Large IT companies have been holding schools for students and graduates of engineering and mathematical specialties for a long time. Who hasn't heard of the Yandex School of Data Analysis or the HeadHunter School of Programmers? The age of these projects is already measured in a decade.
Banks are not far behind. Suffice it to recall School 21 of Sberbank, Raiffeisen Java School or Fintech School Tinkoff.ru. These projects are designed not only to provide theoretical knowledge, but also to develop practical skills, form a portfolio of a young specialist, and increase his chances of finding a job.
At the end of May, we announced the first set of Alfa Bank. Two months have passed, the set is over. Today I want to tell you how it went and what could have been done differently. I invite all interested under cat.
Recruitment to the School of Systems Analysis of Alfa-Bank (hereinafter - SSA, the School) included two stages - questionnaires and interviews. At the first stage, candidates were asked to apply for participation by filling out and sending a special questionnaire. Based on the results of the analysis of the received questionnaires, a group of candidates was formed, who were invited to the second stage - interviews with the Bank's system analysts. Candidates who successfully proved themselves in the interview were invited to study at the SSA. All those invited, in turn, confirmed their readiness to take part in the project.
Stage I. Questionnaire
The school is designed for people with no or little experience in IT in general and in system analysis in particular. People who understand what systems analysis is and what a systems analyst does. People seeking to develop in this area. The first stage was to find candidates who met these criteria.
To search for suitable candidates, a questionnaire was developed, the answers to which would allow us to determine whether the candidate meets our expectations. The questionnaire was made on the basis of Google Forms, and we posted links to it on several resources, including Facebook, VKontakte, Instagtam, Telegram, and, of course, Habr.
The collection of questionnaires lasted three weeks. During this time, 188 applications for participation in the SSA were received. Most of them (36%) came from Habr.
We made a special channel in the working Slack and posted the received applications there. The Bank's system analysts who participated in the recruitment got acquainted with the posted questionnaires, and then voted for each candidate.
Voting consisted of putting marks, the most significant of which were:
- The candidate is suitable for training - plus (code :heavy_plus_sign:).
- The candidate is not suitable for training - minus (code: heavy_minus_sign:).
- The candidate is an employee of Alfa Group (code: alfa2:).
- It is recommended that the candidate be invited to a technical interview (code: hh:).
Based on the voting results, we divided the candidates into groups:
- It is recommended to invite for an interview. These guys scored a total score (the sum of pluses and minuses) greater than or equal to five, are not employees of Alfa Group and are not recommended for an invitation to a technical interview. The group included 40 people. It was decided to invite them to the second stage of recruitment to the SSA.
- It is recommended to invite to runs. The candidates of this group are employees of Alfa Group. There were 10 people in the group. It was decided to form a separate stream of them and invite them to the rehearsals of lectures and seminars of the School.
- It is recommended to consider for the position of a systems analyst. In the opinion of the voters, the candidates of this group have competencies sufficient to pass a technical interview for the position of the Bank's system analyst. The group included 33 people. They were asked to send resumes and go through the hr-selection process.
- It is recommended that the application be discontinued. The group included all other candidates - 105 people. They were decided to refuse further consideration of the application for participation in the SCA.
Stage II. Interviewing
Based on the results of the survey, the participants of the first group were invited to an interview with the Bank's system analysts. In the second stage, we sought not only to get to know the candidates better, focusing on our criteria. The interviewers tried to understand how candidates think, how they ask questions.
The interview was built around five questions. The answers were evaluated by two system analysts of the Bank, each on a ten-point scale. Thus, the candidate could score a maximum of 20 points. In addition to ratings, the interviewers left a brief summary of the results of the meeting with the candidate. Grades and CVs were used to select future students of the School.
36 interviews were conducted (4 candidates could not participate in the second stage). Based on the results of 26, both interviewers gave the candidates the same marks. For 9 candidates, the scores differed by one point. For only one candidate, the difference in assessments was 3 points.
At the meeting on the organization of the School, it was decided to invite 18 people to study. A passing threshold of 15 points was also set based on the results of the interview. It was overcome by 14 candidates. Four more students were selected from candidates who scored 13 and 14 points, based on the resumes made by the interviewers.
In total, according to the results of recruitment, 18 candidates with different work experience were invited to the SSA. All invitees confirmed their readiness for training.
What could be different
The first set in SSA is finished. Gained experience in organizing such events. Growth zones have been identified.
Timely and clear feedback on the receipt of the candidate's application. Initially, it was supposed to get by with standard Google Forms tools. The candidate submits an application. The form informs him that the application has been submitted. However, during the first week we received feedback from several applicants that they did not understand whether their application was received or not. As a result, with a delay of a week, we started sending confirmations to candidates' emails that their application had been received and accepted for consideration. Hence the conclusion - feedback on the receipt of the candidate's application should be clear and timely. In our case, it was not entirely clear initially. And having cleared up, it was sent to candidates with a delay.
Converting insignificant and missing votes to significant ones. In the voting process, at the first stage, insignificant marks were used (for example, it is now impossible to make a decision on a candidate - :thinking: code). Also, different candidates received a different number of votes (one could get 13 votes, and the second 11). However, each new significant vote could affect a candidate's chance to get into the SSA (both raise it and lower it). Therefore, we would like all candidates to receive the maximum possible number of significant votes.
The right of choice for the candidate. We refused some of the candidates, offering to send a resume and be selected for the position of a system analyst at the Bank. However, of those who sent resumes, not all were invited to technical interviews. And of those who were invited to the technical interview, not everyone was able to pass it. Perhaps the result would have been different at the end of the School. Therefore, such candidates should be given the right to choose. If the candidate is self-confident and wants to get a job at the Bank, then let him go through the hr-selection process. Otherwise, why not continue to consider him as a candidate for training in the SSA?
The described approach to the recruitment of candidates is based on the process of hr-selection of system analysts, which Svetlana Mikheeva talked about at . The approach has its pros and cons. It is somewhat similar to the approaches to enrollment in schools of other companies, but also has its own characteristics.
If you were selected to our School, now you know how the recruitment went. If you have been thinking about starting your own school, now you know how student enrollment can be organized. If you have already run your own schools, it will be great if you share your experience.
Source: habr.com