How Itron improved its hiring efficiency by 36%
About Itron
Itron enables utilities and cities to safely, securely, and reliably deliver critical infrastructure services to communities in more than 100 countries. Itron’s portfolio of smart networks, software, services, meters, and sensors helps customers better manage electricity, gas, and water resources. By working with customers to ensure their success, the organization helps improve the quality of life, ensure the safety, and promote the well-being of millions of people around the globe. Itron helps close to 8000 customers globally in creating a more resourceful world.
What was the initial hiring process like before partnering with HackerEarth?
For lateral hires
Recruiters at Itron depended on the following channels to find the right lateral hires.
The main channels for sourcing potential lateral hires were job portals, employee referrals, and third-party recruitment firms.
Once the right candidates were sourced, recruiters spent a considerable amount of time manually testing them for technical skills through offline tests, technical group discussions, and several rounds of offline interviews. The entire process, from start to finish, took recruiters close to 55 days to close a single offer.
Recruiters often lost potential candidates to the competition because of the time the process took, and in a market where the tech skill gap is a pressing issue, this became a real problem for Itron.
For university hires
University hiring posed a different kind of challenge. Recruitment for beginner roles takes place through campus drives where a large number of students participate. To evaluate all of them in 2 to 3 days proved to be a difficult, especially with the number of students taking part in the programming challenges.
The team needed an efficient way to screen candidates based on their skills and was looking to automate certain aspects of the hiring process, such as using technical tests, to make hiring drives more productive.
Role of HackerEarth’s technical recruitment software in streamlining the hiring process
Impact of using Recruit for university hires
Itron used Recruit as its platform of choice to hire candidates right out of college for beginner-level roles. Since the platform supports a wide array of programming languages (over 35), recruiters can simply create beginner-level tests and evaluate candidates in a few simple steps rather than spend hours doing these tasks manually. Itron’s campus drive extends over a period of two months.
Here’s a look at the number of candidates evaluated and hired during one of Itron’s recent campus drives.
Recruitment process for university hires
Recruit was used to test candidates during the online technical aptitude round and the coding challenge round. The technical aptitude round covered MCQs which tested candidates on the basics of C, C++, DBMS, algorithms, etc. The coding challenge consisted of three coding questions that candidates had to finish within the given time frame. Candidates who cleared these rounds were then interviewed to assess their technical competency.
7
Campuses covered
4 to 5
Offers rolled out
2 days
Duration
Impact of using Recruit for lateral hires
Reduction in recruitment cycle time
The typical recruit cycle to make a lateral hire lasted close to 55 days, from start to finish, before opting for Recruit. The platform brought down the time taken by 36%, and it now takes recruiters just 35 days to close an offer.
How was the experience with HackerEarth?
The platform has helped Itron streamline its recruitment process to reach out to more qualified candidates in a short span of time. Sanya Raina, Lead Talent Acquisition, APAC, says, “ The platform helps tech recruiters find the best coders and has eliminated a lot of manual processes.” As of today, Itron continues to use Recruit as its platform for recruitment and is looking to do more lateral hiring through the platform in the near future.