Understanding the Hiring Manager Decision Framework

Charles Wu
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Recently I was helping a friend of a friend with some insights into a company they (intentionally anonymized plural, and grammatically incorrect) were looking at as they considered a job search. During the course of the conversation I presented a hiring manager decision framework that was presented to me when I was going through a similar situation. The framework came from the fine people at Right Management when I had been retrenched.

(An aside, if you find yourself in a situation where you are part of a RIF and the company offers outplacement benefits, don’t be proud, take them. The resources may be basic, but the staff are generally professionals who can offer a second look at a resume, go through some mock interviews and other activities that can help. It also, is nice to have a place to go to in order to work on your new gig of finding a gig. The offices usually have refreshments, printers and other resources. In short, if you are lucky enough to get outplacement support and even if you have another gig lined up take advantage of the resume tune up)

The key is to remember that a hiring manager is trying to find the best candidate to do a job within an allotted period of time. They will optimize to find the best candidate that matches the following three criteria.

  1. Can they do the job? This is the part of job hiring process that applicants focus most on and it’s probably the least important aspect of the hiring process. In most cases, it’s possible to discern from a good phone screen whether a candidate is capable enough to perform the role. This is either through job history that isquickly validated during the first “real” phone screen. You are either able to do the job or not. In some cases, especially at the junior level, the assessment is will you be able to learn enough to do the job.
  2. Will they do the job? Hiring is one of the most inefficient and inconsistent processes that exists today. Hiring managers are trying to discern that even if a candidate can do the job, are they interested in taking the job. Additionally, hiring managers are trying to determine will the candidate be sufficiently satisfied to do the job. It’s very costly to go through the hiring process to offer to have a candidate reject a role. It is even more expensive to hire someone to only have them leave after starting. The opportunity costs of an false match can impact your organization disproportionately compared to finding the right candidate. Note that a candidate may be willing to do a job for the simple reason they need the wage, so while they may be willing to do so in the short term, they may not be willing to do so for the long term. So in the hiring process, if a candidate seems overqualified it is important to set expectations and have an honest conversation about how long they are willing to commit to a role. In the end, the hiring manager uses this criteria to determine if the candidate will remain interested in the role.
  3. Will they fit? The hiring manager is looking to satisfy this criteria with a candidate to determine whether they will fit into the team and the company culture. Are they introverted or extroverted? Can they handle ambiguity (this is common in startups where pivots are fast and frequent)?. Are they remote workers or like to have a place to go and be social? The question the hiring manager is trying to answer is can the candidate naturally integrate into the organization? Note the emphasis on the word naturally. It is possible for everyone to put on a good face for an interview and be culturally compatible during the hiring process. This is why so much of the time in the hiring process is spent meeting different people. In most cases, the “can” has been determined and subsequent rounds are looking for information that contradicts that. But most of the hiring process implicitly centers on this criteria.

As a candidate, you should make sure that when you meet with the different people as part of the interview process that they should have clear answers to all three questions. This is not to say you should game the process, but you should use the framework to provide an agenda for your interviews.

On the flip side, remember a good candidate will be asking the same parallel set of questions. Will the company use my skills to the best of my ability? Will the company provide growth and opportunity for my skills? Will my time doing the role be an effective use of my time outside of the monetary renumeration? You should be asking questions that allow you to answer those questions of the prospective employer.

If both sides are able to answer in the affimative to both sets of question, chances are high for a successful interview. Otherwise, there will be a lot of interviewing due to attrition. I hope that this provides a clear strategy for what you need to communicate when you are going through the hiring process.

Charles Wu

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