This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Scaling People" by Claire Hughes Johnson. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What’s a recruiting pipeline? What type of job descriptions should you write?
The first step to hiring the right person, Claire Hughes Johnson explains, is to build a recruiting pipeline that attracts talent to your organization. She offers three strategies for developing this pipeline: Write transparent job descriptions, evaluate previous applicants, and use referrals.
Discover more about these recruiting pipeline strategies.
Strategy #1: Write Transparent Job Descriptions
According to Hughes Johnson, it’s tempting to write job descriptions that attempt to win over applicants by painting a warm picture of your company. But she argues that such descriptions are often counterproductive, as they obscure the aspects of the job that allow you to attract the right applicants. She contends that job descriptions in recruiting pipelines should offer a transparent picture of the role and its responsibilities. For instance, instead of highlighting how your team members are all light-hearted people who hang out together on the weekends, focus on the concrete tasks and skills required of successful applicants.
(Shortform note: As well as being transparent, great job descriptions are also specifically crafted to be effective. For example, an effective job ad avoids using internal company jargon, since most job seekers won’t be familiar with it. It also clearly lists the requisite skills to attract applications from individuals with the right qualifications—this saves time when you’re evaluating the applications later on.)
Strategy #2: Evaluate Previous Applicants
In addition to outlining the hard skills (concrete skills, like proficiency with coding languages) necessary for a role, Hughes Johnson recognizes that you also need to attract talent with the necessary soft skills (intangible skills, such as a knack for clear communication). To that end, she recommends assessing applicants whom you’ve previously hired for similar roles, focusing especially on the commonalities between applicants who became successful employees.
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Claire Hughes Johnson's "Scaling People" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full Scaling People summary:
- How to successfully manage employees in a high-growth environment
- The four components that your company's mission should include
- Why you should have a formal review process for your employees
