If I was short on time and hiring software engineers for my team right now, here’s what I’d do.
📬 Post the ad – make it creative, engaging, inviting and clear on what the role involves and the opportunity as a whole. Be as transparent as I can be.
⏰ Every day I’d time box 1-2 hours for checking responses, politely declining those deemed not a good fit, and calling those who do (if no answer leave message/ follow up email) for a prescreen/ initial chat and to book in formal 1st stage.
📅 After 1-2 weeks (ideally 1) I’d have a shortlist of candidates who on the surface and after a quick chat look like a good fit.
Is my next hire in that batch? Am I that confident? Can I turn off the job ad and not feel like I’m missing out on finding the perfect person?
✅If yes – I’ve got my interview shortlist lined up and pushing through to 2nd stage.
❌If no – I’m speaking with 3-4 fractional talent managers, independent recruiters or agencies. There’s no point dwelling on it. I’ve already spent close to 20 hours without much success and who know's how long it will take to find the right person.
Here’s what I want from each recruiter conversation:
👀 They need to know what I’m looking for, what I’m offering and what the challenges have been. I want to know how they can help me solve my problem. Identifying the right recruiter takes time and not just a quick search through my junkmail.
How do I assess this:
❓ What questions have they asked me? Are they interested, curious, and detail oriented?
🕵♂️ Have they fully understood my situation, goals, ideal hire or have they skipped straight to “we can do that”, “I’m a specialist” nonsense, shoehorning in "the perfect candidate" or worse jump straight to negotiating terms?
🤝 Have they challenged me in any way – or am I speaking to a “Yes” person? Will they act as a true consultant for me?
🚶♂️ Have they walked me through how they operate: contingent, retained, fractional – do they have a preferred way of working that demonstrates results? Why is that their preferred way? Why do they think it will work best in this context? What benefits can I expect from that?
🗣 Have they talked me through the value of their expertise, process and why it leads to results?
At this point, I'm pretty confident in who I'm going to work with. And then it’s a question of working out some form of fee structure.
The reality is that agencies are evolving. Some are still obsessed with maximising margins. Some are obsessed with changing perceptions, solving complex challenges and offering real value.
Should they be incentivised appropriately? Absolutely, everyone should. But depending on what you need a good recruiter will cost the project appropriately.
Just imagine... a week later (without having spent hours and hours on filtering and searching) I’ll have a shortlist that works and the support needed to hire the right person.
Bad recruitment is bad. Good recruitment isn't.
#hiring #fractionaltalent
