When a recruiter gets a new job opening from the hiring manager, it's important that it’s crystal clear about what they're looking for in a candidate. Although it's the hiring manager's job to explain this, recruiters should do everything they can to make the process smoother.
We've put together a list of questions that we use with our clients to get a better idea of what they're after during the profiling meeting. If you're an in-house recruiter, just skip the first part of the questionnaire and use the rest to get all the details you need.
- Product pitch. We ask our clients to pitch us their product as if we’re their candidates, so we can do the same during our screening calls.
- When founded
- Funding stage. When was the last investment round closed? This information is essential, especially in case of early stage startups.
- Number of employees
- Number of planned hires this year. This gives you an idea about the company’s growth ambitions.
- Offices and their locations.
- Clients. Is there any specific niche or geography the product is aiming at? Whose problems does it solve? Are there any well known names among the client’s list?
- Culture, nationalities, team events. All of those will give you a glimpse of how the company operates on a human level, more casually speaking - what’s the vibe.
- Total number of engineers and number of engineers in the hiring team, their roles. Crucial to know what kind of people the new person will be working with.
- Teams setup (cross-functional or any other), frequency of the meetings
- Who this person will be reporting to
- Stack and infrastructure
- Development methodology
- Location
- Seniority. And what exactly does senior mean in this company / team?
- Minimal tech requirements
- What tasks the new hire will be working on. This will help to determine the most crucial skills.
- Roadmap: what is the product and company’s development plan?
- Career and professional growth opportunities
- What does a person need to do over the probation period to be considered successful? How is it measured? What is the feedback sessions structure?
- Examples of great profiles. Why are they great?
- Salary
- Benefits. Can include various benefits like health, education, bonuses, stock options.
- Office or remote
- Office address
- Working hours. If flexible, what are the hours that the new person is supposed to overlap with the team?
- Relocation package (if applicable)
- Employment type (employee, contractor, EoR)
- Amount of holidays per year
- Potential donor companies. What companies have similar talent?
- Off-limits companies - clients, partners, or companies where the talent doesn’t match the profile.
- Geographical markets to target
- Interview process
Write to us in the comments if you have any other questions that help you when working on a new role!
