A vacancy is one of the few moments when you can change how a role works. Reaching for the old job description is quick, but it assumes nothing about the team, the work or the business has moved on since the last person started.
Worth asking first
Five questions that take twenty minutes and change what the whole search looks like.
The job
What do they actually need to do?
Not the old job description with a new date on it. What will land on this desk in the first six months, what has moved elsewhere, and what has quietly been absorbed by somebody else since the last person started.
The person
What helps somebody succeed here?
Some environments reward calm and order. Others need somebody comfortable with interruption and pace. Describing the working environment honestly tells us more than a list of software.
The team
Who will they work with, and how?
Who they report to, who relies on them, how decisions get made and how much of the role is solo. People do not join a job description, they join a set of working relationships.
The non-negotiables
What genuinely has to be there?
Usually shorter than the first draft suggests. Keep the requirements that relate to doing the job well, and be able to say why each one is there.
The nice-to-haves
Where could you flex for the right person?
Sector background, systems, exact years of experience. Knowing in advance what you would trade makes the shortlist much more useful when somebody interesting turns up slightly off-spec.
The reason to join
Why should a good candidate want this?
Recruitment is a two-way decision. The work itself, the people, what they will learn, where it leads. If we can answer this properly, the conversation with a strong candidate starts in a much better place.
Recruitment is a two-way decision.
The strongest people in any market are choosing as much as they are being chosen. A brief that answers why somebody would want the job, not only what they must have done before, is the one that gets their attention.
Keep it relevant
Every requirement in a brief should relate to doing the job well, and should be assessed the same way for everybody you meet. It is also the right point to think about adjustments somebody may need to take part in the process fairly.
This is recruitment guidance from Elbrus, not legal or HR advice. For formal obligations, take your own advice.
Speak to us
Happy to talk a brief through before you write it down.