Engage in a thorough process of internal discovery before even posting your job opening!
Employers know that they need more tools, more recruiters, more time and better skills and processes to make a recruiting plan in this market of worker shortages. But prior to all of these and that makes or breaks every recruiting experience is drilling down on precisely what you are trying to accomplish in this role. It’s not enough to know the general position and title—employers must take a deeper dive into what the role demands.
Consider:
1. Have the hiring manager write out what needs to be done. This should include higher- and mid-level tasks, deliverables, reporting structure.
2. Have the role’s supervisor write a mission statement for the position. How does the role fit into the department and the overall organization?
3. Have a direct report provide input on what leadership needs/gaps he/she observes.
4. Think through the range of compensation that the company will accept. Transparency here is essential.
5. Think through what education and experiences are a fit. This includes sizes/revenues of prior companies, industries and geography.
6. Outline the position on hybrid/remote work. It is extremely difficult to think these issues through once a good candidate has presented him/herself.
7. Have a member of the executive team provide a narrative on where the company culture is today and future state. This is not a repetition of the company “commercials.” This needs to be an honest assessment.
All of this data should be presented to HR for some review. Then, all of these data points need to be communicated to the recruiting team. There are several reasons:
1. Recruiters need to know precisely what they are looking for. If they are using the appropriate tools and spending the requisite time they will have more than enough candidates to sift through. But they must narrow the list of possible candidate to a manageable few for consideration.
2. The candidates themselves will be very interested in this information. The point is to share as much of the above as possible. Candidates need real, detailed information to generate interest in the company. Think of the sales term “stickiness”. To create the a reasonable connection between candidate and company, the candidate needs to feel he/she has insight into the actual work. This will repel some candidates. However, in my experience it strongly attracts far more.
3. Having thoroughly outlined what is needed will help the hiring decision makers actually drill down on their hire of choice. Without it, they are prone to make “gut-level” decision based on idiosyncratic or otherwise undesirable criteria.
In short, the best results are fore-ordained at the beginning. Further, when working with your outside recruiters, ensure they are asking all of these questions. If they aren’t, they aren’t the right recruiter for you.
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