When you’re trying to attract someone good, you naturally talk about the exciting parts of the role, such as building a new product or having the freedom to make decisions. You want them to see where the company is going.
It can be harder to say that much of the first few months will involve maintenance, chasing missing information or answering customer questions. Especially when you’re a founder and you wish the job were different yourself.
If that work is why you need the hire, it belongs in the conversation from the beginning.
Describe a successful first three months.
“Three months have passed since making this hire. What would make them successful?”
Write your answer before you write the job advert. “They’re proactive” leaves a lot open to interpretation. “Customer requests are followed up without me chasing them” gives you something to discuss and assess.
- Which jobs need doing each week, including the routine ones?
- What should this person take off someone else’s plate, and what will that person still own?
- Which decisions can they make themselves? Where will they need help or approval?
- What must they be able to do when they join, and what can you teach them?
- What would they find frustrating if they only discovered it after accepting?
Ask the people they will work with to answer too. If you expect someone to ship new features while the rest of the team needs help keeping the existing product running, settle that priority before making an offer.
Give candidates the whole picture.
Suppose you describe a role as building a new product, but the immediate need is maintaining customer integrations. The candidate joins ready to build; you are waiting for someone to clear the support backlog. Both sides can be disappointed, even if the person is capable.
You can still explain where the company is going. Distinguish the responsibilities available now from opportunities that depend on future growth. Be specific about the support, authority and time the person will have.
That gives candidates a chance to tell you what interests them and where their expectations differ. Someone may enjoy the work you find difficult to sell. They deserve enough detail to decide.
This is the purpose of a realistic job preview: explain the appealing and difficult parts so applicants can judge whether the job suits them. It helps them make a choice as well as helping you hire.
You won’t get everything right.
Defining a role is hard, particularly when you’re hiring to solve problems you haven’t fully understood yet. It’s okay to discover that you missed something. You need to learn from it and keep moving.
If a hire isn’t working as you hoped, revisit what you asked for. Was the responsibility clear? Did they have the support and authority to do it? Did you agree what success meant?
Use those answers to clarify the work with the person you hired and improve the next hiring brief. You can’t remove every uncertainty in advance, but you can give both sides a clearer starting point.
Working out what to assess?
Tell me about the role and the work you need help with.
Prefer email? tim@probehaus.com
Research
These sources support job analysis and clear expectations. The three-month reflection is a practical exercise, not a validated selection test.
- US Office of Personnel Management: job analysis. Identify the work and the abilities needed to do it before choosing an assessment.
- US Office of Personnel Management: realistic job previews. Give applicants a balanced account of the job so they can judge its fit with their expectations.