Finding and Hiring Great People (Part 1)

Several clients have asked me to help hire for a key position, or coach their teams on effective interviewing. Over many hires and even more interviews, I have worked to make the process more repeatable and less error-prone. This first article covers the groundwork: defining the role and creating the posting.

The groundwork – writing the job description and the posting

The key to successful hiring starts with a solid job description. Not only will it help you write a posting that attracts the right candidates, but it will help you build your interview questions. The job description needs to include:

• Title

• Primary tasks and duties

• Responsibilities and authority

• Reporting relationships (who will their manager be?)

• Qualifications and characteristics (what skills and personality traits do you need for this role?)

• Desired experience

• Organization level (Jr., Intermediate, Manager?)

• Education requirements

• Salary range

These bullet points give you all the information you need to write your job posting, but describing the job is table stakes. Despite what the media may tell you, qualified talent is scarce. Your job posting needs to stand out. Don’t be dry. Let the personality of your company come through. Tell applicants why you’re a great place to work, and what to expect from the culture.

Let your candidates help you screen the resumes

Screening resumes is a drag. With any luck, you’ll get dozens or hundreds of applicants, and trying to whittle that down to 5 or 6 people you want to interview can be really time consuming. Make this more manageable by having the candidates do this for you.

Make the application process clear and relevant to the role. Ask candidates to follow a small number of straightforward instructions, and look at whether their response demonstrates the care and skills the work requires. Treat the application as evidence to consider alongside the rest of the candidate’s experience.

Where it helps assess the role, ask for relevant examples. A designer or writer might share an existing portfolio; another candidate might explain briefly why the role interests them and which experience they would bring. Keep the request proportionate. It should help you learn something useful about the candidate before investing in a full interview.

Where to post

Choose channels that reach people with the experience the role needs. Professional networks, relevant industry communities, job boards, your company website, and staff referrals can all contribute. Track where suitable candidates come from so you can improve the next search.

In the next article, I’ll show you how to make it easier to screen and track resumes, and how the screening interview can save you a ton of time in the interview process.