The Recruitment Rollercoaster

Hi there, I'm Poss and I'm a Chief Operating Officer (COO). Like many of my kind, I’m a broad generalist, and I enjoy sharing some of the more interesting aspects of a varied role. 

Recently I've struggled to find the time to write as much as I’d like. New job, half term, the heartbreak of watching Arsenal come up short in the league… But I’m doing a bit of recruitment at the moment and thought it’d make a good subject to talk about given it’s something we all go through! 

Over the past 20 years, recruitment has been a huge focus for me. Whether it was applying for my own role in an internal competition (urgh - the worst), as an inexperienced hiring manager trying to hire a team, or as a senior leader trying to grow a company. 

There are enough great articles out there to help you define a good recruitment process. So I’m not going to tell you what to do. I thought instead I would share some of the lessons (confessions) I’ve learnt, especially from the more gnarly issues, from the rollercoaster of recruitment! 

Strong opinions… loosely held

If you’re hiring a delivery manager, finance manager or a software developer chances are you’ll have a really good idea of what you’re looking for in that specialist. But some generalist roles (and some specialists), aren’t so well defined. The role might be a new one (e.g. for a startup), or your needs might be evolving (e.g. for a scale up). 

A clear job description is essential, but I’ve had some success by being open (minded) to hiring candidates who might not tick every single box. Sometimes, the best hires bring a fresh perspective and unexpected benefits. Similarly, is "subject matter expertise" really that important? At dxw - some of our “less obvious” hires acted as the catalyst for diversifying our propositions to clients which was a huge win, just not one we planned for. 

Get comfortable interviewing 

… it’s a capability you’ll need. Whether as an individual or at the organisational level. Encourage and support people to develop this skill. Pair up experienced and less experienced folks. Acknowledge that it can be uncomfortable for all sides including the people who aren’t even trying to get a job, and especially if someone is neurodivergent. Reflect and learn after each interview. Treat the skill like any other. 

Because a good candidate will be interviewing you

Most candidates will be sizing you up in the interview to assess your company culture. In my earlier interview days, I was aware of the power dynamic and (cringe) I probably let it go to my head, especially if I was doing a lot that day and wanted to rush through the process. I’m not sure when, but at some point I dropped the ego, smiled more and realised a good interview should feel like a conversation... because the person opposite was actually assessing me.

The trade offs

One of my strengths is my experience. Hand in hand with that goes a solid network of people I’ve worked with. People who I like, and maybe some who I wouldn’t work with again. Surely my experience is a positive thing to capitalise on, but what about my network? Might that introduce too much bias? As with most COO decisions, It’s worth considering all the trade offs and talking them through with your colleagues. Are you willing to trade some inevitable bias to expedite the search? How will that trade off be perceived by the wider team? I've definitely got some of these calls right before, but also some of them wrong...

So whether your hiring or looking for a job, I wish you all the best, and do get in touch if you'd like to talk about it more. 

First written on 2 June 2024