The Indian Match Making A.K.A Hiring

 

Have you seen the infamous show on Netflix on India Matchmaking? While there were more memes and jokes on the frivolous nature of the show and the trivialization of the whole marriage concept, it did make the necessary noise and draw our attention to certain norms in arranged marriage construct. Nope, this post isn’t about that.

 

 I am just drawing an interesting parallel in hiring with the Indian Matchmaking Scene...

 

The wooing phase

 

There is an urgent need to hire X with a certain skill set. The hiring manager has a generic overview of what he/she has in their mind. It is loosely translated to a job description or role profile to help us identify the right match. Of course like your tall dark handsome or fair, good-looking and homely  criteria in finding a groom/bride  the close equivalent is great communication skills, attitude and cultural fit. You can compromise on anything but not this.  The recruiter tries to find the perfect match in the form of a CV to hire this X. There is never a 100 percent match. You search for a skill, there is always a compromise and you try and convince the  hiring manager that hiring is all about finding the right talent that is sustainable. Think long term, think DNA and try and find the elusive X. The more complex the requirement the more difficult it is to find a perfect  match. Expectations mismatch happens and finally you find 2-3 people who fit the bill. Like you look for references in match making you do the same while hiring. A resume shared by known contacts has more credibility than the third party search sites. I am still talking about recruitment here. Finally you also need to convince the candidates that this is worth giving a shot. What’s the harm in giving an interview? Worst case you can say no? After all this back and forth wooing, the process is set in motion. Depending on the complexity you look at 2 weeks at least to find the perfect match.

 The Selection phase

 

This like the arranged marriage scenarios and complex family structure varies vastly across demographics. Hiring is no different as you try and do preliminary elimination methods in the form on online tests/assessments to ensure you are on the right track. Of course you will have plagiarism with someone else talking and impersonating. Which is why a face to face or in today’s world a video call is an important differentiator. Post this you have the family meeting and the boy girl meeting, so similarly there is a neutral panel who first gauges the candidate before the final round of interview. The selection criteria gets stringer by the minute as the last phase after the four week effort shouldn’t fail. This means going back to the drawing board and looking at the same candidates and that’s not a promising thought. You tighten the screws on the process and keep fingers crossed that this works.

 

Judgement Day

 

There is a lot of anxiety and  excitement when the boy meets girl(customize this if needed). The families choose the place venue as all this is important and plays an invisible role in decision making. The final round in an interview is very similar too. The timing, duration of the meeting and venue is all very critical. The stage is set and it is now up to the hiring manager and the candidate to make the decision. That one hour is crucial and like in most cases the first 15 mins is make or break. Gravitas is important and you need to make that impression. Yes it is slightly biased towards the candidate putting in more effort and like most other changes, this is changing. The hiring manager needs to put in the efforts for a good interview too, if he wants the candidate to accept the job offer.

 Post this there is pressure from the elders in the family/peers and even internally to make the call. Similarly the hiring manager does look for validation outside, test scores, what does his manager think and overall the most important factor of is this the right match before deciding. This isn’t one sided and not just the hiring managers call. The candidate needs to also like the culture, the nature of the job, the peers and the work family before finally saying yes.

 Happily Ever after

 

I do wish that this just ends here and I can say and they lived happily ever after or as simple as “ The candidate has been onboarded”. This is when the actual drama begins. The courtship period of 2-3 months before the marriage is the deciding factor. In the case of hiring it is called Candidate Engagement/ post offer follow up/ keeping the candidates warm. The sense of doubt over one’s judgement makes one wonder if they chose the right job. Is this is right fit? Is there a more lucrative option for me? Do I need to move post this job and am I willing to do that? Very pertinent questions to ask and ideally its better to get all this cleared before the final meeting. The more meetings/touchpoints a hiring manager has the easier it is to gauge the candidates response. You can pick up signals easily and ensure the joining is smooth. The lesser the surprises the better and you have a tension free onboarding. Making sense? You will at least be in the know how of what to expect and not caught off guard when there is a offer reject. This is all just theory. The suspense is on till the person actually joins your organization. 

Exceptions to every rule

 

Of course like the movies, where you have the last minute show stopper who mouths cliché dialogues on what true love is, you will have your competitor organizations who woo the same candidate just a day before the actual joining. You did everything by the book, but there is no telling. Start from the first step and reinitiate the process. Of course if you had evaluated a few more and came up to the judgement day, your hiring will be faster. But its always a gamble. Matchmaking is about finding the right and close to perfect match. There is a hit and miss and this is no different in hiring. It is effort intensive and there are no short cuts.

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