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A critical lesson that I learned early in my management career is that, as I shifted from being an individual contributor (IC) to a managerial role, my work would largely be achieved through others. In this regard, running an effective team is very similar to creating a successful movie: a significant part of it hinges on picking a great cast. Building on this metaphor, how can you, the director, recruit the right crew to bring your vision to life, creating a compelling script for success?
<aside> <img src="/icons/drafts_gray.svg" alt="/icons/drafts_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Throughout this article, my focus will be on how to recruit engineers, rather than managers. While there is a definite overlap, hiring managers is a distinct topic that deserves its own dedicated article.
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To greatly increase the chances of hiring an excellent candidate for a specific role, I highly recommend starting by building a detailed scorecard.
A scorecard provides a clear definition of what success looks like for the role, ensuring that everyone involved in the hiring process is aligned on expectations. It’s important that the hiring manager leads its creation (and not a potential external recruiter) as it will serve the creation of the job description. Typically, this scorecard outlines the mission, scope, responsibilities, competencies and mindset required to be successful in this position.
The second reason, but nonetheless important, for having a solid scorecard is that it helps reduce bias. It’s no secret that we have a big diversity problem in our industry and scorecards if done well, are an effective way of consistently assessing candidates across interviews and interviewers. This structured approach ensures fairness by preventing biases and making the evaluation process repeatable for all candidates.
Paving the road for fair and effective recruitment begins with crafting a thoughtfully structured Job Description (JD).
As an absolute minimum, I would recommend these three practical recommendations (but you can find more here or there):