Episode 64: Leadership and Recruitment with Taylor Desseyn of Vaco

Apr 1

In the latest episode of Subscriptions Scaled, we sit down with Taylor Desseyn, Lead at Nashville Engineering Remote Division, Vaco.

The episode focuses on best hiring practices, along with advice for job seekers. We learn everything from what questions hiring managers should ask recruitment agencies to what Taylor thinks of the concept of a four-day week.

Keep reading to learn more about the episode.

Nashville Engineering Remote Division

Nashville Engineering Remote Division, Vaco helps find and match top engineering talent for companies across the United States. The division has over 30 years of experience combined in the recruitment industry.

The Recruitment Process

In the episode, Taylor discusses the recruitment process in depth. He talks about what makes good hiring right now and the importance of not letting an interview process drag out too long.

Good hiring boils down to having a realistic conversation and relying on your recruiters. Taylor references a company his team is working with who told them they only needed ten days to go through the interview process. They took more than 25 days and Taylor had an honest conversation with them about their strategy.

When companies meet with recruits, it either clicks or doesn’t, which is essential to recognize.

Questions Hiring Managers Should Ask Recruitment Agencies

Taylor admits that they don’t get recruitment right all the time but there are some key questions to ask to ensure that recruitment agencies match well with companies.

These questions include:

How do you do business?
How much are you involved in your local market?
How many recruiters do you have on your team?
What are your processes?
How do you define a good recruiting firm?

At Vaco, there are 12 or 13 recruiters, which is a fair amount. However, it’s not as many as Taylor would like. He cites other firms that have more like 40 recruiters.

However, it depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re a smaller software company or you’re growing, you may not want a huge amount of resumes. As such, you may choose a recruitment firm with around 10 to 15 people.

If you’re an enterprise organization and you’re constantly hiring, you’ll want to work with a firm with more recruiters.

Generally, it’s best to work with a firm from which you get a good feeling.

Consider asking about a firm’s processes, too. For example, Taylor explains that his team does a Zoom call with every single candidate. They’ll ask questions, collect references, and ask candidates to complete a skills assessment.

It’s essential to find a recruitment firm that’s passionate about people and gives back to them, rather than just taking, which is an issue with many.

Taylor shares that he asked one of his favorite companies, ‘how do you define a good recruiting firm?’ They replied that five resumes a week for a role was great, and he was pleased that they were over-exceeding. For this particular company, Taylor and his team were passionate about their mission and what they were doing.

He explains that usually, his team will send around three resumes per position. This may sound like a small number, but the quality of the candidates is so high that the company is likely to hire one of them.

Remote Work

The episode also discusses the transmission to remote work after the pandemic and how to ensure you’re still working well in a team. Taylor also talks about the concept of a four-day workweek.

Taylor explains that at Vaco, people got burnt out really fast when it came to constant video calls and remote working.

However, there are many perks of remote work and the possibility of a four-day workweek, like fewer meetings and more intentionality. One way to improve focus and intentionality is to start scheduling calls that are 15 minutes rather than 30 minutes.

Taylor explains that his call strategy has changed, as he used to only talk about work on a call. Now, he tries to spend a portion of it talking about himself and the people in the call. This is because Taylor saw on TikTok that a third of a meeting should be about the people involved to make it more personable.

Advice to Jobseekers

Towards the end of the episode, Taylor has advice for those who may shy away from talking about themselves when interviewing or those not wanting the spotlight on themselves. He talks about the importance of putting yourself out there even if you’re candid about it, especially now that most recruiting is online.

Taylor references TikTok and how it has changed the way we consume media. TikTok has shown everybody that we don’t have to present these long shows anymore. We don’t have to have a perfectly well-crafted short video to show a recruiter. It can literally be a selfie video styled up.

If you’re passionate about your work, Taylor simply recommends starting somewhere, no matter what. He references a job seeker he interviewed a month or two ago who said it perfectly: the only way to be discoverable now is online because we’re fully remote.

Pre-pandemic, there were meetups and conferences where jobseekers could network, but those are fewer and fewer now. Plus, many people still aren’t comfortable attending these types of events.

If you’re looking for a job, you have to do something different. You have to put yourself out there online.

Taylor recommends job seekers to start with LinkedIn, aiming to have one conversation with a stranger a day. He even suggests job seekers listen to the podcast to reach out, mentioning that they listen to Subscriptions Scaled.

Job seekers need to get comfortable talking to strangers. They should also use social media, posting content and liking and commenting on people’s statuses. They need to slide into the right people’s DMs.

If you’re constantly searching and trying, you’ll find a job. Sometimes all it takes is that little extra effort.

‘You don’t wait to go to the gym until you get into shape,’ Taylor states. He explains that you shouldn’t just be networking when you need a job, you should be doing it all the time. Building a rapport with people is essential before approaching them for potential job opportunities.

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