Interviewing At Pelican

By Rimpee Kukreja

As interest in working for a reputed FinTech gets intense, job applications are piling up. For FinTechs like Pelican AI, being in domains like OpenBanking Compliance and Payments, it is all the more difficult as it sees some of the smartest and brightest minds strive for the openings available..

Our dynamic Global Head of HR, Rimpee Kukreja shares some insights for aspirants on the hiring process and the kind of talent she is looking for. She discusses the process and strategies to land an offer for many of the most sought-after positions in the industry

At Pelican, we believe in hiring the right talent, with the right skills and also is a great culture fit who is able to work constructively as part of the team, hence we build careers not jobs. Our average employee tenure is 5.6 years, and this makes us considerably trustworthy and credible and that’s why we believe in nurturing our talent right from the time they are associated with us.

Our interviewing process has always been transparent and built in a spirit of fairness . with a robust hiring framework for assessing the potential of each candidates.

Here, we give a snapshot on our hiring process and what our candidates can expect  when they interview at Pelican:-

We have categorized the interview process for each role and defined it right from Campus hires, Junior to Senior Levels roles.

The different stages of the hiring process are

Stage 1: Recruiter & Manager Screening

Stage 2: Skills Testing/ Aptitude Test

Stage 3: Telephonic / In-person Interview Technical, HOD & HR Interview

(The direct one-on-one interview, which can take a behavioural, competency-based or situational approach)

Stage 1: Recruiter & Manager Screening

Approximately 15 -20 mins

The recruiter screening round is the first interaction made with the prospect candidate with our hiring team / partners. The hiring team / partners provides an overview of Pelican, describes the job roles and responsibilities and makes sure that the role is aligned with your skill set.

A brief review of your work experience, what the candidate is looking for in next job role, discussion on candidates’ credentials and overall assessment. This discussion is also to clarify unclear items on the candidates resume and discuss queries / concerns, if any.

Typical questions during a screening interview include:

• Tell me about yourself
• Describe your work history
• Reason to apply for the job etc.

The hiring team / partners shares the candidate’s details with the hiring manager collected during the recruiter screening stage and seek for their feedback to take it to the next step.

Stage 2: Skills Testing/ Aptitude Test

Approximately 1.5 hours

The Aptitude Test is the first stage interview for all Trainee Hires/ Campus Hires.

We use this step to assess and understand the candidates’ competency for the role and the questionnaire is assessed in the following parameters which are mainly: - Numerical, Verbal, Logical, IQ, Technical Skills related to (Java, C, PLSQL, Testing) & Business Domain question.  Each Parameter helps us to determine where can the candidate can fit in terms of the role basis your scoring in that parameter, it should be relatively easy, if the candidate knows his/her subject well 😊

Stage 3: Telephonic / In-person Interview Technical, HOD & HR Interview

Once the hiring manager screens the candidates resume and details shared by the hiring team /partners, the next step is Telephonic / In – person Interview with the technical panel.

For campus hires, this is the second stage of the interview once they clear the aptitude test.

The shortlisted candidates are interviewed in the below stages / levels.

During the technical interview, the interviewer will assess your technical knowledge, skills and abilities as they relate to the needs of the specific job the candidate is applying for. In addition to assessing your technical knowledge and skills, the interviewer will also be looking for your thought process while solving problems and how the candidate will fit into the company's culture.

This interview can be also a group interview. This is a chance for the candidate to meet the people who would be working with or your immediate manager.

Typical Questions can be based on: - Real Life Scenarios/ Situation Based Questions, Code Assessing.

In - person Interview #2– Technical Interview                         Approximately 45 - 60 minutes

This is ideally the second and an important stage of hiring for mid to senior level recruitments / hiring were the second technical interview is led with the ‘Head of the department’ / Group Leader of the team, who the role reports into.

During the call / Interview, the Head of the department / Group Lead will understand whether the candidate has understood the role responsibility clearly and access our overall experience and understand your long-term aspirations and expectations for the role. They may also have some questions about your previous interviews and real-life scenarios/ Code Assessments and what the candidate can bring to Pelican.

The process can be long, and the candidate may have a challenging questions to answer, however it will a learning take away, for sure!!

In-person Interview #3— Human Resources               Approximately 30–45 minutes

This is the last step of our hiring process which involves assessing candidates for understanding if they are culturally fit in the company. The discussion will be mainly on behavioural set of questions to determine personality, values, skills, etc. and finally deciding on how candidates will be moved forward or eliminated based on the HR interview.

Overall credentials check and verification can be checked at this stage along with employee references. The hiring team / partner will connect with the candidate afterwards to see how things went and make sure the candidate has all the information the candidate may need.

The process can be long, and the candidate may have a challenging questions to answer, however it will a learning take away, for sure!!.

What Next!!

A final discussion on your candidature will be discussed with all the relevant hiring panel/stakeholders whether to extend the offer or not.

If your overall assessment is positive, the candidate will hear from us very soon! 🎉 and if its unsuccessful, the hiring team / partner team will call the candidate to let the candidate know and provide the candidate with the feedback.