We’ve shared inside scoops on our data-driven recruiting process in the past. We’re always looking for more team members to join our outsourced customer-facing teams. Whether we’re building customer success teams or preparing a new research campaign, we need coachable team members with great communication skills, resilience, and grit. Thanks to our culture of kaizen, we’ve made tweaks that have helped us isolate indicators of success at each stage of our interview process.
Application Review
Our recruiting process begins with application reviews. Our recruiting team reviews all applications within 1-2 business days of receiving them. Since Bandalier’s roles are exclusively entry-level (and we pride ourselves on our training program), prior experience isn’t what we’re focused on.
The main thing we look for is the quality of somebody’s writing sample submission. Are they able to articulate their thoughts clearly? Are they using proper spelling, grammar, and sentence structure? Can they express a compelling reason for being interested both in the role they are applying for and Bandalier itself? And do they list any reasons as to why they think they’d be a good fit in the role itself?
We have a few reasons to prioritize writing sample quality. It’s the first impression team members can make on us – so thoughtfulness matters! More importantly, strong writing skills are critical when working remotely. Written communication drives most of our daily interactions, after all.
Phone Interview
Once candidates have passed our Application Review, we invite them to book a phone interview with us. Our phone interviews typically last 15 to 30 minutes, and are broken down into 3 major sections:
First, our interviewer asks candidates questions. We want to know more about why they’re interested in the role, learn more about some of their past experience, and ask a few behavioral questions.
Next, our team covers the details of the role – you can only fit so much in a job posting, after all. We share a ton of details, summarizing everything from the day-to-day of the role, pay, benefits, advancement opportunities, and schedule. We want our applicants to make a fully informed decision, and ensure that the opportunity lines up with what they’re looking for.
The last part of the interview is a Q&A. Candidates can ask us any questions they have on the role, the company, or anything else they’re curious about! Asking great questions is one of our leading indicators that someone will perform well on our team.
Video Interview
After a successful phone interview, we invite candidates to meet with two of our team members for a video interview over Zoom. This step in the recruiting process helps us get to know candidates – and gives them a sneak peek into what our coaching/training process feels like.
Our video interviews typically take 30 to 60 minutes. We kickstart the conversation with a few basic questions but we like to spend the majority of time in these interviews doing live roleplays. These roleplays require a blend of sales and customer success skills. At the end, we ask candidates for their own feedback on the roleplays, and our interviewers add a few tips. We know the situation can be intimidating. But as we tell folks, we aren’t looking for perfection. Our goal is to preview our coaching process – and get a sense of the applicant’s coachability.
Our hope is that everyone walks out of these interviews having learned a couple of things – regardless of whether they move on in the process or not.
Consideration Period
Candidates who pass a video interview with us are officially in consideration for an offer to join one of our upcoming cohorts of new hires. We distinguish these stages because we interview candidates on a rolling basis – a great applicant may have a successful interview a few weeks before we have a role for them. As new clients sign on to work with Bandalier and current clients expand their programs, we begin sending offers for folks to join our next training cohort.
This consideration period keeps things flexible. Our clients’ needs can shift quickly, and they ask us to help meet those needs. In the event there’s only a small number of positions open, we start by extending offers to the top-scoring candidates. While the amount of time folks stay in consideration varies with our client demands, we expect this stage to last 1 to 3 weeks on average. We stay closely in touch with candidates to share updates on their progress. We want to ensure no one is left wondering where they are in the application process!
Offer to Join Bandalier
The last part of our recruiting process is our favorite: extending offers! At this stage, somebody from our recruitment or HR team will call with the good news. They’ll tell you the details of the offer and answer any questions you have. If candidates verbally accept, we send the official offer via email.
Once that offer is signed, you are officially a part of Bandalier! Joining Bandalier means jumping into our paid training program.
During their first two weeks onboard, new team members work closely with our Learning and Development team to learn the skills they need to succeed in a remote customer-facing role. Bandalier University helps our new team members prepare for their new careers. Regardless of the type of role they’re pursuing, we want to make sure they’re ready for success.
Check out our blog on our paid training program to learn more about how we train at Bandalier!
