DemandZEN Hiring Secrets

At DemandZEN, we believe our people are invaluable. They make our culture what we wish for it to be; diverse, motivational, supportive, and bring our core values into reality. (https://demandzen.com/core-values/)  Here’s how we hire the right people:

#1: Seek Out Applicants 

Posting that you’re hiring on all platforms can bring in quite a lot of candidates. However, it is a process to sort through all of the applicants. At DemandZEN, our recruiter does leg work as well. This helps to be more calculated and recruit candidates that would be great people for the job but may not have seen the job posting. 

“DemandZEN employs the latest platforms, tools, and websites to acquaint ourselves with potential candidates initially. Candidates are driven from prospecting efforts, along with inbound applications from multiple apps and websites.”

– Kristen Compton , DemandZEN Recruiter 

#2: Berke Assessment 

All candidates participate in taking a robust personality/job-fit assessment called the Berke Assessment, https://www.berkeassessment.com.  The Berke Assessment measures 7 personality traits, 4 cognitive abilities, and a wide variety of skills. It helps determine candidates’ motivations and abilities then estimate their success in the specific roles within the company. If the candidate takes the entire assessment, this maps them to every job in the company (including CEO!) We desire to find the best seat for our candidates both as they join us and progress with us over time.

An additional benefit of Berke is that it provides a race, age, and gender blind approach to top-of-funnel recruiting. We leverage Berke in conjunction with internal and external recruiting resources to find the best candidates for each role versus those who look or act like our existing employees or managers.

We also utilize the results to gauge whether or not the candidate will likely be a culture fit; this is just as important, if not more, than the candidate’s experience. We’re constantly striving to keep a positive, progressive, and supportive environment here at DemandZEN!

#3: Four-step hiring process

After leveraging technology, analytics and reaching a point where a qualified candidate appears to be a fit – we then move forward with (virtual) in-person interviews to nail down the synergy between the candidate and the company. To keep track of thoughts on candidates throughout the 4-step process, management uses the platform, JazzHR.  JazzHR allows all the hiring managers to keep their notes and hiring decisions in one central location. 

#4: Hire the Person, Not the Resume 

Our Director of People and Culture, Tracy Oakes’, hiring moto is:

“Hire for Passion and Intensity, there’s Training for everything else.” – Nolan Bushnell

Though a resume is essential, strictly looking for previous experience in the role you’re hiring for and nothing else are limiting. When hiring an SDR, we don’t just look for experience as an SDR. Do they have b2c sales experience, marketing experience, have they owned a business? Look at the skills they gained from previous positions and determine how to utilize them in the new potential role!  

We pride ourselves in growing DemandZEN’s culture and strive to find individuals that will help keep that culture alive and grow it in new ways.  This, in turn, will lead to long tenure for our exceptional employees!