CEO of the firm hiring for Ola, Snapdeal, Urban Ladder tells us what high growth companies are looking for in candidates

Belong, a data analytics talent acquisition firm helping companies hire the right talent at the right time, boasts of a dynamic list of clients – from Snapdeal, Practo, Zivame to Ola and Urban ladder.

The reason it has been able to get onboard big names on its platform is because it's solving the recruitment concerns of these companies differently – it’s using big data, search, and predictive analytics to make a recruiter’s job easier. They no longer need to screen thousands of resumes to find ‘hidden gems’ -- but can instead target and engage candidates with surgical precision in just a few clicks.

For this, Belong is using machine learning to optimize the process of shortlisting a candidate based on an individual recruiter’s search patterns. This, the company claims, greatly reduces the effort of a recruiter as it replicates what recruiters and hiring managers try to do when they look at a candidate’s background except the algorithms draw on far more information for an informed decision.

We decided to chat with Vijay Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Belong, to understand what these high growth companies they work with are looking for in candidates.

"They look for an entrepreneurial DNA in their candidates..."

Sharma told Business Insider – “These candidates would have to be ex-entrepreneurs or co-founders or product leaders with experience in building and launching global products from the scratch. People who are comfortable getting their hands dirty, for example, tech leaders who are still comfortable coding.”

He said most of these companies are actively encouraging a “micro-startup” culture within their teams.

"Because many of them are moving into new categories or businesses, they want people who can come onboard and take on business ownership. For a product manager, this could involve P/L metrics,” he added. Additionally, because these companies are building for a global market, they also prefer people with international experience.

Another key aspect, the Belong CEO said, companies are looking out for is - “Why someone is joining them”.

“In the recent past, companies did attract a lot of talent looking for higher salaries and perks. They are still willing to splurge on talent, but they seek strong alignment on vision, culture, and role-fit,” he concluded.

These trends show how India has come a long way in the recruitment journey already. As it continues to evolve, companies like Belong (which are bringing technology to HR) are bound to completely reshape and revolutionize the recruiting landscape in the near future.