Hello! My name is Sophia Dongauser, I lead a team of selection of IT-specialists in Lamoda. Long story short: not for the first year we have attracted IT specialists from all over Russia and the CIS and, in our opinion, have learned how to do it effectively.
IT specialist selection teamWhat is most annoying candidates? Among the negative points that IT-specialists note, four lead by a large margin: the incompetence of recruiters and, as a result, the poor quality of the first contact; lengthy selection process; academic tasks at the interview, not related to the real "combat" tasks. And last but not least - the absence or slurring of feedback after the interview.
Knowing this, we formed our own selection standards.
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The first. IT recruitment today requires us to understand the subject area at a level sufficient for the initial evaluation of technical candidates. Every IT recruiter at Lamoda has a basic understanding of all the company's technologies, which allows us to speak the same language with the engineers.
The second. Relatively short one- / two-stage interviews with quick feedback is a model to which Lamoda, though not immediately, but successfully arrived.
Third. We transformed the interview-exam into the conversation of professionals and left only those verification tasks that help the candidate to better understand what awaits him at work.
And the last. Our task was to turn dry formal feedback after an interview into a useful consultation.
To show how we have improved recruitment at Lamoda, I’ll go through the stages that a candidate usually goes through before starting working with us.
True Job Description
We start by defining clear requirements for the candidate’s profile, and then we develop a comprehensive job description and PR campaign. Development is a candidate's market. And in our case, the candidate we know very well: for example, Lamoda has been working with PHP developers for more than seven years. During this time, we have formed a knowledge base about other companies, projects and refined the check-list of questions before a personal meeting. We know how to invite to a meeting those who are more likely to meet our criteria.
Some statistics: for the position of Golang- and PHP-developer, we have an average of one out of four candidates. Often we close a job after a single interview.A neatly worded profile and understanding of the market helps us prepare a personalized letter to the candidate with a relevant proposal.
Sergey Byvaltsev, 1C developer :
“In the summer of 2018, I was looking for a job, and at a certain point I already had an offer from another company. But then Sonia wrote to me. Her letter stood out among other eychara proposals. The job description was alive - not just a formal, typical set of phrases that are found in the vast majority of recruitment letters. And most importantly, the essence of the upcoming tasks was described clearly and in detail. ”
IT professionals tend to meticulously study position requirements. A “sheet” with lots of developer points is easy to scare off. Especially when these requirements are not ranked and not reasoned. Therefore, we, in search of a front-end with knowledge of React, will not add Angular and Vue, separated by a comma, if they are not used in the team.
This is how one of our recent posts on the Typical Programmer website looked like:

View and evaluate the descriptions of all vacancies can be on the site
tech.lamoda.ru .
We know that the candidate wants to see a payroll. However, in the text of the vacancy, we never specify the salary. First of all, not for reasons of corporate policy and the NDA, but because in terms of material remuneration of labor, we are flexible. Seeing that we are a technically strong specialist, we try to focus on his financial expectations.
Another reason not to publish salary grids: there are no universal standards for grades; the wording of the senior developer in the two organizations can mean very different levels of qualification and, accordingly, the amount of remuneration.
How to discuss in one and a half hours and not torture the candidate
In shaping our approach to interviews, we set the task of keeping the balance: on the one hand, we need to qualitatively check whether a person is suitable for us as an individual and professional, on the other - to make meetings comfortable for a candidate, including to save his time.
In the development departments, the interview is conducted in two stages. The first is the main interview. It involves both tmlidy and recruiter. The meeting lasts about an hour and a half, rarely longer. The first stage is not only a technical interview. Timlides in Lamoda along with the recruiter communicate with candidates for topics that relate to their motivation, goals, soft skills.
The second stage of the interview is a short meeting-acquaintance with the head of the development, it can be held in the online format. On it, the applicant will learn more about the company's strategy, about other projects, about development opportunities within Lamoda. Well, for a development manager, this is a better opportunity to learn five minutes to a new colleague.
Not an exam, but professional talk
We try to give the candidate those tasks that will be close to the functionality and essence of the project with which he will have to deal with Lamoda. For example, for a backend developer, design a “shopping cart” on the site. If he does not have experience with concrete solutions, we will briefly outline the state of affairs and tools. We arrive at the final decision in a dialogue. Timlid can suggest the right direction, and if a person is at a dead end, then tell how he would cope with the task himself.
Anton Volozhanin, backend developer of the Lamoda.ru web version :
“Several people spoke to me during the interview. Asked questions about Python, architecture, computer science. Then there was a meeting with Timur Nurutdinov, head of the development of the e-commerce platform. With him, we discussed more specific things technological plan. It was an interview, but it passed somehow smoothly and imperceptibly. I was surprised that in Lamoda you are not being interviewed at all. Everything is built so that they discuss with you on an equal footing. You don’t know something - they don’t push it, but transfer the dialogue to another direction ”.
One interview - several projects to choose from
The composition of the interviewers depends on who and what position we are looking for. When searching for a developer along with a recruiter in an interview, team leaders with vacancies are certainly involved. Periodically, other team members may join.
Igor Mosyagin, R & D developer :
“I’ve been in Lamoda for a year and a half. He came here after being fed up with science, and choosing between several companies. The technical interview with me was conducted by two team leaders, whose teams had vacancies at that time. I was immediately disposed to the company by the fact that I almost immediately got the opportunity to communicate directly and on business with those people with whom in the case of hiring I would start working directly. Yes, there were tasks to write the code, we analyzed where and why I was wrong, and what the young man was in, but it all took place in a comfortable and constructive atmosphere, and the feeling that I was in the exam did not arise. ”
We offer positions for growth
First of all, it is important for us how quickly the novice will be able to cope with real work projects. We are ready to take programmers without regular experience with Golang-developers, but with a background in Python and PHP. With the help of our internal training system within the framework of the onboarding program, people in a week or two delve into Go from scratch, after which they code on it, solving “combat” tasks.
Anton Volozhanin, backend developer of the Lamoda.ru web version :
“I have been in IT for a long time: I was both a developer, and a team leader, and a project. The last place of work before Lamoda is the autotester at Kaspersky Lab. I have been writing in Python for a long time and I wanted to work where I could code on it and on Golang - I was very much drawn into delving into it. I found a vacancy on Facebook - I saw the repost of one of the company's recruiters. The option seemed perfect to me: they use Python here and promised to teach Go, since it is in production. ”
Recently, in the beginning of 2018, in the process of one of the interviews, we realized that the applicant for the senior position possesses management potential, which we told him about. We took him to the team with the reserve that he will soon enter the role of team leader.
Daniil Zinenko, backend developer, and then Lamoda platform e-commerce timlide :
“The interview began quite normally. I claimed the role of a senior developer, but it turned out that recruiters recognized me as a leader at the stage of dating. Then there was a technical interview, and then the head of the online platform development joined. With him we discussed issues of management, Agile-methodology, how to work with people and with tasks.
When they started talking directly to me about the role of the Timlid, I refused at first: I don’t really believe in the story when a person from the outside comes to the team and immediately becomes a Timlide or Technical Lead. We agreed that I would start as a senior developer, and then we will see how things will be. As a result, four months after starting work, I am in the process of formally signing an offer for the position of the team leader. In general, I was lucky with the team - all the cool guys. At first they told, they told. Plus, the head helped with advice, reduced with whom it was necessary, and also gave detailed introductory information in the form of articles in Confluence. ”
No "chemistry", only clearly described criteria.
As an HR, we purposefully teach our timblids to conduct interviews competently, so that in the end not phrases like “something chemistry has not appeared”, but rational arguments sounded. So that the hiring manager understands what issues to check the interpersonal skills, adaptability, leadership qualities of a potential colleague, what positive and negative markers to track in his remarks and behavior.
Timur Nurutdinov, Head of Online Platform Development :
“Dasha (approx. Senior recruiter) has developed a training for timlidov“ How to determine soft skills at the interview. ” For me, the key result of this training was that now the team leaders, at the profile formation stage, are able to choose the qualities that a candidate should possess. I am 100% sure that we equally understand what soft skills are important for us. ”
Professional colleagues and friends are the same people.
The second stage of the interview also allows us to ensure a cultural fit to the team. This is especially important for us, because in Lamoda we work not just with colleagues, but with like-minded people and friends. When we formulated for ourselves the distinctive features of the Lamoda culture, among other things, we noted our friendliness and openness.
Pavel Savelyev, Head of Business Process Automation :
“When I meet a person, I pay attention to how quickly he thinks, how open, energetic he is, he perceives criticism and is ready to admit mistakes. I almost don’t look at Hard Skills because I’ve already checked them out at the first stage. If a candidate has a sense of humor, I confess, this is a good sign for me. ”
In the summer, in our office, Fashion Fridays periodically take place - Friday thematic meetings, where we also call ex-Lamod members, with whom we continue to keep in touch, and sometimes the finalists for this or that position. By visiting our Fashion Fridays, a candidate can see potential colleagues and managers in an informal setting and create an impression about the atmosphere in the team. "
Sergey Byvaltsev, 1C developer :
“I'm from Transnistria, so the first interview in Lamoda was via Skype. The guys asked me what I did, explained what I had to do in the company. I sent a sample of my code. A little later, Lamoda sent me an offer.
Soon I arrived in Moscow, where I had an interview in another company. Conditions and there and there promised approximately equal. But Sonya again came in contact with me and suggested: “But let us see you in the office, meet you?” Agreed for the evening. It was just Fashion Friday. Sonia met me and showed everything, and then I met the guys: with the head of the department, the project manager and a representative from the business that deals with logistics. All rested and talked. In the end, the team and the pleasant atmosphere determined my choice. ”
Inside Lamoda there is an internal recommendations program for the selection of technology specialists - Code the Fashion. According to its rules, any employee of the company can recommend a friend or acquaintance for a specific vacancy. Of course, we close all positions on competitive terms and do not make preferences for “protege”. Another thing is that with the help of recommendations we will learn valuable insights. Usually, a colleague not only throws off the link profile recommended in the social network, but also shares what project they worked with him on and how he showed himself in action.
Over the past six months, we have closed 12% of technical vacancies through internal recommendations and are increasing this share. And a year ago it was about half.
If employees want their friends and relatives to work alongside them, for us this is a company health marker.Offer in two days
The decision on candidates for Lamoda can be made quickly due to the formalization of feedback. During the day after the interview, the timlid provides the recruiter with feedback by filling out a special form for the candidate.
Here is an example of feedback after an interview with the Android development team.

We have reduced the deadline for giving feedback to the candidate to two days. This is on average - it happens, we make an offer immediately after the interview. Sometimes the “reaction time” increases. However, in such a situation, the recruiter tries to inform the candidate when the decision is made.
Igor Mosyagin, R & D developer :
“When I interviewed in Lamoda, I lived in another country. For a few days I arrived on business to Moscow, and we were able to agree that all interviews would take place during this period, in a short time. As a result, the whole process took four days, after which I got an offer. It met my expectations, and I accepted it. ”
Failure: not blacklist, but consultation
When dealing with refusals, our main task was to turn the formal procedure into a tool that will help us improve the conversion funnel in the future.
Previously, we gave the applicant feedback according to the standard scheme: they called and spoke in the most general formulation, which, unfortunately, the decision was made in favor of another candidate. Now an IT recruiter calls, or writes to a candidate, reports that he has identified certain weak points, and adds: “If you are interested, you are ready to give you a detailed answer about what was wrong and what can be improved.” The response to this proposal exceeded our expectations: approximately half of the people whose candidacy we rejected after the interview requested a detailed feedback. And most importantly, the approach works - developers learn with our help from mistakes and after some time come back in touch.
Vitaly Bendik, Lamoda Android application development team :
“One of the contenders for the position of Android-developer, whose candidacy we rejected, after refusing the general formulation, wanted to know the details about his strengths and weaknesses. We gave about this answer:
“There are gaps in knowledge of the platform, it is worth refreshing in memory how the main components of the Android application work, the attributes of the components in AndroidManifest (exported, configChanges) plus the features of the IntentService. Understand how Looper, Handler and MessageQueue interact with each other. Understand the features of the implementation of Parcelable and how it differs from Serializable. As for Java, you should pay attention to multithreading. There is also a misunderstanding of the types of exceptions (Throwable heirs) and their differences. Regarding the knowledge of Kotlin: we recommend repeating why data classes are needed, what their limitations and peculiarities are, and also find out which cases sealed classes can be useful for. ”
Ex-Lamod members return to us ... sometimes twice
Our colleagues who left the company several years ago regularly return to Lamoda. In such cases, we tend to abandon the standard interview scheme in favor of having lunch with a former colleague. After all, we know his professional skills and saw him at work. What is important here is another thing: to discuss what project our “repatriate” could join, in what capacity and under what conditions.
Usually they return to a specific team or manager. Also, they are often written to our IT recruiters with a desire to return, since over the years of working with them, trust has developed.
Getting to work: a bet not on speed, but on common sense
When all the agreements have been reached and the offer has been accepted, we will coordinate with the successful candidate the date of his return to work. In most cases, he goes to us from another company and often needs a break. For example, he wants to take advantage of “interworking” for a long-delayed vacation. Regarding the timing of the start of work, we are loyal: we try to go to meet the applicant and wait for him as long as necessary.
Sergey Istomin, DevOps:
“In Lamoda, I have been working for about six months as a system engineer, doing a Big Data project.
The interview was conducted by my current supervisor. The conversation took place in an informal setting. We talked about current problems, ways and methods of solving them, about the development of the project.
After the decision was made that we were approaching each other, it became necessary to agree on the date of departure for work. I clarified that I need to finish the current project, transfer cases and have a rest. It suited the company: they agreed to wait for me for a month and a half. ”
We help with moving to Moscow
The headquarters of Lamoda is located in Moscow. Often we hire people from other cities, or even from other CIS countries (then the first stage of the interview is online). For such cases, a relocation package is provided in Lamoda. We help the new employee with financial relocation - we reimburse the cost of rail or air tickets and pay a welcome bonus.
Artem Tsepkov, senior PHP developer in the b2b platform :
“I am two months old in Lamoda. Relocation was originally planned. More precisely, he was not against moving to Moscow from St. Petersburg. Once agreed, I moved. As a result, Lamoda paid me the tickets, plus I received the first part of the welcome bonus. When I was looking for an apartment in the capital, they met me, they let me go from work and Dasha consulted at all stages. ”
Support during the trial period
In many companies, the recruiter’s area of ​​responsibility ends at the moment when the offer is accepted. We stay with the candidate for at least three months. During this time, the recruiter must pass three meetings with the candidate, at which they, in particular, “check the clock”, in order to understand whether the newcomer is normally mastered in Lamoda and whether his expectations and reality do not diverge. It happens to the recruiter to more easily report problems. For example, because to a beginner they seem ridiculous: “I don’t want to tug over a team leader”. By and large, this is natural. Since the first interview, the recruiter spends so much time with the applicant that he often finds himself in Lamoda as the closest person to him. And we continue to help the employee after his probationary period.
Medium diving help including informal meetings. Once in two weeks we organize parties for new ones - with board, “Mafia” and film shows. Such an operational and at the same time mild networking, according to the feedback from the newcomers themselves, makes it easier to adapt at first.
Alexander Smolentsev, developer of DWH:
“Regular games among beginners are organized by Vasya, our recruiter. We have a chat where we add new ones and where we choose a convenient date. It turned out that I stood at the origins of LaMafia in 2017, then we thought that it would be great to get together in the evening after work to play mafia in a pleasant atmosphere. Now, LaMafia is not only a game of mafia and a variety of backgrounds, it is also a platform for informal communication with interesting people from Lamoda. ”
Also, to quickly immerse yourself in the atmosphere of e-commerce and real-world business tasks, each new employee at Lamoda receives an invitation to take a tour of the warehouse and the photo studio, where you can see with your own eyes the main operational processes for which IT teams create products.
Measuring candidate NPS as a source of useful insights
Of course, we did not manage to build such a hiring process right away. It was a close collaboration between the recruitment team, the department heads and the tmlides themselves. Now we continue to improve our recruitment processes, primarily focusing on candidate experience. The recruitment team measures the candidate NPS monthly and gets useful insights along the way (after passing the interview in Lamoda you will receive a link to a short survey asking you to evaluate the process).
We shared successful practices that worked in our company. Tell us in the comments about your best practices or the best hiring process that you have had to face.