Almost every organization states somewhere on their careers site that attracting great talent is a high priority. CEOs regularly single out the attraction and retention of great people as a top of mind issue. However, in practice not many organizations act this way during their application and hiring process. Job listings should be easy to find and apply for, and the candidate should walk away with a realistic understanding of the job and company culture. Essentially, employers should treat applicants like customers. Even if the potential candidate/customer fails to buy/apply for something on their first visit, ensuring they leave with a positive impression makes them much more likely to buy/apply next time or recommend the company to a friend. Organizations that are honest, open, and efficient in the way they attract and hire people will find their talent pipeline is fuller and richer because of it.

1. Recruiting
Why Candidate Experience Is Critical For Zynga
Aaron Steinberger – Director, Talent Acquisition
Ashleigh Anderson – Manager, Research Recruiting
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2. The History of Our Recruiting
The Fastest Growing Technology Company In
Silicon Valley
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3. A Small Team With Big Goals
• Summer of 2009: 7 Recruiters and 1
Coordinator
• Recruiters acted as account managers
and aligned with Studios – worked with
hiring managers to fill all functions for
each team
• Studio teams interviewed only for their
team’s open positions
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4. A Shift In Paradigm
Identifying An Opportunity
• Winter 2010: Recruiting needed to pivot
with the company to align with the overall
priorities of Zynga
• Restructuring our efforts allowed us to
hire faster than our competitors with a
smaller recruiting organization - without
compromising the talent bar or candidate
experience
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5. Scaling Without Compromising
• Recruiters moved into specialized pods
becoming SMEs on disciplines.
• Studio roles moved to a Universal Hiring
model: hiring committees not hiring
managers
• Universal Hiring allowed us to grow from
130 to 3000 people in just three years – in
a highly competitive market
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6. Internal Strategy
What happens behind the scenes
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7. Interviewer Training
• Interviewers are selected by senior staff –
it’s seen as an honor to be involved in
interview panels
• All interviewers go through an in-depth
training built by our Learning and
Development Team
• Training is focused on the technical and
human aspects of a successful interview
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8. Interview Day Preparation
• Interview panels are personalized based on
the candidate
• Interviewers are prepped on every candidate
– interview location & time, background on
the candidate, and focus of the interview
• Skype channels are created so the panel
can be in constant contact during the day
• In-person wrap up sessions with the panel to
determine the outcome of the interviews
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9. External Strategy
What our candidates see
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10. Candidates Are Our Customers
• Zynga’s success is reflected in the products
we engineer, our work environment and the
candidate experience we provide
• Even if a candidate is a “no-hire”, there is a
good chance that he/she plays our games or
someone he/she knows is a customer
• Our #1 priority is to ensure that everyone
walks away with a positive impression of
Zynga – regardless of whether they get an
offer
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11. Social +Viral = Success
• Utilize ATS social capabilities & features
• LinkedIn, Facebook, Groups/Forums, etc.
• We don’t just post externally …the usual
suspects might not always be the best
bet. Let the marketing team help you
track…and if not, there’s always Bit.Ly
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12. Sample of Our Social
• Twitter – @Zynga (250K), @ZyngaUniversity
(38K), Mark Pincus (34K), Brian Reynolds (8K),
@ZyngaEngineers (900)
• Code.Zynga.Com
• Employee Involvement
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13. Barrier To Entry Is Low
• Website - easy to navigate
• Job descriptions - clear and easy to find
• Employee Referral Program - lives up to
employee expectations
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14. Communication Is Key
• Response times - Recruiters have SLA
throughout the process
• Set expectations early – map out the entire
process in the first conversation
• Be accessible and check in even if there is
no update on status
• Follow the candidate’s lead on timing but
don’t let them run the process
• Get senior leadership involved
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15. Social Media
Why it’s important to pay attention!
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16. Experience Goes Viral Instantly
Twitter, Facebook, GlassDoor, Quora
“Every interviewer was on-time and “The interview process was well
showed evidence of having read managed, recruiter was great to
my resume and thought it through. work with. Only gripe I have is they
That level of preparation warmed ask you brain teaser question which
my heart, since I had been the has nothing to do with doing the
"tech interview guy" for years at a job, and they spend a lot of time
previous employer, and finally got a grilling you in areas you have told
little karmic reward.” them you have little to no
experience.”
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18. Measuring Success
It’s more than just the
acceptance rate
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19. Measuring Success
• Internal focus groups – talk to people
hired from every channel (active, referral,
passive)
• Employee surveys – set up a new hire
survey
• New hire lunches – postmortem chat
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20. QUESTIONS?
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