5 Types Of Questions You Need To Know Before Hiring

Have you ever bought something & regretted it later on? You know, post-purchase guilt?

Well, the same concept applies to hiring for a new role.

No, I'm not talking about hiring the wrong person.

I'm referring to the regret felt when you realize that you may have not needed that role in the first place.

The symptoms are easy to spot.

A few weeks after the new hire joins, it dawns upon you that this person is:

• Performing a job that your existing resources could have easily managed or
• Solving a low-priority or highly infrequent problem or
• Severely under-utilized or
• Not empowered with resources or support to make any meaningful impact

Of course, some of these can be fixed reactively. However, the best advice I've received to ensure I didn't greenlight requisitions in haste is the following:

"Write the job description like a script for a part in a play. If the character doesn't sound convincing to you, then reconsider if you need it."

I'll be honest, I find writing job descriptions incredibly boring. That's why in the past I'd just resort to copy pasting online templates.

But over time, I've realized they are a pretty underrated artefact.

It is, after all, the spec of a position.

Whenever I force myself down to writing one (or purposefully modifying a template), I always end up with immense clarity on why I'm hiring in the first place.

I'd actively be asking myself:

1. Part in Plot: What company OKR will the output of this role directly map to?
2. Impact: How will my life and the department's operations look different once this person is successful? What do I hope to change? What's the best case scenario?
3. Character Strength: Who in my company currently owns the goals and activities I'm expecting from this role? Why can't they continue to own it?
4. Airplay: Split the expected activities to daily, weekly & monthly. Will this employee have enough to do in a day?
5. Inter-play: What dependencies will this role have? Who will they need input and guidance from? Will they need a budget or certain tools to operate effectively?

Once I'm done taking a stab at the JD, I either realize how incredibly important the role is allowing me to justify it to higher-ups with conviction OR I find myself struggling to justify its existence.

Moreover, it also helps in:

• Identifying the right person this role should report to
• Deriving an onboarding plan from the listed duties for the first 30/60 days

So, before you put up that job post, pause.

Let the job description first convince you that it's a necessary hire.

Once you cross that bridge, everything else - from onboarding to achieving real results - falls into place naturally.