How to Discover right candidate for Selenium Automation Role
With automation becoming an integral part of agile testing, Selenium has become the most sought after automation testing tool due to its various benefits.
This has increased the demand for a highly-skilled Selenium Automation Tester.
But among the numerous certified Selenium testers out there how do you discover the right person for your firm?
It’s no hidden fact that hiring the right person at the right time for the right role can be a daunting task for most hiring managers.
When we talk about the Selenium Automation role, a wrong hire can not only cause a major hindrance in your projects but also a huge loss of your time and money.
Hence you must have the right hiring strategy in place so that you don’t miss out on that right candidate or make a wrong hire.
We have listed down some key factors below, which you can keep in mind while hiring, to discover the right candidate for the Selenium Automation role.
- Go beyond the resume
- Read their body language
- Give them a project or question to solve
- Identify life long learners
- Determine their behavioral traits
- Go beyond the resume
Go beyond the resume
Though resumes are considered to be the best indicators for a candidate’s skills, it’s always important to go beyond what’s mentioned in it.
No resume will contain negative information in it.
It is also difficult to recognize the authenticity of the information mentioned in the resume during the interview process.
Also, at times important information might be missed out in the resume by the applicant.
Ask questions related to the skills and responsibilities you are looking for.
Check for candidate’s potential and if their aspirations match your job role.
To save time you can avoid asking questions related to previous work experiences and skills mentioned in the resumes, as the candidate is always prepared for these questions.
Read their body language
This could be the major giveaway for identifying candidates who might fake their experience and skills.
Ask specific questions related to the skills you are looking for and the details mentioned in the resume.
Observe the candidate while they answer.
Their body language, hand gestures and eye contact can give you an insight into how confident the candidate is about his skills and accomplishments.
Its always good to have a set of Selenium related questions ready with you so that you don’t slip on some important topics.
Make sure to have the level of the questions similar to the skill set and experience level you are hiring for.
Click on the link at the end of the blog and download a list of Top 20 Selenium Interview Questions for Experienced Testers.
You can always keep it handy in your next hiring session.
Give them a project or question to solve
Assign the candidate a mini project or ask to create a test plan.
Give them tasks where you can measure their skills such as the kind of framework they are using, how efficient their test design, architecture, and scripting knowledge are, and how experienced they are in developing test cases and test plans.
You can also check their knowledge of Selenium IDE, Webdriver, and Grid. It is advisable to give these tests within a time frame.
Having a time constraint will help you understand the experience and skill level of the candidate better.
Make sure the questions and tasks are at par with the level of candidature you are hiring for.
You can refer to our blog where we have listed down the Top 20 Selenium Interview Questions for an entry-level position.
Download the PDF below for Interview Questions for Experienced Testers.
Identify curious life long learners
Candidates with great potential tend to be curious.
Learning is a continuous process and a person with the right attitude to learn will grow in your firm by adding new skills and tools and become an invaluable resource.
Selenium may be the most widely used tool now but the demand for this automation testing tool might change in the future due to the changing technology and various other benefits a new tool might provide.
So it’s imperative to have a tester who is not only well versed with automation techniques but also a curious learner to learn about the new skills.
Ask questions related to troubleshooting the tool, check their knowledge related to other trending tools in the market.
Your right candidate should be curious and willing to learn new technologies in the automation testing field.
Determine their behavioral traits
It’s rightly said that skills can be taught but attitude is forever.
Though technical skill is vital for the Selenium Automation Role, the behavioral skills of the candidate should not be neglected.
Along with being technically sound your right candidate also needs to be a cultural fit in your organization.
The right cultural fit will have increased not only employee engagement but also more productivity.
This in turn will lead to a lower turnover rate.
Incorporate personality tests and questionnaires along with the skill tests.
While setting these questions keep in mind the key skills required for a Selenium Automation tester such as efficient communication, time management, team coordination, problem-solving, and client interfacing skills.
Hire the right person for the job in less than 10min
Two major things that you need to keep in mind while hiring for the Selenium Automation role is recognizing fake experienced candidates and avoiding spending much time with the wrong candidate.
Asking questions beyond the resume and observing the candidate’s body language while they answer can give you a great insight into the candidate’s skills and level of knowledge about Selenium.
This will help you discover the real truth about the candidate in less than 10 min.
You can further decide to continue for the next step or go with the next candidate.
Making these quick decisions about the candidate will not only better the time utilization with the right candidate but also speed up your hiring process.
Conclusion:
Hiring the right candidate has never been an easy task but with the right hiring strategy, you can make the best choice.
While looking for the best candidate for the Selenium Automation role don’t just analyze the skills they possess or the past experiences they hold, look for their future potential. Such a candidate will be a great asset to your firm.
You can incorporate the above-mentioned tips in your next hiring strategy and also download our checklist below for Top 20 Selenium Interview Questions for Experienced Testers.
Rubel Chowdhury
Informative.