How to Accurately Describe Your Candidate

When the need to hire a new colleague begins to emerge, it brings with it the crucial task of a in-depth understanding of who you need. The more effectively you pinpoint the essential qualities and skills the more sustainable and fitting your candidate will be. Considering both immediate needs and future goals. At welovehumans, we emphasize the importance of this foundational step. As it sets the stage for the entire recruitment process, ensuring that you connect with a candidate who not only meets but exceeds your expectations.

In this blog, we will provide the most important and some often overlooked insights that will help you accurately describe your candidate. Ensuring that every new hire is a robust addition to your team.

Understand the Role Deeply

Before you even begin to describe your ideal candidate, you need to have an in-depth understanding of the role. This means going beyond the job title and diving into the specifics of what the job entails. We've put together some very important not to look over when in-depth understanding the role:

Insights:

• Contextualize Required Skills: Provide context on how these skills are applied within the role. For example, instead of stating "needs excellent communication skills," specify that the candidate must "facilitate cross-departmental communication to drive project completion."
• Cultural Contribution: Think about what the candidate can contribute to the company culture, not just how they fit in. Describe the types of perspectives, experiences, or backgrounds that are missing and would be beneficial.
• Tech Savviness Across Tools: For roles not directly related to IT, specify the need for tech savviness, such as familiarity with industry-standard software, emerging technologies, or digital communication tools which are increasingly relevant across all sectors.
• Client Interaction Experience: For roles involving client interaction, detail the type and depth of client engagement expected. This could range from routine updates to handling high-stakes negotiations or managing client crises.
• Diversity of Experience Over Years of Experience: Prioritize the diversity of a candidate's professional background over the number of years of experience. This includes exposure to different industries, job roles, or project scales that contribute to a well-rounded skill set.

Detailing Skills

Let's start by taking a look at the welovehumans portal. The first box to fill is about the hard- and softskills your candidate should possess. Skills are the competencies and abilities that a candidate must have to perform their job effectively. For a marketing role Technical skills in industry-specific tools like hubspot or hootsuite. Bloomberg terminal and quickbooks for a finance role or Docker and Github for developer roles.
Thus, when describing skills, be specific. General terms like “good communication skills” are less helpful than detailed descriptions like “ability to articulate complex data insights to cross-functional teams.” This precision helps in attracting candidates who are more aligned with the role’s requirements.

Experience Matters

The second box focuses on experience. This is not just about the duration of time someone has worked, but also the relevance and impact of their work experiences. When filling out this part of your candidate description, consider what past job roles and projects would best prepare someone for success in the open position. Mention specific responsibilities they should have managed or particular achievements that would be indicative of their capability to excel in the new role.

Insight:

• Project Outcomes over Tasks: Encourage descriptions that focus on the outcomes and impacts of previous projects rather than just a list of tasks.

Common Mistakes:

• Equating Longevity with Expertise: Assuming that a longer tenure in a similar role automatically translates to higher competence can overlook candidates who may have achieved significant results in a shorter period.
• Ignoring Non-linear Career Paths: Many candidates today have non-linear career paths that may include freelancing, part-time roles, or unrelated jobs that nonetheless contribute valuable skills and perspectives.

Cultural and Company Fit

The third box asks about the types of companies a candidate might have previously worked for. This is crucial for understanding how well a candidate will adapt to your company's environment. For example, a candidate who thrives in startup settings might struggle in a more rigid corporate structure, and vice versa. Identifying the type of company environments the candidate has experienced can give you great insights; adaptability, work style, and potentially even their values. This information can be pivotal, especially when you consider the cultural fit, which is as crucial as the professional qualifications.

Insight:

• Strategic Alignment with Client or Partner Industries: When defining what companies a candidate could have worked at, consider how their previous company environments align with your key clients, strategic partners or colleagues. This experience provides them not only with an in-depth understanding of the client’s business challenges and industry jargon but also with insights into industry-specific customer expectations and compliance requirements.

Common Mistake:

• Confusing Fit with Similarity: Hiring teams often mistake cultural fit for hiring people who are similar to the current team members, which can lead to a lack of diversity and fresh ideas.

welovehumans: Your Hiring Gamechanger

We can conclude that the perfect candidate is not just about having the right skills and experiences. Instead, it’s about a holistic match that considers cultural fit, potential for growth, and alignment with team dynamics. Therefore, our platform is designed to take the comprehensive descriptions you provide and use them to find candidates who meet your criteria. Consequently, this drastically reduces your hiring time and ensures you get engaged, top-quality candidates.
Accurately describing your candidate is the first step in loving humans. By focusing on detailed skills, relevant experiences, and appropriate company backgrounds, you set the stage for a hiring process that brings in candidates who are not just qualified but also primed to excel in your organizational ecosystem. Remember, a precise candidate description leads to a more efficient search and better hiring outcomes. Ultimately, this means more humans we can love.