Some requests for hiring managers

As promised, I’m going to experiment a bit more with the $ newsletters. To that end, I’ll be sharing versions of things I’m reading, watching, listening to, or workshopping.

I shared a version of this on Twitter (note: I delete my tweets every quarter or so) in response to some conversations and behaviours I’ve been seeing around hiring.

Post job descriptions publicly, and think about how you write them.

Share those job descriptions beyond Twitter, including on paid job boards or affinity organizations.

Avoid the beloved “DM for details”, because not everyone uses Twitter (or uses Twitter for work) or has the social confidence / experience / desire to roll up in your messages about a job.

If you use a recruiter, brief them properly. Ensure they have expertise in the domain (and quiz them on this if you're not sure) and any relevant background materials. This avoids wasting candidates’ time, and you looking like you don't know what you're doing (or worse).

The same applies to your internal hiring panel: make sure everyone is aligned on the expectations for the role. This is not as straightforward or as common as you might think, and internal confusion that comes through in the hiring process is a giant red flag for savvy candidates.

Review a reasonably significant sample of rejected applications and candidates. Make sure the folks you are trusting to screen — whether internal HR or those recruiters — aren’t screening out folks you’d have picked. Figure out why that’s happening, and fix it.

Assume there is bias in every single part of your hiring process and that bias is going to largely be invisible and cannot all be detected in the moment. React and adjust accordingly.

Study up on your relevant labour law. Stop asking candidates for their previous salaries, especially if you’re in one of these US states.

Tell candidates upfront what accommodations you will be providing if they are invited to an on-site interview. (I’ve seen people bow out of gigs because they couldn’t afford the travel to the interview or didn’t know if they would get a reimbursement. To that end, please offer to book travel and accomodations for candidates vs expecting them to front it and get reimbursed.)

And on accommodations, with some very specific exceptions US employers are legally required to provide accessibility accommodations for a candidate who may need it. And then not to ask why they need it.