I have no doubt you can give candidates compelling messages about what makes your position exciting, good for their career, etc.

So why would I want you to ask your hiring managers to tell you why they think it’s a great opportunity when you already know a good answer? For these reasons:

1. It’s important for you to know how your hiring managers are “marketing/selling” their positions when they are talking to candidates. When you ask them this question, you may be appalled at how poorly they position the opportunity.

In a recent search launch, the hiring manager jokingly replied that what made it great was that they got to work with him. I love that answer because it means the hiring manager is feeling comfortable with the conversation and opening up a bit by joking.

But if that is where the answer starts and ends, as it was with this particular hiring manager, that’s not a good thing. Incredibly, he did not mention any of the things that would really be exciting to the candidate he was looking to hire.

To make it worse, he actually said he thought it wasn’t an interesting position. In fact, he said he thought it was boring.

No wonder he was having so much trouble filling the position. How could he get a great candidate interested in a position he described as boring. What he had forgotten was that for the right candidate this would be a very interesting role. 

As I started to list the things I thought would be compelling to a great candidate (and give him a competitive advantage for hiring), he got it. We had a great conversation about a lot of other things going on that in his department that would be more good stuff for my posting!

Plus now he had more things to talk about what made this a great opportunity when he was interviewing candidates I worked hard to get to the table for him!

2. Another reason is so you can essentially “train” your hiring manager on what they should be talking about with candidates. Share what you know will attract the target candidate pool. This not only demonstrates your excitement about doing the search, which every hiring manager likes. It also gives you and the hiring manager an opportunity to discuss that is important to them—their business. It’s a great way to build the kind of relationship you want with your hiring managers.

Bonus: You may hear things about the position, the team, the future, etc., that you didn’t know. These things bring you closer to the hiring manager and can make your postings stand out from the rest!

All of which mean you get: More qualified candidates, better hiring manager relationships, and faster times to fill!

Enjoy!

For more techniques to solve the challenges we all face as recruiters– and build a reputation as a consultative recruiter at the same time, check out my updated book on Amazon: The Consultative Recruiter.