Case Study
The Requirement
10 clients – 47 Java Developers
Introduction
The following case study is for a Java Recruit-a-thon that was conducted by TaAp Exchange. 10 companies attended this virtual hiring event recruit-a-thon, to hire 47 Java backend developers in total.
The Background & The Challenge
Java is one of the most popular backend languages. The demand for Java resources in the talent market is quite high and it is on the rise. A large number of companies are looking to hire Java developers every day. However, most companies struggle to hire Java developers.
The top challenges that companies face while hiring Java developers are as below.
- High time to hire
- High cost to hire
- Non-satisfactory quality of hire
- Low onboarding ratio
- Increasing staffing fees for hiring through recruitment agencies and outsourced tech recruiters
Recruit-a-thon to counter the challenges
What’s a Recruit-a-thon?
A Recruit-a-thon is a Live virtual hiring event where candidates compete against each other to land their dream job. A recruit-a-thon can be conducted for a single tech stack or multiple tech stacks. It is ideal for companies who are looking to hire 3 or more resources.
The format of the event is a fast-paced competition with multiple levels to pass through. There are cash prizes and rewards to be won, and of course, there’s a prospect of landing a job in a dream company.
From a companies perspective, a recruit-a-thon gives them a platform where a large pool of candidates participate in a common evaluation program and the clients get to select the candidates most suited to their hiring needs. It gives them a chance to evaluate multiple candidates with diversified experience and skillsets at the same place, and at the same time using a common evaluation framework.
TaAp Exchange organizes a Java backend recruit-a-thon once every month. This recruit-a-thon is usually a 3-day event. Day 1 and Day 2 are common for all participating clients and candidates. Day 3 is customised for each client and is scheduled based on their needs.
The Requirement
For the recruit-a-thon described in this case study, 10 clients participated. The clients’ requirements were as below.
Client | No of Java developers required |
A | 3 |
B | 4 |
C | 4 |
D | 5 |
E | 8 |
F | 3 |
G | 3 |
H | 5 |
I | 6 |
J | 6 |
The Solution
TaAp Exchange aimed to invite registrations from at least 300 Java developers.
For the evaluation of the candidates, the following framework was proposed.
- Customized MCQs developed by a MAANG expert on Java and J2EE.
- Customized MCQs developed by a MAANG expert on Software Engineering and Software Architecting principles
- Customized Analytical thinking and problem-solving MCQs developed by the leading experts in this field
- Coding simulation test
- Client-specific customized assessments developed with the collaboration of the client and a MAANG expert for the client-exclusive day 3.
- Soft skill assessments to determine the right company-culture fit.
- After all the assessments are done, the top candidates would be interviewed by the client’s hiring managers, and the relevant ones will be forwarded to the HR team for final interviews and onboarding.
The Groundwork:
Step 1: Suitable Candidate Sourcing
Since the goal was to get 350 Java developers to register for the virtual hiring event, TaAp Exchange reached out to approximately 3,000 developers with relevant experience and skillsets. Various channels including job portals, freelance recruiters, internal recruiters, social media networks, developer communities and forums, etc. were employed for the outreach. A team of 4 technical recruiters carried out the sourcing process.
Step 2: Background Screening of candidates
Post sourcing, there was a virtual screening of each candidate attending the recruit-a-thon on the following parameters:
- Educational qualifications
- Certifications
- Language proficiency
- Experience
- Location
- Availability to join
- Must-have skills as per the client’s needs
At the end of these two steps, a candidate pool was created of eligible candidates who would attend the recruit-a-thon. A team of 5 dedicated technical recruiters from TaAp Exchange was formed to oversee the screening and registration process.
Step 3: Live Event
Here’s how the event was carried out.
Day 1 – Common day for all participating clients
Time (PST) | Activity |
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM | Registrations |
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM | Welcome note, agenda and client introductions |
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Common assessments for all registered candidates taken simultaneously – Software engineering & software architecture principles |
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Common assessments (for all candidates) – Analytical thinking & problem solving |
11:30 AM- 12:00 PM | Networking session in breakout rooms |
Day 2
Time (PST) | Activity |
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Common coding assessments (for all candidates) |
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Networking session in breakout rooms |
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM | Fireside chat with an industry veteran |
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Entertainment – live stand-up comedy show |
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM | Optional gaming tournament |
Day 3
At the end of day 2, the top matching profiles were shared with each client, and they shortlisted the candidates they wished to invite to attend their respective day 3.
Day 3 of the recruit-a-thon was an exclusive day tailor made for each client as per their needs and was conducted over the next 10 days post Day 2. Most Clients decided to have a customized coding assessment, one client choose to conduct a hackathon and one client decided to go straight to the technical evaluation
Step 4: Hiring support after Day-3
Post the recruit-a-thon, a dedicated technical recruiter supported each client through the remainder of the evaluation process up to the candidate onboarding.
Event Synopsis:
Highlights of Day 1 and Day 2
- 295 candidates attended day 1 and day 2. All clients were given dashboard access to the results of the recruit-a-thon with detailed reports and analytics.
- The top matching profiles were shared with each client on their respective dashboards. They shortlisted their preferred candidates for Day 3.
- Some candidate profiles were shared with multiple clients. The candidates were given a choice to choose the clients they wished to continue interviewing on day 3. The final profiles were shared with the respective clients for day 3.
- Total cash prizes awarded by TaAp Exchange at the end of day 1: $2,500
Highlights of Day 3
- Day 3 was scheduled on separate days for all clients after the completion of Day 2.
- 224 out of the 295 candidates attended the Day 3 session of at least one client. The following list shows the number of candidates who attended the Day 3 session by the client
Client | No of Java developers required | No of candidates attending day 3 |
A | 3 | 10 |
B | 4 | 12 |
C | 4 | 33 |
D | 5 | 22 |
E | 8 | 88 |
F | 3 | 15 |
G | 3 | 12 |
H | 5 | 18 |
I | 6 | 56 |
J | 6 | 102 |
The extreme right column in the table below shows the summary for the results of day 3 for all the clients.
Client | No of Java developers required | No of candidates attending day 3 | At the end of day 3 |
A | 3 | 10 | 5 candidates ready for HR round |
B | 4 | 12 | 6 candidates ready for final technical round |
C | 4 | 33 | 18 candidates ready for final technical round |
D | 5 | 22 | 17 candidates ready for final technical round |
E | 8 | 88 | 25 candidates ready for final technical round |
F | 3 | 15 | 5 candidates ready for final HR round |
G | 3 | 12 | 7 candidates ready for final tech round |
H | 5 | 18 | 9 candidates ready for final HR round |
I | 6 | 56 | 18 candidates ready for final tech round |
J | 6 | 102 | 25 candidates ready for final tech round |
At the end of day 3, three out of ten clients had candidates who were ready for the final HR round, and seven clients had candidates who were prepared for the last tech round
Post Event
Clients who had candidates ready for the HR round were able to send across offer letters within the next 7 days. Clients who had candidates ready for the final tech round were able to send the offer letters within the next 20 days.
Results:
After the end of Day 3, all clients moved forward with their interview process and the following table shows the candidates hired by each client within the first 20 days of Day 3.
Client | No of Java developers required | Candidates hired post day 3 | No. of positions left to be hired for |
A | 3 | 3 | 0 |
B | 4 | 4 | 0 |
C | 4 | 4 | 0 |
D | 5 | 4 | 1 |
E | 8 | 6 | 2 |
F | 3 | 3 | 0 |
G | 3 | 3 | 0 |
H | 5 | 4 | 1 |
I | 6 | 5 | 1 |
J | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Clients D, E, H, and I were not able to complete their requirement in the first attempt. For these clients, TaAp Exchange provided replacement candidates. After the replacements were provided, clients D, H, and I were able to hire for the remaining open positions. Client E decided to pause their hiring process after completing 6 hiring’s.
The table below shows how each client benefited from the recruit-a-thon
Client | Developers required | Candidates hired | Time saving | Cost saving | Interview to hire ratio | Customer Satisfaction out of 10 |
A | 3 | 3 | 80 % | $7,000 | 3:1 | 9.5 |
B | 4 | 4 | 55 % | $9,500 | 3:1 | 9.3 |
C | 4 | 4 | 60 % | $10,500 | 4:1 | 10 |
D | 5 | 5 | 40 % | $12,500 | 4:1 | 8.8 |
E | 8 | 6 | 45 % | $18,000 | 5:1 | 9.0 |
F | 3 | 3 | 75 % | $6,500 | 5:1 | 9.8 |
G | 3 | 3 | 65 % | $7,000 | 4:1 | 9.7 |
H | 5 | 4 | 70 % | $13,500 | 2:1 | 8.9 |
I | 6 | 5 | 50 % | $20,000 | 6:1 | 9.1 |
J | 6 | 6 | 52 % | $18,000 | 6:1 | 9.1 |
Benefits of the proposed solution to clients:
- Reduced the average time to hire by about 75% i.e., from 60 days to 15 days.
- Total cost saving (10 clients) – $122,500
- Average interview-to-hire ratio – 4:1
- Average customer rating of the event – 9.3
Why Recruit-a-thon?
Taking into account the challenges in the tech recruitment market today, TaAp Exchange recommended a Recruit-a-thon for hiring developers in remote positions through virtual hiring event.
Through solid groundwork by our recruitment team and technology advisors, we established an experienced candidate pool for the recruitment event.
The format of the technology recruiting event was pitched as a competition. Thus, the candidates were more interested and invested in the process.
With the help of our dedicated team members and SPOCs, the entire virtual hiring event was conducted without any hassles.