
• First round: Top Coder on
whiteboard
• Second round: hiring
decision round
• Offer meeting
• Follow-up Email/Call to Close
Train your recruiting team to
schedule for next round as
needed, on the spot.

36. THE PACKAGE
Compete on your strengths. Compensation is only a part. We offer:
• Free meals and snacks
• Great machines + fast internet
• Prime downtown location
• Mentoring and demos
• Events + socials
• Sense of purpose
• Netflix + Apple TV
• Medical and dental
• Retirement plan contribution
• Stock purchase plan
• Stock options
Interns
Full times
(perks start from sign
date, not start date)

37. RESULTS FOR RECRUITING
How do you win candidates?
• Hire fast means we signal
we work the same way. (no
red tape)
• People leave Amazon,
Google, Facebook and
Microsoft to work for us
• “Better interview process
than Amazon”
- Jon Ji

38. DOES IT WORK?
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Xtreme FTE Headcount
QA
PM
Ops
Marketing
Legal
IT
HR
Design
Engineering
Exec
BD

39. THE XTREME WAY:
- ALWAYS BE HIRING
- START WITH INTERNS
- MEANINGFUL WORK AND PLAY
ATTRACTING TALENT

40. THE XTREME WAY:
- EVERYONE IS A RECRUITER
- INTERVIEWS ARE HORRIBLE
PREDICTORS OF
PERFORMANCE
- MOVE FAST AND CLOSE
THINGS
HIRING TALENT

41. Boris Chan
Associate Director, Toronto
boris@pivotallabs.com
@borisc
www.pivotallabs.com
Let’s Connect!