Recruiter intake meeting guide

Introduction

This guide provides a structured approach for conducting intake meetings with hiring managers. It is designed to help recruiters gather critical information about the business, team, and role, ensuring alignment on candidate requirements and enabling effective recruitment strategies. The guide includes key questions, their rationale, and practical follow-up tips to dig deeper into responses.

Contents

1. Ideal candidate profile
2. Business & product (mission & vision)
3. Team performance (skills & competencies)
4. Team culture (behaviours & traits)
5. Value propositions (messaging & USP)
6. General best practices for follow-ups‍

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1. Ideal candidate profile

Describe your ideal profile

• Ask for a reference point: “If you could replicate one of your best hires, who would it be and why?”
• Request specific examples: “Can you describe a past hire who excelled in this role?”
• Differentiate between 'ideal' and 'realistic': “Where can we be flexible if we find a strong candidate who doesn’t tick every box?”

What are the must-have skills?

• Prioritise technical vs soft skills: “Which technical skills are non-negotiable, and which can be learned on the job?”
• Identify deal-breakers: “Is there one key skill that is absolutely essential for success?”
• Clarify depth of expertise: “Should they be a specialist in this area, or is a working knowledge sufficient?”

What are the must-have domains / behaviours?

• Define industry or sector experience: “Do they need experience in a particular domain, or are transferable skills enough?”
• Explore behavioural fit: “What ways of working or attitudes are crucial for success in your team?”
• Request real-world examples: “Can you share an instance where someone demonstrated the behaviours you value?”

Where will they be working right now? (company size / stage)

• Understand their current environment: “Are they more likely to come from a start-up, scale-up, or corporate background?”
• Assess adaptability: “Do they need to be comfortable with ambiguity, or is their role typically structured?”
• Consider industry and business models: “Are we open to candidates from adjacent industries or only direct competitors?”

What will their route into the role have been? (specific background preferred)

• Clarify typical career paths: “Are we looking for someone who has held this role before, or can they come from a related function?”
• Identify alternative backgrounds: “Are there any roles where people develop the right skills for this position?”
  
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2. Business & product (mission & vision)

Rationale

Understanding the business mission, product landscape, and team setup helps recruiters grasp the organisation's purpose, strategic direction, and team dynamics. This foundational knowledge is essential for crafting compelling outreach messages and identifying candidates who align with the company’s goals.

Questions

- What is the business mission?

- Please give us a brief overview of the product(s).

- Where is the product now, and where is it going?

- Please give us a brief overview of the team(s) that work on these products.

- What is the setup now, and what is the planned future setup?

Follow-up tips

- Clarify vague or broad answers: 'Could you give an example of how this mission translates into the day-to-day work for this team?'

- Probe into future vision: 'You mentioned the product is expanding into [area]. How will this role contribute to that growth?'

- Link the team structure to recruitment needs: 'What are the critical skills or gaps in the current setup that this hire will need to fill?'

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3. Team performance (skills & competencies)

Rationale

Identifying high and low performance helps recruiters understand the specific skills, behaviours, and attitudes that align with success or failure in the role. This ensures recruiters can screen for both technical and cultural fit effectively.

Questions

- What does top performance look like? (behaviours/ways of working)

- What does poor performance look and sound like?

- What simply won’t work here? Can you give us an example?

- Who in your team embodies your performance culture?

- What is the current team structure? (levels based on skills matrix)

Follow-up tips

- Make 'top performance' actionable: 'You mentioned [specific behaviour] defines top performance. What tools or methods does your team use to measure or encourage this?'

- Expand on poor performance: 'You mentioned [specific trait] wouldn’t work. Can you give an example of how this has shown up in the past and impacted the team?'

- Highlight team exemplars: 'You mentioned [name of top performer]. What specific traits or skills do they bring that we should look for in a candidate?'

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4. Team culture (behaviours & traits)

Rationale

Understanding the team’s culture gives recruiters insight into the dynamics, shared values, and unspoken norms. This helps ensure candidates fit well within the team and thrive in the environment.

Questions

- Describe the team in three words.

- What behaviours and attitudes do successful members of this team commonly exhibit?

- How does the team typically celebrate successes?

- What’s the most common feedback you give to team members?

- Are there any rituals, events, or activities that the team regularly partakes in together?

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Follow-up tips

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- Dive deeper into behaviours: 'You described the team as [three words]. Could you give examples of how these qualities show up in day-to-day work?'

- Clarify unique aspects of the team: 'You mentioned [specific activity/ritual]. How do candidates typically respond to these team dynamics during onboarding?'

- Explore feedback culture: 'You mentioned [most common feedback]. How do you usually communicate this, and what has been the response?'

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5. Value propositions (messaging & USP)

Rationale

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Unique value propositions and USPs (unique selling points) help recruiters create compelling pitches that resonate with candidates. These insights ensure outreach efforts stand out in a competitive talent market.

Questions

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- What unique opportunities will a new hire have in this role that they might not get elsewhere?

- What is your elevator pitch for the role?

- What specific moment or event made you realise, 'Yeah, I made the right decision to join here'?

- What are the growth opportunities in this role? (e.g., professional development, upward mobility, cross-departmental collaborations, etc.)

- Describe the most exciting project or achievement the team has recently completed.

- What are some exciting projects in the pipeline?

- What kind of technology, tools, or approaches is the team using that sets it apart?

- What’s the long-term vision or goal for this team? And how does this role contribute to it?

Follow-up tips

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- Personalise the elevator pitch: 'You mentioned the elevator pitch for this role. How would you tweak it for someone early in their career versus someone senior?'

- Push for specifics on growth opportunities: 'You mentioned [growth opportunity]. Can you share an example of someone on your team who’s experienced this firsthand?'

- Highlight exciting projects: 'You shared [recent achievement]. What specific skills or contributions made that possible, and how will this role build on that success?'

- Tie the long-term vision to recruitment: 'You mentioned the team’s long-term vision. What type of candidate do you think would be most excited by this goal?'

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6.General best practices for follow-ups

Follow-up tips

- Avoid generic clarifications: Tailor follow-up questions to the answers provided, demonstrating attentiveness.

- Focus on impact: Always ask how a role, behaviour, or dynamic directly contributes to business success or team performance.

- Request specific examples: Examples help recruiters translate vague ideas into actionable insights for assessing candidates.

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📚 Access the Google document here

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