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Insights to Consider for Second Interviews and Narrowing Down Candidates

Struggling with narrowing down candidates to find the perfect addition to your team? Here are some tips and insights into what to consider for second interviews as well as narrowing down your candidate pool!


The first interview is the qualifier… 

Usually second interviews are the opportunity for the company to ‘sell or market’ the candidate on the opportunity of employment with your company. The first interview is the qualifier as in, is the candidate a good fit? Once, a good fit has been determined the company should look for ways to market their opportunity to the candidate.

So, asking candidates the question of what they would ideally like to see in an opportunity is a good start and as you hear things that your company offers you can answer those ideals with the ways and means your company can meet those ideals.

You will want to offer the candidate who demonstrates the most excitement…

The second interview is also an opportunity for you all the gauge the excitement level of the candidate. This is important because you will want to offer the candidate who demonstrates the most excitement, assuming they have all the qualifications, the job since they will come into the job with good energy and commitment.

The second interview should be about creating excitement with the candidate so that when an offer is made there is great confidence (100% chance) it will be accepted.

Make sure the candidate knows about any perks…

We have heard from candidates about the cost of living in Key West being considerably higher than where they currently reside. You should look for ways to lay aside those concerns with suggestions and examples of what other employees do in terms of where they live in the Keys and how they cope with that added cost. Or, just point out that’s part of the cost of living in paradise, having access to a unique lifestyle or however you want to phrase it.

Make sure the candidate knows about any perks, benefits or any other positives culturally or otherwise your company offers.

If there is a spouse or children involved look for ways to make that a comfortable transition in terms of employment opportunities the spouse may be good for and school options for the kids.

Managing expectations on your hiring process in terms of time, testing, and background checks will also help keep the candidate warm and engaged.


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A Day in the Life of a Web Application Developer

Don’t you love it when you go on a company’s website and it’s so easy to navigate that you find everything you need? Having a functional, appealing website is the first step to keeping users like you interested in what the company has to offer. So, what goes into making a website functional? Here’s what a day in the life of a Web Application Developer looks like…


“I fix or improve current functionality on the website, I also design and develop new functionalities as needed, that goes from planning to designing to developing each new task that needs to be implemented”

 

What is the first thing you do in the morning?

 

First thing I do in the morning is check for new emails or any errors reported by our app the previous night. After checking my emails, I go through tickets that were assigned to me with different tasks. We have tickets assigned to each Developer for different tasks including new developments, patches, updates, and more.

 

Every day I check tickets assigned to me and ask questions about every requirement on the ticket/task. After most of the tasks are clear, I start to analyze and plan how I’m going to approach these problems.

 

What do those tasks look like?

 

I need to approach these problems with the most optimal solution while taking into consideration every aspect and possible errors we may encounter in the future.

 

After the task is analyzed and designed, I start coding. Sometimes anything may surge during coding or even different ways of approaching the problem emerges. This process can take anywhere from hours to weeks depending on the task. In the meantime, I can start working on other tasks that might be urgent or easier and faster to solve.

 

What happens once you complete a task?

 

Every task is revised by the test team after I upload my solution. When they have tested the tasks, they send back their comments and any errors they might have found in the solution. Based on what they discover, we discuss the problems found and I work to fix or improve anything they report. This process continues until it’s ready for deployment, which usually occurs every couple of weeks at late hours so we don’t affect the live site if anything goes wrong.

 

“I really like seeing people happy and using something I did to make their job a little easier. Knowing that people it’s comfortable using what I do, and this helps them do their job easier and better makes me feel very nice.”


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