I’ve seen some poor job postings out there, and they’re too often for the organizations that are in the greatest need of strong talent. They don’t recognize the competitiveness of the talent market; they don’t inspire an outsider; they aren’t very clear on priorities; they’re confusing about what kind of person they’re really looking for. I often wonder if they ever filled the role with someone great, or if after months of posting, they settled for mediocrity from a small applicant pool. Because if you want to embark on a successful search for great talent, you need to invest the time to do it right, which includes a few things up front before you even post the opportunity.

Below are three crucial practices to consider as you prepare to hire the best possible talent: hire for character; invest time to fully understand the needs of the role; write a job posting that sings to the market.

1: Hire for character first

While not precisely a thing you do before you post your job, it is a mindset to embrace throughout the effort, so it’s worth taking a moment to call this out.

A few years ago, the CEO of an American Fortune 50 company told us that for the first twenty years of his career, he optimized for skill set in making his senior hires. He eventually realized that when he had to fire someone, it was almost always because of poor behavior, compromised ethics, or toxic effects on culture. The day he began hiring for character first, his own career began to flourish.

Skills can be acquired. A person’s essential character is exquisitely difficult to alter. If you remember one thing, let it be that. Nevertheless, before you can begin to actually assess for character, you of course need a healthy pool of applicants that at least have the potential to do what you need. Which means you have to know what you’re really looking for, AND be able to attract their attention.

2: Understand the role, and what you’re really seeking

Sure, skills can be learned, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to run out and hire a communications specialist with no finance background to be your CFO. You of course need some level of competency. But before you start making a laundry list of qualifications, back up and think big picture.

Think beyond the position title. Don’t start by writing a job description…and don’t just copy one from online. A few hours of analysis will pay huge dividends. Consider the specific skills you need, but also consider how this person could impact your organizational system. As you’re designing the role, think beyond its discrete function. Consider how all of your organization’s functions articulate with one another, map those, and look for the gaps. Can this person close those gaps and get you where you want to go? Are all the skills you want likely to reside in one person? What are the critical things, broadly speaking, that you really need this person to achieve? Beware the laundry list or unicorn hunt.

Identify the Key Pillars of the role. Derived from that analysis, think of four or five categories that collectively reflect the most important considerations for success in the role. Those become your Key Pillars. Examples might include leadership, fundraising, operational management, mission alignment, etc.. Then begin to build out three or four of the most critical things you need this person to do in each of those categories, and those become your responsibilities. Be concise, and do not try to list everything that this person could conceivably do.

Derive meaningful–and discoverable–Qualifications. With responsibilities outlined, it should be fairly simple to directly derive the qualifications associated with each. They should clearly connect, be helpful in sourcing talent, and not be overly restrictive. How many times have you seen “outstanding communications skills” (good at it or not, most people self-identify as great communicators anyway); or “regularly required to stand and use hands” (yes, we’ve seen that); or “must have BA/BS” (you’d be surprised at some overachievers that faced hardship in life and got there without it). Be equitable, and always be open for people with transferable skills and demonstrating comparable qualifications.

Commit to consistency in how you will assess talent. The Key Pillars, Responsibilities, and Qualifications should all cascade logically into that Assessment Criteria. It is important to get this right up front so that it can serve as a pocket reference to inform your prospect research, outreach strategy, and interview design. And because not everyone will be perfect in every category (remember: beware the unicorn hunt, and some skills can be learned), it can also serve as a useful tool to compare relative strengths across a group of finalists. Below is an example from a recent CEO search:

3: Write a spectacular job posting

With all that thoughtful work completed, are you ready to slap a paragraph up front, add some application instructions, and get it posted? Not by a long shot. Realize that prospects won’t even get to all those well-thought-out responsibilities and qualifications if they are not drawn to the opportunity. The ideal person you’re looking for is probably already happily employed elsewhere, so why would the CEO of another company want to leave and become the CEO of yours if you’re not offering something really enticing. They’ll never get to page 2 of a job posting if page 1 doesn’t completely hook them, so put your marketing hat on.

Realize the difference between a job posting and a job description. A job description is really an internal document used by HR teams, hiring managers, and employees as an overview of a role. By contrast, a job posting is more of an external document used by hiring teams in recruiting efforts, essentially a marketing tool that advertises an open position to attract potential candidates.

Get prospects excited about the organization. Please don’t hide yourself as a “confidential organization” seeking position X. Tell them who you are, provide a link to your website, and write more than just the standard mission statement. Tell them what else they might not know by just visiting your site (or would have to dig around to discover…because they probably won’t do that if not already hooked). Share your budget size. Have you just received some exciting funding? Are you poised for growth in some fashion? Have you recently reported some impressive impacts? Are you doing something unique? Basically, think of how you would pitch yourself to a potential funder, and take that same approach. It’s worth a couple of compelling paragraphs to highlight your talking points.

Get prospects excited about the opportunity itself, applying that same mindset. What would make you leave your organization for something else? Be inspirational. What is interesting about this particular role at this particular point in time? What challenge does it afford? Think about the position type, and what would be really appealing to someone in that field? If you’re hiring a marketer, will they get to put their creative fingerprint on the organization? If you’re hiring a fundraiser, is there already a healthy endowment or a strong prospect research team? If a CEO, then is it a highly supportive and functioning board, or a strong and stable executive team, or the opportunity to build its next strategic plan? Pull out all the talking points, craft a couple of more concise paragraphs, and really make the opportunity sing to the right kind of person.

Bottom line: If you have…

• taken the time up front to really sell your organization;
• created excitement tailored to the particular opportunity;
• carefully thought through your organization’s design, and its strengths and weaknesses;
• zeroed in on the Key Pillars of the role, and derived relevant responsibilities and qualifications

…then you are ready to finalize the job posting with compensation/benefit information (we encourage transparency here) and application instructions (we recommend requiring the inclusion of a cover letter with the resume, as that can reveal a lot).

Applying these best practices will set your organization on a solid foundation for the preparatory work needed in order to hire well. But that’s less than half the battle. In our firm’s next Partners Perspective, we will explore more about How to Hire Well after your job is posted; or you may request a copy of our recently published Pocket Guide now to discover more.