Defining a persona to hire better

Too often, hires fall through because of a poor fit between the company's needs and the pool of selected candidates.

Defining the target profile of the person you're looking for, before even starting the hiring process, should be every recruiter's reflex #1. Once this reflex is in place, you'll save a considerable amount of time at every stage of the process.

Unfortunately, this preliminary step can be tedious due to limited or missing information and poor communication. In this article, we show you how to properly define your hiring needs to save time and make candidate selection easier.

What is a persona?

In a hiring context, a "persona" is the recruiter's definition of the ideal candidate's target profile.

To build the profile of the candidate, you need a maximum of information that can come from several sources. To find a person perfectly suited to a role, you need to make sure that the role itself is well defined. Finding the perfect fit for a role that only half exists is impossible.

The first step, therefore, is to make sure that the tasks associated with the role are clearly defined and sufficiently precise.

The second step is to draw up a list of the essential skills required to effectively carry out the tasks associated with this job description.

Once the skills are defined, don't forget the other very practical information. You can ask about location, start date, working conditions (remote work or not, for example), and salary. These details may seem trivial, but the candidate will definitely ask these questions, and they will help you filter the different profiles more quickly.

Once this information is collected, it's time to build the target profile of your candidate by asking yourself a number of questions. As much as possible, try to start from the needs in the job description.

For example, you've identified a key skill — so ask yourself: "what kind of training can someone use to acquire this skill?"

How does the persona help optimize hiring?

Defining the persona allows the recruiter to more easily identify with a potential candidate, because that candidate is no longer just an entry in a database. This approach helps refine the recruiter's work at every step of the process, and increases relevance.

To optimize sourcing

Defining the target profile precisely will allow you to focus on specific candidate pools. Not every profile can be found on LinkedIn. There are sometimes channels specific to certain types of professions or specialized platforms.

By being able to identify them, you'll be more precise in your candidate selection and save considerable time.

To tailor your job ads to the profile

You need to be specific enough in the ad, providing the necessary information for the candidate to picture themselves in the role, without being too technical. Your primary goal is to make the candidate want to work in your company in particular.

You should present the skills you've listed in your persona so the candidate can assess whether they are a legitimate fit to apply.

To run successful interviews

If you don't understand the job description, if you don't know the day-to-day of your target profile, you won't know how to properly conduct your interview for several reasons.

First, you won't be able to assess the skills required for the role if those haven't been clearly defined upfront. Or you won't know how to evaluate them properly. You risk missing good candidates or, conversely, letting poorly suited profiles slip through the cracks.

The candidate will also ask you questions. If you can't answer them because you don't understand the job description, that's a problem. You risk undermining your company's credibility — and your own.

How and why put yourself in the candidate's shoes?

You've understood: the key is to put yourself in the candidate's shoes to adapt the hiring process to their personality. To do this, you have to mentally walk through the steps your candidate will go through and adapt your hiring to those steps.

First, the idea of looking for a new job comes to them. Ask yourself: "why do they want to change?" Are they bored with their current role? In that case, why? Does your offer provide something new compared to your competitors? By answering these questions, your offer will resonate more.

Then the potential candidate browses available openings: Where do they go? On which platforms? How long do they have to read an offer? What are they looking for? What keywords will they pay attention to?

The goal of a job ad is to make the candidate want to pick up the phone, do an interview, and come work at your company. To do that, you have to speak their language, know what drives them in their work, understand the stakes of their job.

Try reading your own ad with an outside eye to see if it inspires or if you're being too factual.

Our tips for hiring closer to the candidate

Here are some very concrete tips to help you improve your hiring process and make it more human.

Personalize your approach

Put the candidate at the center of your hiring process and drop generic recruiting. Today, candidates need to find a company they're aligned with and that matches their mindset.

That means showing them that, in your eyes, they're not interchangeable, that their application isn't just one among many, and that you're recruiting them for who they are.

Depending on the kind of candidate you're looking for, adapt your approach and give as much detail as possible (without overwhelming the offer) so the candidate can picture themselves in the role.

If you can identify the candidate's expectations upfront, you'll be able to adjust your messaging and dramatically increase your chances of hiring them.

Be responsive

Responsiveness must be at the heart of your strategy throughout every phase of the hiring process. There's no point in making a candidate wait to play hard to get — that's the best way to lose them.

Whether it's after receiving the resume or after the interview, don't let the process drag on — you risk being beaten to the punch by another company.

This also applies if the profile isn't a fit. It's much more pleasant to be known on the market as a company that responds quickly, even to reject an application.

Your company's reputation is at stake. Be sure to argue your response well, even if it's just a resume screen. This will allow candidates to potentially adjust their search.

Show empathy

Don't be cold to play a role and try to destabilize the candidate throughout the interview. That can, at a stretch, be part of a role-play scenario, but the candidate has to understand it's a simulation. This kind of exercise is often misunderstood and can easily cause confusion.

On interview day, give the candidate the desire to join you. Show them that your company is able to offer them what they're looking for. You can give them a tour of the office so they can picture themselves there and have them meet their potential future colleagues.

Stay open

We've explained the benefits of the "persona" and its value in the hiring process. But don't get stuck with a predefined idea that prevents you from broadening your scope.

The unicorn as you imagine them doesn't necessarily exist. By stubbornly clinging to a precise idea, you risk missing much more interesting candidates.

So let yourself be surprised by more original profiles that can bring a lot to the company. To do this, don't apply selection criteria that are too strict or too standardized, and take the time to consider other possibilities.