Art of Recruiting




DIFFERENT

OVERVIEW: Proactively explain what key facts and details your company does, or the “steak”. This helpful insight will answer common candidate questions and save you time in answering the same questions with candidates.  Example: Description of your product/service, typical customer/customer logos, how you make money, office location, team size and investors. WHY IT MATTERS: 1) Respect…

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CALL TO ACTION

OVERVIEW: You have worked hard to inspire someone by your company the open job – so make it clear and simple on what the next step looks like.  Use “Learn more” vs. “Apply” to attract people not actively looking. Avoid candidates feeling like they applied to the “HR Black Hole”. WHY IT MATTERS: 1) Action…

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QUALIFICATIONS

OVERVIEW: You want to have measurable candidate criteria to screen a potential candidate for this job.  Avoid having too few/vague qualifications (“everyone is qualified”) or having too many qualifications where it’s not clear what is really important. Examples: Screening criteria are specific and measurable and a clear difference between “required” and “preferred”.  Don’t fill up…

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ROLE ACTIVITIES

OVERVIEW: Describe your role activities and responsibilities that will answer common questions about the job.  You do not need an exhaustive list of everything the role does – just cover what matters to explain the job. Less is more. Examples: Key responsibilities and activities. Describing a “typical week” and what % of the time is…

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KEY OUTCOMES

OVERVIEW: List the Top 3 outcomes that would make this role a hero in the first year. A common mistake is most job descriptions just focus on being busy doing typical day-to-day “activities” vs. showing specific and measurable “outcomes”.  Getting clarity on this prior to interviewing, helps focus your time and also helps with onboarding…

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TITLE & OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW: Revisit the job title so it makes should make sense to external candidates. For example: “Sr. Network Engineer II” isn’t helpful, but “Sr Data Network Engineer (Cloud Platform)” is more interesting.  Then you want to include a quick role summary (2-3 sentences) like you’d describe the job if you met someone in-person.  The overall…

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AUTHENTIC

OVERVIEW: As a company, you build trust and rapport by having a conversational tone and sound like a real person. If you read your job description out loud – is that what you would say to someone over a coffee?  If your job description feels just like you are talking with someone in-person then you…

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INSPIRING

OVERVIEW: The talent you are interested in wants to feel inspired by your company and the role.  Make your company story more exciting and inspirational will cause candidates to lean in with their hearts.  This is the emotional side, or the “sizzle”.  Talk about your exciting mission and why people love working at your company…

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Upgrade Your Job Description

Do your job descriptions attract talent like a magnet?  Do you stand out from the pack and inspire candidates to check out your company over the competition? As retained executive search recruiters, we have a front-row seat to see what works for companies trying to attract top talent.  Using our 20 years of experience as…

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Art of Recruiting Storytelling

We love epic stories like Lord of The Rings, Star Wars and The Matrix. They are timeless and epic because they go beyond entertainment. They invite us into a bigger narrative and an important quest. Likewise, I believe the world of recruiting needs better storytellers. For a candidate, it’s the difference between a decent job…

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How to Strike through the Competitive Talent Market in Order to Find the Right Candidate

The current competition within the job market is pretty steep, for both employees and employers. Everyone is out there looking for the best candidates, and likewise, candidates are searching among employers to see where they fit best, and fit involves everything from job title, to salary, and more recently, company culture. In many ways, employers…

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