five questions to ask before you begin recruiting.

To ensure you get the right person for the role the first time around, stop and consider these key questions before you write the job ad.   

if replacing a position, do you need someone with the same skill set or more?

• There are valuable insights to be gained by conducting exit interviews with outgoing employees. Find out, from their perspective, what skills, competencies, knowledge and experience are needed to fulfil the role effectively.

could the role encompass more responsibilities than it has to date?

• Rather than simply replicating the previous position, as a hiring manager, you should think about the breadth of tasks that the new employee could perform. On top of this, think about the type of personal characteristics, skills and experience required, and how the new job fits into the organisational structure.

do you have a clear understanding of your organisation’s needs?

• What are the current targets for your organisation and are there any additional projects coming up? When hiring, you not only need to think about your immediate needs but those that may arise in the future.

what is your organisation’s recruitment policy?

Some organisations may insist that all vacancies are first advertised internally, while others require all vacancies to be advertised externally, with no preference shown to internal candidates.



If your organisation is affiliated with a recognised trade union, check whether anything in the union agreement will affect the recruitment process.

is your business a talent magnet?

Conduct regular reviews with existing employees to discover what attracted them to your organisation initially, and what encourages them to stay.



Make sure your website offers career pages with rich, detailed information that paints an attractive, but realistic picture of the organisation. You want to showcase what makes your organisation unique and explain why people would want to work with you.



Develop an engaging learning and development program to attract candidates who want to progress their careers within your organisation.

Career progression opportunities are consistently one of the top 3 reasons why people join, stay and engage with an organisation.

now that you have your answers:

• Prepare an up-to-date job specification detailing tasks, reporting lines, areas of responsibility and performance criteria.
• Prepare a person specification describing the behaviours and attributes the successful applicant should possess.
• Determine how to source candidates for the vacancy, taking into account your recruitment strategy.