3 Things Every Hiring Manager Needs To Do Before Posting A Job

As a hiring manager or recruiter, you probably already know the massive amount of detail that often goes into selecting the right person for a particular position within your company. However, there’s often an amount of behind-the-scenes consideration that has to take place before you even know what role you actually need to fill with the new hire.

Once you have that determined, the next step is to make sure you hire the right person for the role. Sometimes it’s difficult to make these determinations, so here are a few tips and tricks that may just help you identify the needed job position and ensure that the role fits the person you hire.

Although the interviewing process can be uncomfortable for both the interviewee and the interviewer, it really does not have to be that bad. Rather than dreading the entire process, you may want to consider a more casual approach in your demeanor while still following a structured interview process.

Document expectations.

The very first thing you need to do is set your expectations for the role. “Define what you need upfront, so that you know when you’ve found the right person,” says Hired cofounder Matt Mickiewicz, who knows a thing or two about hiring for startups (he’s founded four of them). Before you can even begin your search for the right candidate, you first need to define the role you’re looking to fill.


At Hired, hiring managers develop the job description for every new open rec in direct collaboration with their recruiting partner. Together, the recruiting partner and hiring manager fill out an intake form outlining the following:
— What type of experience we’re looking for (including both required & nice-to-have)
— What success for this role looks like in the first 3, 6, 9 months
— Timeline to hire for this position
— Evaluation criteria (interview focus areas, take home assignment, etc)

Plan for growth.

For every new role we open at Hired, we talk about — and plan for — future growth within the company. Keep in mind that you’re hiring a new team member, not just checking a box. Plan to cultivate this new hire by outlining your answers to these questions:
— Where do we see this role going in 6-9 months?
— What are some potential iterations or growth spurts this role could take on?
— What does an ideal career trajectory look like for someone in this role/function?

Create an interview curriculum.

One of the best ways to ensure that you’re checking all the boxes on your list of desired skills, personality traits, and work experiences is to break the interview process up into smaller, structured pieces. Before we even begin the interview process here at Hired, the hiring manager and recruiting partner outline grading criteria for every single touchpoint. This ensures clarity and efficiency for every member of the interview team throughout the entire process, from initial phone screen to final reference checks.

For example, the first step of the interview process at Hired is the phone screen. We use this point in the interview process to vet candidates for the right experience, enthusiasm for the role, and ensure that their salary expectations are in range with what’s been budgeted for the role. If the candidate meets the grading criteria for the phone screen, they’re then moved on to an hour-long topgrade interview with the hiring manager, and so on.

Depending on your hiring timeline, the first step could be going through each application and weeding out the candidates who simply do not fit the role based on their work experience or lack thereof, educational background, or even their specific location requirements. Then, once you’ve narrowed your potential candidate pool down to a manageable number, you can either have each potential employee come in for a brief interview or to take a basic skills test. At Hired, we give candidates who pass the phone screen a take home assignment mapped to the responsibilities of the role. This helps us evaluate the candidates’ strategic ability and confirm that their work demonstrates proficiency in the hard skills required to succeed.

When you break the hiring process down into small sections, you’ll be amazed at how easy the seemingly daunting task actually becomes. By utilizing these tips and tricks, you may quickly determine what you’re looking for and find the right fit for the role quickly and efficiently.