We are working with a recruiter for the first time. What's the best way to manage the process?

We’ve hired a recruiter for the first time to help us grow our team. I’m looking for guidance on how to structure the process.

-First time founder building out a bigger team

Dear Founder,

Congrats on growing your company.

I’m happy to provide tactics on how to structure the recruiting and interviewing process, but it’s also important to keep the big picture in mind.

Now that you’re building your team and growing your company you always should be assessing industry talent. When done well this means that you know where the talent is, and you have relationships and “ready now” candidates you’d like to pursue for the key roles in your company. You may not need these roles immediately and the executive may currently be employed at a competitor, but it’s smart to engage in this kind of investigation and relationship building so that you have a head start when the time comes. ?Pay attention to who has the key roles at other companies in your space and study what their bench looks like. The recruiter will also know the rockstars in the industry, but the idea is for you to build relationships and stay in touch.

When it comes to working with the executive recruiter and putting structure to this process, it is about getting aligned. Some leaders mistakenly think that they can rely entirely on the recruiter, but the process has to be actively managed by you. Here’s what I recommend:

• Agree with the recruiter on the job description.
• Schedule a regular cadence with the recruiter to review candidates, first on paper and then in person after the recruiter has determined interest.?Meet at least weekly.
• Determine who, besides you, will be interviewing the candidates.?The recruiter should be able to share strengths, issues, and concerns. Will board members interview the candidates? Peers?
• Make sure interviewers show up on time and that they know what they are asking.?Remember, this is a two-way process so even if you decide not to hire the candidate, you want them to have a good experience.?(I know of people who wouldn't even consider a company because a friend had a bad interviewing experience.)
• Decide what questions will be asked.
• Will there be assessments? Some companies give coding tests for certain roles and others even make candidates meet with a psychologist. (I’ve never required this, but I have had to do it!)
• Are you checking for diversity?
• Gather feedback, both pros and cons from interviewers, quickly.?The recruiter should also get feedback from the candidate quickly. Is the candidate excited about your mission?
• What matters most is that you and the team get to know the candidate and that they get to know you.?If there’s strong interest, meet multiple times and in different settings (maybe over a coffee or a meal).?Assess whether your enthusiasm for the candidate is growing or waning.?(I once when I took a cross country flight with someone I hired and realized we should have spent that amount of time together beforehand!)?
• Check references. Obviously, the ones given by the candidate should be positive. The people doing the references should be prepared. Employers often try to back-channel references to supplement the information and get another perspective. (If I’m asked to provide such a reference, I request that the candidate be informed because I want to be transparent and respectful.)
• Make sure that your process is fair and treats everyone with dignity. Hopefully you are offering a coveted opportunity and will therefore have to say no more than you can say yes, but always do so in a way that leaves everyone feeling respected.

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