Hiring Process

The hiring process for each position will be a little different. Feel free to take the workflow below as a starting point and to adjust it for the specific hiring campaign that you are working on.

The general process of hiring a new person is as follows:

1. Several preparatory steps should be done before looking for candidates
   1. Create a scorecard and a JD for the position
      1. It is best if you have the JD in a few different formats:
         1. A single paragraph blurb
         2. A WeChat post or a similar 'post' to share via WeChat
         3. A nicely formatted PDF
         4. A word document that you can copy and paste content from for job listing websites
   2. Decide on a salary range
   3. Decide who will be involved in the hiring process and what the role of each person will be
   4. Decide who is responsible for each step (who will add candidates to the hiring pipeline? Who will schedule each interview? Who will conduct each interview? How quickly does action need to be taken?)
   5. Decide how hiring decisions will be make (does everyone have to approve of a new hire? Can person A officially hire the new employee even if person B and C disagree? Who has veto power?)
   6. Set up a pipeline (using a Kanban board or some similar method) so that you can manage the candidates. This will allow you to easily keep track of which candidates are at which step of the process, as well as allowing to you easily know what needs to be done for each candidate.
2. Generate applicants
   1. Share the JD with the Chinese HR team, asking them to get some applicants
   2. Post JDs (see Where to post JDs)
   3. Share information with personal networks (WeChat, LinedIn, etc)
   4. Ask colleagues to help share the JD and refer friends
   5. As soon as we receive an application, it should be put into the pipeline.
3. Screening/filtering
   1. The applicant should be asked to fill out basic information in a form such as this one (or you can create your own form). Using a form allows us to save time by passing candidates that don't meet the basic requirements (something which isn't always visible from a resume).
   2. For candidates whose resume justifies moving forward in the hiring process, schedule a 15 minute phone call with applicants that show promise. This serves as the first interview. You should ask questions that are standardized to discover whether or not this person meets the requirements in order to move forward in the hiring process.
      1. You should use Calendly, YouCanBook.me, or some similar scheduling service in order to schedule these. For an example of how it works, you can look at Joseph's Calendly link.
      2. In the phone screening we are screening for the following traits/abilities: English language ability, Educational background, Verbal fluency, Commitment timeline, Availability per week, Full-time teaching experience. More details are available on the page Hiring Rubrics.
   3. For applicants that move forward, we schedule an in-person interview with mock teaching.
      1. The in-person interview should be conducted as a structured interview, using behavioral interview questions (more information in Guide: Use structured interviewing).
      2. The mock teaching involves a 15-20 minute teaching of an ESL session, as well as 15-20 minutes of an Ivy Climbers session. There should be 3-6 Shang Employees in the room to act as students.
         1. The content of the sessions should be sent to the candidate in advance, before the mock teaching is scheduled. Which content is sent should be the same for all candidates, and should be decided in advance.
         2. In the mock teaching, we are evaluating the candidate for the following traits/abilities: Preparedness, Pacing, Classroom management, Making students comfortable, Professional appearance & demeanor, Dynamism. More details are available on the page Hiring Rubrics.
   4. For candidates that move forward, we conduct 3 reference calls.
   5. For candidates that move forward, this is when we create and extend an offer. It is important to consider a deadline with the offer. A deadline of one week is standard. If the candidate hasn't decided to accept the offer by that point, then the offer "expires" and we will extend that offer to a different candidate.
      1. It is standard in China to first extend an "offer letter" with the general description of the work and the salary, and if the candidate accepts then you invite them in for signing an actual contract. Joseph hasn't seen anything to indicate that the "offer letter "is required, and he has simply told the candidate (verbally, via WeChat, or via email) of the general situation of the offer, and invited them in to sign a contract.
      2. Templates for the part-time educator contract have varied over time, and Joseph has received several variations from several individuals. As of July 2019, Joseph used the format available at this link.