Hiring committees at Google usually consist of four to five members who have had prior interview experience and understand the hiring attributes. At Google, the committees include peers and managers of various levels and a cross-functional member who can assess partnership ability. There are specific hiring committees reviewing candidates within each function of the company, so Engineering committees review engineering hires, Sales committees review sales hires, and People Operations committees review HR hires.

Just as interviewers need practice and experience, so do new members of hiring committees. At Google, the first three visits to hiring committee are considered “shadowing.” During the shadow phase, new members are encouraged to participate in the discussions; later, the more experienced members will review their written feedback, answer questions, and help get them calibrated.

Before building a hiring committee of your own you'll want to:

Learn the research.

• Smaller committees are shown to be more efficient, better coordinated, and reach more optimal outcomes.

• Odd-sized committees seem to have a competitive advantage — such a composition can foster a productive, dissenting minority.

• Committee members with a variety of backgrounds (e.g., expertise, skills, education, tenure) can improve the quality of discussion and lead to better decision making.

Understand the benefits. Sitting on a hiring committee can be a beneficial experience for employees for several reasons:

• Participating in a hiring committee is rewarding. You’ll directly contribute to growing your company by weighing in on hiring decisions. You’re also given the responsibility of providing guidance and feedback to the interviewers in your organization.
• You get to network. This is a great opportunity to network across various teams.
• You gain more visibility and a deeper understanding of hiring. This is a critical part of growing the organization and fostering culture ownership.