Streamlined Hiring Criteria for Recruiters

𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝘆 - 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝘆 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘁) Have you ever wondered why great talent isn’t choosing your organization? A few months ago, I was brought in as an HR consultant to help a fast-growing startup. On the surface, the company seemed to have it all: ➽ Solid funding. ➽ A great product. ➽ Ambitious goals. But beneath this shiny exterior lay a major challenge: ✮ 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔. 𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺? First, I listened. Through one-on-one conversations with team members and leadership, I uncovered the root cause: ✮ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔. Here’s what their interview process looked like: ➽ A 10-page application to start. ➽ A 20-page online form asking for the same information on the resume. ➽ Five rounds of interviews. ➽ A personality test. ➽ Three case studies. ➽ A "quick project" completely unrelated to the job. ➽ Then the waiting game—6-8 weeks for a response. 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁? Top talent doesn’t just look at compensation or company reputation; they assess how you treat them during the hiring process. This process was a huge red flag. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗗𝗼? Once we identified the issue, I worked with leadership to rethink their approach: ➽ Simplified the process: Cut redundant steps and replace the unnecessary "quick project" with job-relevant exercises. ➽ Streamlined the timeline: Reduced the hiring timeline from 6-8 weeks to just 2 weeks. ➽ Made it more human: Focused on meaningful conversations rather than robotic assessments. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? Within two weeks: ➽ They successfully hired two top-tier professionals for their most critical roles. ➽ Positive feedback from candidates began pouring in, praising the streamlined and respectful process. 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 ➽ In the war for talent, your hiring process is your first impression—and it matters. ➽ A complicated, drawn-out process signals disorganization and a lack of respect for a candidate’s time. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐. 𝙎𝙤, 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙏𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙈𝙚 What’s the most unforgettable hiring process you’ve experienced? Did it make or break your decision to join? #leadership #hiring #talentacquisition #workplaceculture #recruitmentstrategy #hrconsulting #hr #humanresources #20DaysLinkedInGrowthWithIsaac

#HiringManagers Let's address the elephant in the room: The gap between job requirements, your expectations, and current market reality is bigger than ever. Here's what we need to address... The Problem We're Seeing: ➡ Requirements lists longer than a CVS receipt ➡ Requirement lists shorter than 4 bullet points ➡ Budget expectations from 2019 ➡"Entry level" roles requiring 5 years of experience ➡Technology stacks wanting everything under the sun The Reality Check We Provide... ➡ Market Intelligence ➡ Real salary ranges for actual placements ➡ Current time-to-fill metrics by role ➡ Available talent pool size for specific skill combinations ➡ What your competitors are actually offering The Solution for you... Instead of a 6-month search for the perfect candidate, we can: ➡ Split one "unicorn" role into two realistic positions (We find part-time candidates that specialize in certain areas) ➡ Identify which skills are trainable vs. must-have ➡ Show you available candidates who can grow into the role ➡ Map out upskilling plans for promising candidates The 80/20 Approach... ➡ Focus on the 20% of requirements that drive 80% of success ➡ Build vs. Buy talent strategies ➡ Create talent pipelines instead of point-in-time hires ➡ Develop internal mobility paths We're not just identifying and flagging problems - we're bringing solutions: A #staffing partner like us will help with... ➡ Market mapping reports ➡ Compensation benchmarking ➡ Skills availability analysis ➡ Training program recommendations ➡ Alternative talent pool suggestions The Bottom Line... Good staffing partners don't just fill reqs - we help reshape roles to match market reality. We are here to partner up and help you streamline your hiring process!

𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧: 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 When teams are lean and resources are tight, the pressure to “just fill the seat” is real. But speed without structure is one of the biggest drivers of early exits. Here are a few strategies I’ve seen work when the goal is making the right hire—not just a fast one 👇 🚫 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 “𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞” 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 Taking shortcuts can be costly. A rushed hire often incurs greater expenses than a more structured search, especially in today’s talent market where exceptional are available, but poor screening can obscure them. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: ✅ Separate “Speed” from “Quality” ☞ Fast hiring doesn’t mean fewer steps; it means clearer ones. ☞ Define must-have versus trainable skills upfront. ☞ Align hiring managers on what success looks like in 90 days. ☞ Remove subjective criteria that create bias or confusion. ☞ Clarity accelerates decision-making. ✅ Use a Tiered Screening Model ☞ Not every candidate requires the same level of review. ☞ Stage 1: Resume + knockout criteria (automated or recruiter-led). ☞ Stage 2: Structured phone or video screen (skills + motivation). ☞ Stage 3: Focused panel or role-based assessment. ☞ This approach saves time while maintaining quality. ✅ Standardize Interviews (Especially Now) ☞ Recessions amplify hiring mistakes. ☞ Use consistent interview questions. ☞ Score candidates against defined competencies. ☞ Train interviewers to evaluate evidence rather than relying on instincts. ☞ Structured interviews consistently outperform gut feelings. ✅ Keep a Warm Bench (Even When You’re Not Hiring) ☞ Hiring should never start from scratch. ☞ Maintain relationships with silver-medalist candidates. ☞ Partner with training programs or workforce pipelines. ☞ Build talent pools for hard-to-fill roles. ☞ Future you will appreciate this preparation. ✅ Measure What Actually Matters ☞ If you don’t track it, you can’t improve it. ☞ Focus on time-to-productivity, quality of hire at six months ☞ Early turnover signals The best organizations don’t rush decisions. They design processes that scale with pressure. 💬 How are you adjusting your hiring process right now? #hire #jobs #jobseekers #hiringtips #interviewtips #interviewprocess

Recruiter phone screens that are 15 minutes long, focused on telling candidates about the company and assessing personality fit, don’t hold much value. Defining a common rubric or selection criteria with the technology leadership team—and ensuring recruiters can confidently screen for technical depth—drastically improves time to fill. It also keeps a strong alignment towards a mutual goal of quality over quantity in an era where keyword reliance and resume "pitching" to highly technical leaders is exhaustive for everyone. Recently, engineers have told me that our technical screening is the most comprehensive they’ve ever experienced from a recruiter. That’s only possible with trust from hiring managers and their guidance. How to Get There: - Be honest about what you don’t know and role-play your tech screening with the hiring leader before the search begins. - Define clear, agreed-upon criteria between the hiring manager and talent partner to eliminate subjective bias (tech stack depth, values assessment, communication, adaptability, etc.). - Establish a feedback loop with open communication that encourages constructive input.

📣Lowering the barrier to apply = widening your talent pool. 📣 A camp counselor. The oldest sibling. The neighborhood babysitter…I’ve seen all of them go on to become fantastic field organizers. They didn’t have “2+ years of organizing experience,” but they had the skills. Leadership. Conflict resolution. The ability to keep a group of tired humans motivated and moving forward. The same goes for senior roles. I’ve seen first-time EDs thrive because they had the relationship-building, management, and strategy chops to lead an org and raise money. And yet, many of these candidates wouldn’t have even applied if the job postings had all the usual hurdles: a 3-page JD, a laundry list of “must-haves,” and the dreaded cover letter. We all want great candidates, but sometimes our process filters them out before they even get a chance. If you want to widen your talent pool, lower the barrier to apply. Here’s how: SHORTEN THE JOB DESCRIPTION  ⚠️ Keep it simple. You want to summarize the job, the organization, and why a candidate wants to work with you. You don’t need every tiny qualification or preferred skill listed. Stick to the key competencies.  ⚠️ Separate “must-haves” from “nice-to-haves” so you don’t unintentionally exclude great people.  ⚠️ Avoid insider lingo. For example, if you’re hiring an Executive Assistant, and open to a diverse range of candidate backgrounds, keep it simple. Don’t talk about ‘c3s and c4s’, but talk about different partners and teams.  ⚠️ Highlight transferable skills. What makes a great fundraiser? Hustle, passion, communication, relationship-building, and collaboration. These can be your key qualifications! STREAMLINE THE APPLICATION   ⚠️ Ditch the cover letter.   ⚠️ Ask 2–3 targeted application questions that get at what you want to hear from candidates. Keep forms short. FOCUS ON POTENTIAL, NOT JUST EXPERIENCE   ⚠️ Challenge years-of-experience and education requirements, like the classic “7+ years required” default. Ask your hiring manager if they need to have done it, or if they can learn it.  ⚠️ If you can, invest in training and make that clear in the posting. And on a culture note, always highlight how the role supports growth and learning. Professional development is important. COMMUNICATE CLEARLY  ⚠️ Set a clear process and timeline, and outline this to candidates from the beginning (I like to do this in an auto email for everyone that applies, more on this here http://bit.ly/4mHOTt9).  ⚠️ Be up front about how much time a candidate might spend in the interview process.  ⚠️ Send confirmation and regret emails so applicants know whether they’re in the process. Lowering the barrier isn’t lowering your standards. It’s making sure the right people actually get the chance to show you what they can do. What’s one thing you’ve done to make it easier for great candidates to apply?

🔥 The Biggest Test in Crypto Interviews Right Now: Overcomplicated Hiring Processes! 🔥 🚨 What’s happening? Interview rounds used to be capped at 3 rounds max—now, many crypto companies are dragging candidates through 10+ rounds! This leads to: ❌ Inefficiency – Hiring stalls, and top talent loses interest. ❌ Higher drop-off rates – Candidates get poached by companies that move faster. ❌ A false sense of better decision-making – More interviews don’t always mean better hires! 💡 How to Fix It: A Streamlined Hiring Process That Works ✅ 1. Identify Key Stakeholders Early Decide who truly needs to be involved. Focus on those who will work day-to-day with the hire. ✅ 2. Start with a Recruiter Screening Call 🎯 A good recruiter doesn’t just check salary expectations. They dig deep into skills, motivations, culture fit, and career goals. By the end of the call, you should know everything that matters about the candidate. ✅ 3. Hiring Manager 1:1 Call – Keep It Technical! This should NOT be another generic intro call. Instead, make it an in-depth, subject-matter discussion. Senior & leadership candidates thrive when they can showcase expertise and have a high-level conversation with someone who truly understands their craft. 🚨 Important Note: Recruiters are experts in people, psychology, and fit—but the hiring manager is the expert in the role itself. This step makes or breaks candidate engagement! ✅ 4. Final Panel Interview (If Needed) 👥 If multiple stakeholders need input, do a single panel round. This allows for collaboration without dragging things out. ✅ 5. Bonus Step: A Chat with the Founder 🚀 (Optional, But Powerful!) A quick conversation with the visionary behind the company can be a great final touch. It makes candidates feel valued and excited about the mission. ⚡ Keep it simple. Keep it effective. Get top talent before someone else does! #CryptoHiring #Recruitment #HiringTips #Leadership #Web3Jobs #HiringEfficiency 🚀

Recruiters! Ever had hiring mangers with different ideas of what good looks like? And all your candidates fall through the cracks because nobody can meet everyones personal criteria? Here's how to fix that 👇 First lets define terms : Success criteria are the measurable outcomes that define what it means to be successful in a role. They are tied to specific results, goals, or achievements expected of an employee. Competencies are the underlying skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attributes required to perform effectively in a role. They are about how an employee performs their job, rather than the results they achieve. 1️⃣ Requirement Gathering - You need to take the ambiguous requests and turn them into SPECIFIC success criteria. - Start with outcomes. What outcomes the successful candidate should achieve. this is more objective than "should have gravitas" so is a good place to start. - If its not outcome oriented, specific, time bound and measurable, it doesn't qualify as a success criteria. 2️⃣ Use the success criteria to define competencies - Candidate oriented. What specific skills & behaviours are needed to achieve the success criteria - Avoid defaulting to years experience. It's handy for sourcing but experience isn't a competency, its a very rough proxy for competency. 3️⃣ Questions - Design 2-3 competency based questions for each competency. - Do this with or have the hiring manager review the questions for feedback 4️⃣ Review guidelines - Create review guidelines for each question. - A RAG chart with an example of an answer that fails, meets and exceeds the expectations f the question is suer useful - Again, work with the HM for feedback on the review guidelines. - You can actually use the review guidelines as a scorecard if you don't have an ATS by highlighting each questions and your score for each answer. This gives you specific criteria, in an unbroken logical chain from the hiring manger right through to the recruiters on screening calls. Its enormously valuable, saves tons of time and money, and it's free. Oh also, there's a full video of me doing it, a link (in comments) to an example and a series of GPT prompts to help you first draft it. You're welcome. How about you? any horror stories of unaligned stakeholders schmutzing up your lovely candidate experience? Tell me in the comments! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi 👋 I’m Luke. I empower recruiters with data. Want to get data-driven for free? Link in the comments for my free weekly newsletter. #recruitment #recruiting #recruiters #talentacquisition

Master the art of scorecards: here’s how to make hiring more data-driven Hiring based on gut feelings alone? That’s risky business. The key to smarter hiring is a well-designed scorecard—and here’s how to build one: 1. Identify key criteria Start by defining 4 essential competencies or skills for the role (e.g., business acumen, leadership, or communication). Be specific. For instance, “management” might refer to “team leadership” or “business oversight.” The more precise, the better. 2. Create targeted interview questions For each criterion, craft 2-3 questions that directly assess the skill or competency. These questions should reveal how candidates apply their expertise in real situations, helping you move beyond surface-level answers. 3. Establish a rating scale Use a simple 1-5 scale for each question, with 1 representing unideal behavior and 5 reflecting excellence. This keeps evaluations consistent across candidates, allowing for fair comparisons. 4. Tally scores & decide on advancement Whether you do this manually or use software, compile scores to objectively rank candidates. Decide in advance who moves forward—whether it’s based on a score threshold or advancing the top candidates. This ensures clarity and alignment across the hiring team. A well-built scorecard isn’t just a tool—it’s your safeguard against biased, inconsistent hiring decisions. Want to see this in action? Comment with your job title and 4 key criteria (and feel free to share a JD), and I’ll create a mini-scorecard for you—complete with 2-3 tailored questions per criterion. Let’s put data-driven hiring to work for you! –––– 👋 I’m Thibault, fractional talent partner helping hiring managers and founders solve recruiting challenges. Follow me for daily insights, or if you’re looking for expert support, let’s connect and chat. Link in bio.

During the hiring process, most confusion, delays, and failures happen when Talent Acquisition doesn’t truly partner with the business—lacking clarity, alignment, and consistency in decision-making. After hiring for 1000s of requisitions in the entire recruitment journey, one thing became clear: The biggest transformation in recruitment comes from making the right push with the business—driving clarity, alignment, and consistency in how decisions are made. That’s why I designed a practical, end-to-end Hiring & Evaluation Criteria Toolkit—built to help Talent Acquisition and Recruiting teams move faster, partner better, and hire smarter. Why this toolkit works (from a TA Leader lens) ·      Aligns business, hiring managers, and interview panels on day one ·      Converts JDs into decision frameworks, not just documents ·      Brings structure + fairness into interviews without slowing things down ·      Treats candidate experience as a measurable KPI, not a soft concept The framework covers: 1️⃣ Role Clarity ☐ Role purpose & 6–12 month impact defined ☐ Team context, stakeholders & maturity clear ☐ Business USP articulated (why top talent should care) 2️⃣ Skill Definition ☐ Mandatory (non-negotiable) skills agreed ☐ Good-to-have (adjacent/future) skills identified ☐ Behavioral competencies defined 3️⃣ Ideal Candidate Persona ☐ Target background & talent pools identified ☐ Right balance of technical depth vs breadth ☐ Required level of business acumen agreed 4️⃣ Structured Evaluation ☐ TA screening (30 mins) with scorecard ☐ HM interview uses STAR & problem scenarios ☐ Decisions based on evidence, not gut feel 5️⃣ Experience & Accountability ☐ Feedback SLA: 24–48 hours ☐ Clear hiring stages & regular updates ☐ Candidate & HM experience tracked The end-to-end Hiring-Evaluation Criteria toolkit is available in the Carousel below for easier access and reference. #TA #HiringTools #HiringProcess #Recruiter #AITools

Hiring well OR hiring quickly—that is the question. 💀 WRONG!!! (Fight me in the comments.) If your hiring process is solid, speed will follow. And here’s how you set that up. 🟢 Step 1: build your hiring infrastructure. 1️⃣ Your ATS.  Store your CVs, track stage transitions and rejections, analyze your data, conversions, and more. Whether you have something fancy or a simple Notion board, this is your first step in creating your lean, mean recruitment machine. 2️⃣ Your hiring pack, evaluation criteria, skills matrix, or however you like to call it.  Clarify your hiring needs, what to look for per step, what types of companies you find relevant, and how that ties into your sourcing strategy. 3️⃣ Your job descriptions.  This goes TWO ways.  ↳ A good JD gets the right people excited—a simple tweak in the job title or the copy can make you stand out. ↳ Clarity = fewer unqualified applications. Lately, I’ve been flooded with candidates outside the EU. A simple note about sponsorship saves time for both sides. 4️⃣ Your templates.  Standardized invites, feedback, rejections, and process updates save hours and improve the candidate experience. No automation? Use Google Doc or Notion. 5️⃣ Your bi-weekly or monthly process audit.  → Are the right people getting offers?  → Are we rejecting candidates for the right reasons?  → What are recruiters seeing in their conversations?  → Are there specific questions being asked a lot?  → Are there any concerns raised from either the teams’ or candidates’ side?  The better the process, the fewer the questions you’ll get. 💡 Pro tip: Make every interview count—for both parties. Share enough context to make the candidate excited, and ask enough questions to ensure that you’re getting the right fit. 🟢 Step 2: get more quality candidates. 1️⃣ Sourcing smartly.  → The right people, the right time, the right message—that’s the formula.  → Volume matters, too. The more you do outreach, the higher the odds of finding the right hire.  → Don’t hesitate to follow up—many candidates reply weeks later when they catch up on their inbox. 2️⃣ Boosting your visibility.  → Get the team involved in posting about your hiring journey.  → Candidates engage with founders and hiring managers more than with recruiters.  → Given our industry’s reputation (ghosting, gatekeeping, and ambiguous JDs) a little human touch will go a long way. Once your process runs smoothly, you’re sourcing consistently, and your team is helping build your employer brand, momentum will follow. That’s when you’ll start having the right conversations with the right candidates. 🔍 What’s your secret to balancing quality and speed?  🔍 Who else woke up sassier than usual today? Just me? #Hiring #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #EmployerBranding #CandidateExperience