1.
Traditionally, tech hiring strategies were based on benchmarking data around technical background, compensation and previous locations. Many companies have evolved their hiring strategies to more heavily weight other traits that showcase cultural fit and long term potential. Assuming that you locate talent that meets your technical needs, what other traits might you include in your benchmarks?
Correct Answer
D. A&C
Explanation
Many recruiters now benchmark how the hobbies and interests of candidates match up with the hobbies and interests of the best employees at their company. Questions about marital and family status should be reviewed with your legal team though.
2.
You have found the perfect candidate. She has four years of iOS development experience, is interested in changing positions now, falls into your salary range, and lives in your market. Exciting! Your hiring manager says that he is going on vacation and wants to wait to do the interview until he is back. What do you do?
Correct Answer
C. Talk to the hiring manager about the labor scarcity for iOS developers, explain the potential consequences of waiting and see if you can get the hiring manager to agree to a Skype interview while he is on vacation.
Explanation
Time is of the essence when it comes to candidates who have hot skills, including mobile, cloud computing, big data and social media. For a number of these categories of skills, the unemployment rate was less than 1% in the first quarter of 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
3.
Many hiring managers will reference the “technology stack” they are building out or maintaining. In turn, they will want candidates who can provide value throughout the stack. Which of the following questions or statements would help identify if a technology professional can add up and down the stack?
Correct Answer
B. “Tell me about a project that you worked on where you added to the user interface, server and database components of the solution.”
Explanation
A technology stack is often communicated as a list of components that go into a comprehensive technology solution.
4.
A hiring manager walks you through her strategic plans for the year. She explains that her number one priority is to develop software for the business with an iterative and incremental methodology. Based on that priority, which of the following skills are you going to focus on in your searches?
Correct Answer
A. Agile
Explanation
Agile is a software development method based on iterative and incremental development. Companies love that the Agile method speeds up change.
5.
Thanks to a wave of recent retail data security breaches, 2014 is being called “The Year of Encryption.” Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information so that only authorized users can read it. A hiring manager needs multiple Information Security Analysts as soon as possible to ensure your telecommunications company is not at risk for a major breach. Which of the following keyword strings is the LEAST helpful for this search?
Correct Answer
C. “Telecommunications AND unstructured data analysis”
Explanation
“Telecommunications AND unstructured data analysis” will help you find a big data professional, but will not necessarily help target quality information security professionals.
6.
A hiring manager tells you he is looking for a Network Administrator. You search for candidates with this title, but you do not find any in the area for the position. Which of the following skills would be helpful to look for to expand your search and find someone with the right experience?
Correct Answer
D. A & B
Explanation
Likely there will be some overlap with System Administrator skills, so candidates with those skills, as well, could be considered for these positions.
7.
A User-Interface Designer is a person responsible for what an end-user sees and experiences when they interact with an application or site (whether typing commands or point and click). Which of the following skills are critical to this position?
Correct Answer
A. GrapHic design
Explanation
Hiring managers often need User-Interface Designers with a balance of technical and creative skills.
8.
You know you’re competing with a couple of other firms for some top mobile development professionals. These mobile professionals are passive candidates who currently have seemingly well paid, well valued positions. You’re on a mission to stand out in your initial communications with these professionals. Which of the following techniques is a best practice for getting a response from a passive candidate?
Correct Answer
D. Highlight specific examples of the projects they’d get involved with.
Explanation
Descriptions of projects often pique the interest of passive candidates more than descriptions of responsibilities.
9.
You’re developing rapport with a new Chief Technology Officer. Which of the following actions should you take to strengthen your relationship with the CTO?
Correct Answer
A. Ask lots of questions about the CTO’s strategy.
Explanation
Active listening is crucial to developing relationships with both hiring managers and top tech professionals. Ask questions about the CTO’s strategy and think about how your recruiting strategy can adapt to any new business strategy.
10.
A hiring manager is upset that you and your team have been unable to find a candidate who has explicit experience with the Python programming language. Which of the following responses best showcases your understanding of the need?
Correct Answer
B. “We have been able to identify candidates with a combination of big data and mobile development skills. While they do not explicitly have Python experience, they do have related skills and could fairly easily be trained on Python.”
Explanation
This response shows you understand the underlying need of a position.
11.
You have exhausted the pool of available tech candidates and know that you need to find more passive tech candidates and do a better job of connecting on common interests. Which of the following sites should you incorporate into your recruiting strategy?
Correct Answer
D. All of the Above
Explanation
You can find samples of candidates’ work on both YouTube and GitHub. Twitter is a great site for finding real-time conversations, between technology professionals, about emerging technology trends.
12.
The Head of HR at your company has asked you for a point of view on social recruiting. Which of the following assertions could you accurately use in your point of view?
Correct Answer
C. “Social recruiting is a technique that allows you to actively monitor candidates from across the Web and engage in their preferred channels.”
Explanation
The process of social recruiting can aggregate candidates from numerous social media and websites where tech candidates are actively participating.
13.
Which of the following ways of communication can you use with a tech candidate without having a mutual first degree connection with them?
Correct Answer
A. A Direct Message on Twitter
Explanation
Twitter allows users to Direct Message others even if only one user is following the other. The other types of communications are not made available by the platforms noted.