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i.c.stars’ recruitment process for internship candidates throws out all of the traditional rules associated with finding talent. We screen for highly motivated, intelligent, and resilient individuals, but do not ask for resumes or have standard interview questions.

What is also unique is we have adopted this same process for expanding our staff. Most hiring managers know the pain of having to sift through applications and resumes as the majority of the effort falls with the manager and not the candidate. At i.c.stars, we have looked at ways to reduce staff workload when it comes to recruiting talented interns as well as expanding our staff. This in turn helps our staff to focus on their job duties and not have to spend the 20 or 30 hours a week on tasks related to recruiting and hiring.

When I think of how we recruit and bring in new staff, I think of a funnel. We start at the top with many candidates and people self-select their way out of the process. This is helpful because we are not taking up staff time with people that are just blasting out their resumes, or that don’t know who the staff are that work here, or who haven’t put any thought into why they want to work here or participate in the internship. We use our website and the technology behind the site to help with the process.

Our process for hiring both our internship program and new staff members is illustrated below.

We have a driven and talented staff and we develop and train quality IT talent. When a new position opens up as we are growing, we use the same proven process to find the right candidate that we use to select the participants for our internship. This results in everyone knowing and understanding the process that everyone else had to go through, which in turns builds community and our culture. We view ourselves as a movement and not a charity. So when a new person comes aboard, they are joining our movement.

The fact that we do not simply ask for resumes, freaks out some people and they simply do not understand or want to be involved with an organization like ours. On the other hand, the majority of applicants feel somewhat c by the process. We ask people to go to our site and complete a bio and freely tell us about who they are and what they value. I smile every time I see someone paste a copy of their resume in the bio section during the first step of our process. They usually want it to be the traditional hiring process, and in turn, usually self select themselves out of our process. People who totally dig the fact that we don’t want resumes and would rather have conversations are thrilled about the process and are usually a good fit.

We are also now finding that although some people may not be a good fit for a particular position, we know they are a good fit for the organization, and we contact them first when a new role opens up. Instead of a hiring manager just saying, “Thanks, we will keep your resume on file for 6 months”, we remember these people. When a new job opens up, we reach out to them first and offer an opportunity to interview. They do not have to start the process over since they are already in the system.

Traditionally the staff and hiring manager do most of the legwork. We believe that you have to be driven to be here in the program and also to be on staff. A huge part of our application process is showing us a sample of your work ethic and motivation to be a member of our team by completing the necessary steps.

An applicant and friend of i.c.stars, Grace, has actually chronicled her experience and how she felt about going through our hiring process in her blog.

“Imagine this: you’re at the last leg of a job recruitment process and the hiring person wants you to write one last essay. What type of essay, you ask? Tell us why you think the organization should invest in clown noses, she says.” (read more here)

Professionally, I am excited about growing my team and the organization. We are all busy and it is nice to have a vehicle that makes it easy for me to get to know candidates. It also feels great to have created an innovative solution to a rather painful process. The time I spend hiring someone is about 60% less than it would be if I had to look through resumes.

On a personal level, I have never liked doing resumes. I cringe at the fact that I will be judged by a summary of my life’s work crammed onto 1 or 2 sheets of paper. I feel that everyone does better when having a conversation and talking about their goals, skills and past accomplishments. I feel like we don’t just choose people, but people choose us. Many places say that they have a truly unique culture, but I must say, i.c.stars is by far the most unique place I have ever worked.

Does this process interest you? If so, I am hiring a Business Development Manager and want to meet you! For more information, please create a profile on our website and begin to funnel on through by clicking here.