The Average Time Taken to Assess Job Expertise and Cultural Fit was 1 to 2 Days.

Specter Interview. kt cloud

• Client Company Name : kt cloud

• Industry : Portal and Other Internet Information Mediation Services

• Number of Employees : Approximately 611 (2023. 04)

Three-Line Summary

• It was challenging to closely verify the fit with the applicant while minimizing hurdles.

• Reference checks serve as another interviewer, providing assistance in judgment as an ‘external expert.’

• The quality of interviews has improved through multifaceted evaluations and in-depth talent verification via Specter.

Specter Interview.
kt cloud Kim Seong Hwan HR Team

Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself briefly.

My name is Kim Seong-hwan, and I work in the HR team at kt cloud.

Just as there is a life cycle from cradle to grave, I am responsible for planning and considering the entire life cycle of a kt cloud, from the recruitment stage of external talents who have not yet connected with kt cloud, to helping individuals adapt to the company and grow alongside it.

kt cloud is the No. 1 Cloud/IDC specialized company in South Korea, leading corporate innovation. It was established as a new corporation on April 1st of last year by separating the cloud and Internet Data Center (IDC) business from KT, a digital platform company, through an in-kind investment.

As the only cloud service provider in the country with its own data centers and network infrastructure, kt cloud has been rapidly growing over the past year since its spin-off, with many outstanding talents from various fields joining us as a driving force for growth.

Based on this, we have recognized the growth potential of the industry and kt cloud's market competitiveness, securing a large-scale investment of about 600 billion won in May. Our revenue increased by 22% and operating profit by 33% compared to the previous year, proving our continuous growth potential.

Please tell me about the talent philosophy and organizational culture that kt cloud aims for.

As a member of No. 1 kt cloud, the goal is to become a talent who can take pride in being No. 1. By establishing a "professional" standard from the perspective of the market and customers, empathizing with "responsible autonomy," and approaching everything with a "challenging mindset," one can be recognized as a talent by both oneself and others.

Since kt cloud has become independent from the larger kt organization, which consists of about 20,000 employees, it aims for a faster, younger, and more dynamic organizational culture. With an average age in the late 30s, kt cloud promotes a horizontal organizational culture by abolishing ranks and unifying titles, encouraging quick communication.

The company's competitiveness stems from its excellent human resources, so at the organizational level, kt cloud supports the growth of individual capabilities and provides institutional support to help each person become the best expert in their respective fields.

What is the recruitment process at kt cloud, and what aspects do you focus on the most?

The selection process consists of six main stages: [Resume Screening – Personality Test – Practical Interview – Reference Check – Executive Interview – Salary Negotiation]. We put significant effort into thoroughly verifying job expertise and cultural fit.

Additionally, for experienced candidates, deciding to transition to kt cloud can be a considerable dilemma. Therefore, we strive to provide comprehensive explanations about kt cloud's unique systems and competency-based compensation structure, ensuring we do our utmost to assist with compensation and the decision to join.

What is the most challenging part of the recruiting process?

It is challenging to thoroughly assess the fit with the candidate
while minimizing the hurdles

I believe that verifying how well kt cloud and prospective candidates fit together is ultimately the essence of the recruitment process.

It is also important to ensure that each step operates organically rather than in isolation. Among these steps, the verification process must be thorough while minimizing the hurdles for the candidates, which is both crucial and the most challenging aspect.

Therefore, given the limited time available for interviews, it is realistically difficult to complete all necessary verifications within that timeframe. As a result, we have made personality assessments and reference checks mandatory to ensure that a concentrated and thorough evaluation is conducted.

Did you conduct reference checks before implementing Specter?
I'm curious about why you decided to implement Specter!

Reference checks serve as another interviewer
that helps provide insights as an ‘external expert’

When recruiting for experienced professionals, verifying previous work experience is crucial for assessing the fit in terms of culture and job competencies, which is why reference checks are necessary.

While training internal interviewers is important, I believe that including "external experts" as another interviewer can help provide insights into the candidates. These external experts are not distant individuals but rather colleagues, supervisors, or HR personnel from the candidate's current or previous workplaces who know the candidate well.

After the launch of kt cloud, we established a recruiting process and sequentially introduced two talent verification tools in addition to interviews: personality assessments and reference checks.

In particular, we had previous experiences conducting reference checks internally and using other agencies, so we focused on the cost-effectiveness and validity of the reference reports.

Conducting reference checks over the phone can introduce subjectivity from the report writer, and the information can be either overly refined or not refined enough, making it difficult to utilize. However, using the Specter platform allows us to ask the same questions to multiple respondents, enabling a more objective comparison of their answers, which is beneficial for our assessment.

Additionally, since every day is crucial in the recruiting process for experienced positions, it is essential to conduct the selection process as quickly as possible. Therefore, we determined that Specter, which can complete the reference check process within an average of 1 to 2 days, is a suitable choice.

In conclusion, we decided to implement Specter as it is a solution that minimizes the impact on recruiting lead time, costs, and the burden on candidates.

When deciding to implement Specter, were there any concerns?

The biggest concern was whether the text-based reference inquiry through an online platform could work effectively, as opposed to the traditional in-depth questioning conducted by professional consultants. There was also doubt about whether it would be possible to collect proper references using only designated referees.

During the pre-implementation meeting, Specter shared several case studies from their clients, which helped alleviate some of the concerns, particularly regarding the fact that there was ultimately no significant difference in the verification results, even with designated referees.

Additionally, after actually using the service, I was surprised to see that the reference was registered within just three days through the process established by Specter, without any direct contact with the referees. Moving forward, I look forward to the continuous updates of the questionnaire design for deeper insights into strengths and weaknesses based on experiences with candidates, as well as enhanced blind comments.

How are you utilizing Specter, and what experiences do you have?

We were able to uncover the strengths of a nervous candidate that they couldn't fully demonstrate during the interview through reference checks and additional interviews

We are using external perspectives to further validate the culture fit between candidates and kt cloud and their capabilities. Instead of simply deciding on a candidate's acceptance or rejection in recruitment based on the reference check results from Specter, we utilize the strengths and weaknesses revealed in the reference checks to connect with previous evaluation results. This serves as supplementary material for additional validation during the final executive interview.

We also considered at which stage to utilize Specter, and we adjusted the order of reference checks after the first and second interviews to assess effectiveness. Conducting the reference checks after the executive interview would lower the hurdles for candidates, but it could also overturn the perspectives built during previous evaluations based on the reference check results. Therefore, we decided to conduct the reference checks at a stage prior to the executive interview, where it would be mutually beneficial and not burdensome for both the candidates and the company.

In the Specter reference report, we benefit from the secret comments written by the reviewers, which are often more candid than expected. The Specter team confidently stated that the responses are more objective than those given over the phone, and this has proven to be true. (Laughs)

From the HR team's perspective, there are now many more objective clues to validate the reference data, rather than just relying on intuitive comments, making the internal reporting process more meaningful.

For candidates, when it is difficult to adequately showcase their strengths through just the application and interview processes, they can benefit from the assistance of Specter’s reference checks. In fact, there were instances where nervous candidates displayed somewhat passive behavior or made comments that could be misinterpreted negatively during the interview. However, through Specter’s reference checks and additional interviews, we were able to confirm their passionate nature when it comes to work and examples of how they have delivered results, which helped us avoid missing out on excellent talent.

Since the implementation of Specter, have there been any improvements or changes?

The quality of interviews has improved due to multifaceted evaluations and in-depth talent assessments through Specter

"It has become an opportunity to learn more deeply about the candidates. I believe that the recruiting process is not just a one-sided 'evaluation' of candidates by the company but rather a process where both the company and the candidates get to know each other's fit. Ultimately, it is a process of determining how well they match, which requires many hints, and Specter helps in that regard.

In the limited time and space of the interview, we were able to supplement the characteristics of candidates identified in the initial personality tests and the strengths of candidates that were not sufficiently highlighted in their applications through the opinions of 'external experts' mentioned earlier.

Additionally, in executive interviews, the proportion of questions related to candidates' personalities and cultural fit has increased based on Specter's reference checks.

Since the introduction of the reference reports written by external experts (referees), there has been an increase in external data that interviewers can familiarize themselves with, allowing for a more multifaceted evaluation of candidates. It is not simply a matter of judging whether a candidate is 'good' or 'bad' or 'right' or 'wrong'; rather, it is beneficial to specifically verify from the perspectives of job suitability and culture fit, and the quality of interviews has improved based on in-depth talent assessments.

As an HR manager, I feel proud to be a strategic partner contributing to the company's growth by effectively utilizing reference checks in line with HR tech trends.

Moreover, I believe that Specter can be helpful not only in the recruiting process but also in future probationary periods and internal organizational assessments to verify organizational capabilities and culture fit. I am looking forward to the continuity in HR-related tasks."

You're using it well, so we feel proud too :)

How are you guiding candidates regarding the Specter reference check?

We understand that some applicants may find the Specter service unfamiliar, and we believe that the burden of the reference check itself can be significant. Therefore, we focus on reducing the psychological burden on applicants and correctly conveying the purpose of the reference check.

The reference check is not about background investigations; rather, it provides an opportunity to objectively present various strengths and weaknesses that applicants may have difficulty articulating on their own, through the opinions of external experts. This allows us to verify, based on empirical evidence, whether kt cloud is truly a good fit for the applicant.

Additionally, we explain that this is not a non-designated referee method where information about the applicant flows to the company without their knowledge. Instead, applicants can designate referees from their previous or current workplaces who can provide a fair evaluation, and they can also explain the purpose of the process themselves. As a result, the percentage of applicants who have expressed their intention to withdraw from the reference check process has been less than 5% so far."

If a colleague asks, “What do you think about using Specter?”
what do you think you would say?

Let’s try it out first and then talk about it!

I also had concerns about whether it would be a really good service, but those worries were alleviated during the meeting with Specter, thanks to the friendly explanations from the consultants and the opportunity to try it out for free. So, I would say let's try it out first and then talk about it.

Even though many companies have similar recruiting processes, they can differ in detail. I believe that to know when it would be helpful to conduct a reference check for each company and each process, one must try it out directly in their own company.

The fact that Specter provides ample opportunities to review whether the data accumulated through their free reference checks aligns well with our company's recruiting process and that kt cloud is effectively utilizing the advantages of Specter that I mentioned earlier makes me want to recommend it.

As someone with experience, if you were to give tips to HR personnel on utilizing Specter?

First, pay close attention to the common reference points mentioned by multiple referees. Among those, carefully observe any differing opinions or confidential comments and connect them with the results of previous assessments.

These insights can be verified through the additional conversation request feature with the referees, and they can also be emphasized during interviews, so please make sure to utilize these opportunities fully.

Could you please share a brief comment about your interview experience?

As an experientialist, I would like to say that instead of spending time pondering whether to try Specter or not, I strongly recommend that you, like us, apply for an experience and actually use it. This way, you can transform your thoughts into a productive discussion on how to integrate them into your company's recruitment process to attract talent that fits your organization better!

To the potential applicants and future members from kt cloud reading this, don't hesitate to apply! You won't truly understand its value until you join!

I felt a sense of partnership with Specter through today's interview, and I am looking forward to building a productive and positive relationship together in the future. :)