Knightec is one of the fastest-growing technology consultancies in Europe, with over 700 employees and 11 offices in Sweden. Their expertise range from the development of digital services, quality assurance, validation, and project management.
Knightec was a company growing fast. So when Per Tjernberg took over as its Talent Acquisition Manager, he knew he had to make major changes.
His team of 4 was already making 600-700 calls and meetings every week with potential candidates. The number of applicants they interviewed every month increased from around 250 to 900—a 260% increase year-on-year. To accommodate this exponential jump, he worked out his options:
– Lengthen the hiring process
– Hire more recruiters
– Automate candidate assessment
Lengthening the hiring process to review the increased number of candidates would mean that the company could not keep up the rate they were acquiring new business. Hiring more recruiters would incur additional wages, increase the company’s cost per hire, and reduce profitability.
That left him with option 3: Automate the candidate assessment.
“We needed some sort of selection tool,” Tjernberg explained. “I knew that it had to be an automated test, it had to handle the volume, and it needed to be validated.”
Researching the market, Tjernberg eventually narrowed his choices down to Alva.
Candidates were also automatically ranked according to their abilities and suitability for the role.
This meant that they could save significant time and focus their attention on interviewing only the best candidates.
This first trial was a success and Alva was implemented in branches at Gothenburg and Lund, to equally positive responses.
The decision was eventually made to roll Alva out company-wide in Aug 2019. With extensive troubleshooting support from Alva’s customer success team, Knightec was able to quickly implement Alva into their workflow.
But there were teething issues at the start. Many hiring managers were unaccustomed to using tests in the selection process, preferring their tried-and-tested method of vetting candidates through cover letters and CVs.
As Tjernberg recalled, “We had a lot of explaining to do. What the test measures, what it doesn’t measure, how to interpret it.”
It took some convincing from Tjernberg and his team, but once they got the company started with Alva, they never looked back.
Despite using Alva for only a few months, Tjernberg can already see clear improvements and results. “Our selection process is now based on something quantifiable … and the people we are meeting for first interviews have a higher general level of quality, and are a better match with our job criteria and organization,” he explained.
Not only was Knightec able to quickly implement Alva into their workflow, the additional tests did not disrupt or fundamentally change their hiring processes. And despite dealing with an increasing number of candidates, the time taken to fill openings has not increased.
Additionally, Alva assesses and ranks candidates using algorithms, data, and test results—resulting in a reduction of unconscious bias during the hiring process. As such, Tjernberg believes that they’ve been hiring more diversely, without actively trying.
Hiring managers who were previously hesitant to try Alva, now don’t want to hire without Alva. “We have managers who say ‘I don’t know if I will meet this candidate. We’ve got to test them first.’” said Tjernberg.
Knightec is projected to grow exponentially in 2020. But together with Alva, Tjernberg is confident his team can keep up with the growth and move closer towards their ultimate goal of being the best talent acquisition organization in the world.
Alva combines established psychology with the latest technology, including machine learning and AI. Our tests are automated, validated, easy to complete, and can assess personality and logical abilities in minutes.
You can also see how a candidate fits into your current team, consolidate candidate evaluations from multiple interviewers, continue evaluating candidates even after they’re hired, and more.
Save time and effort, reduce unconscious bias, and build more dynamic and diverse teams with Alva.
Find out more at www.alvalabs.io
