Questions for a Recruiter to Ask a Hiring Manager
These are questions for an in-house or agency recruiter to bring to the intake meeting with a hiring manager, the kickoff conversation that should happen before a job is posted or a candidate is contacted. The 56 questions are grouped in the order the meeting usually runs: the role, the profile of the person, pay, the pitch to candidates, sourcing and the interview process. Most are for the manager to answer on the spot, and a few, such as visa sponsorship and what a posting has to say about pay, will send you to HR afterward.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The role
Why is this role open: is it a backfill, a new position, or one you have tried to fill before?
Why ask it
Each answer starts the search somewhere different. With a backfill, candidates will ask why the last person left, so settle on the version you are allowed to repeat. If the role has been open before, find out what stopped it last time before you run the same search again.
What should this person have delivered six months in, and by the end of the first year?
Why ask it
Outcomes can be screened for in a way that duties cannot: 'took over the month-end close' can be checked against what a candidate has done, and 'strong finance skills' cannot. If the manager describes only activity, ask what would make them say at the first review that this was a good hire.
What does an ordinary week in this job look like, and roughly how does the time split?
Why ask it
Candidates raise this on the first call and a job description rarely answers it. Push for rough percentages: hands-on work, meetings, managing people, travel. A split that does not match the title is a sign the title will draw the wrong applicants.
Who will this person report to, and who will they work with most closely?
Why ask it
Get names and titles, because candidates look people up before they reply. The reporting line also signals the level, so ask whether it is expected to change in the next year.
When do you need someone in the seat, and what is driving that date?
Why ask it
Work backward from the date with the manager in the room: notice periods, the number of interview rounds, the time it takes to find people for this kind of job. If the sum does not fit, say so now, while the choice between moving the date and shortening the process is still an easy one.
What can the team not do until this person starts?
Why ask it
What is stalled tells you how urgent the hire really is, and it often supplies the first line of your outreach message. If nothing much is waiting, the search will lose out to the manager's day job, so ask how many hours a week they can give it.
Does this person manage anyone, and if so, who is on that team now?
Why ask it
Hiring someone to lead people is a different search from hiring someone to do the work, with a different pool and a different pay level. Ask how many direct reports there are and whether any of them applied for this job, since a candidate should hear that from you and not discover it in week one.
Is this a permanent job or a contract, and is it full time?
Why ask it
It changes who will reply to you: someone settled in a permanent job is rarely tempted by a fixed term, and contractors think in rates and end dates. For a contract, get the length, the chance of an extension or a permanent offer, and who would be the worker's employer, which varies with the company and the country.
Where is the job based, and how fixed are the office days, the hours and the travel?
Why ask it
Location and schedule can rule people out before a single skill is weighed. Separate what is company policy from what is the manager's preference, and ask whether anyone on the team has an exception. If a strong candidate lives in another state or country, find out from HR whether your employer can hire there before you raise their hopes.
Is this one hire or several, and has the budget for it been approved?
Why ask it
Get the approval answered before you contact anyone, since a role frozen after people have taken time off to interview costs you their trust for the next search too. If someone still has to say yes, ask what you may do in the meantime, such as mapping the market without approaching people. Several openings change the plan as well, because the manager will need far more interview hours than they are picturing.
Was the job description written for this search, or carried over from the last one?
Why ask it
An inherited description lists requirements for a job that has since changed. Go through it line by line together and strike what no longer applies, because whatever is advertised is what people will apply for.
The profile
Which requirements are true must-haves, and which could a strong person learn on the job?
Why ask it
Go down the list and have the manager put every line in one of two columns. A long must-have column usually describes nobody, or one person who is already well paid somewhere else. Send both columns back in writing afterward, so they become the standard every resume is read against.
If a candidate had only three things on this list, which three would still get them an interview?
Why ask it
A forced ranking turns a wish list into screening criteria, and those three become the first questions on your phone screen. If the manager cannot choose, describe two imaginary candidates with different strengths and ask which one they would meet first.
What is the team already good at, and what gap is this hire meant to fill?
Why ask it
A team of careful analysts with nobody who can present to senior people needs a different hire than the job description suggests. The gap shows which must-have really comes first, and it hands you an honest reply when a candidate wonders why they in particular were approached.
Who on the team, or among people you have worked with, comes closest to what you have in mind?
Why ask it
A real person is easier to describe than an ideal one. Ask what that person does well and what they had done before they arrived, and keep the answer on skills and track record. The point is a pattern of work to look for, never a copy of someone's age or background.
Has anyone looked right on paper for this kind of job and not worked out, and what was missing?
Why ask it
Whatever was missing is the thing a resume cannot show for this role: pace, comfort with loose instructions, a certain kind of customer. Ask how the manager would test for it now, and add a question on it to your own first call.
Does the experience have to come from this industry, or would a neighboring one do?
Why ask it
The useful follow-up is what exactly the industry teaches that matters here: its regulations, its customers, its sales cycle. Then you can look for those things wherever else they exist, which opens up companies the manager had not thought of.
When the posting asks for a number of years of experience, what should that person already have done?
Why ask it
A number of years stands in for things the manager expects a person to have handled: a full budget cycle, a product launch, a difficult client. Get that list and screen for it directly, and you can put forward someone with fewer years who has done them all.
Is the degree or certification a real requirement, or a line carried over from old postings?
Why ask it
Some are fixed by a regulator, a license or a client contract, and those stay. For the rest, ask what the manager would do if an excellent candidate did not have it. 'I would still see them' moves it to the nice-to-have column.
What would rule someone out even if everything else fit?
Why ask it
Hearing the deal-breakers now, whether that is short stays in past jobs or a long notice period, saves you from submitting someone who is rejected in a minute. Challenge any that is not about the ability to do the job, and take anything touching a personal characteristic to HR before it goes near your screening.
Would you see someone a level below who could grow into it, or someone more senior than the title?
Why ask it
This sets the edges of the pool. If either is acceptable, find out what would have to be true about pay, title and training time, so you can tell such a candidate honestly how they would be seen.
Which skills will you test in the interviews, and which should I check on the first call?
Why ask it
You are rarely the specialist, so ask the manager for two or three screening questions and what a good answer to each sounds like. Dividing the checks this way also spares candidates from being asked the same thing in every round.
What kind of person does well on this team, and what kind struggles?
Why ask it
Ask for behavior in place of adjectives: someone who wants written briefs, who is fine being interrupted, who can work for a week without direction. 'Fit' left undefined is where personal preference gets in, so turn each trait into something a candidate can be asked about and give an example of.
Pay
What is the approved pay range, and how high would you really go for the right person?
Why ask it
You need two figures: the range you can share and the ceiling behind it. Ask who set the range and when, because one approved long ago may sit behind the market. Whether the range has to appear in the posting or be given on request depends on where you hire, so check your company's rule before your first call.
What would a candidate have to bring to be paid at the top of the range?
Why ask it
Without this, every candidate hears the top figure and most are disappointed when the offer comes. With it, you can tell someone on the first call roughly where they would land and why.
What else is in the package, such as bonus, equity or a sign-on payment, and which parts can move?
Why ask it
Base pay is often tied to a band while a sign-on payment, a start date or extra vacation days may be easier to adjust. List the levers with the manager before a negotiation needs them. Candidates will want to know how the bonus has paid out in recent years, so get that too.
How does the range compare with what people already on the team earn?
Why ask it
An offer that would put a new hire above longer-serving colleagues is a common place for approvals to stall. You do not need anyone's salary, only whether there is room at the top of the range and whether the manager has thought about the reaction.
If the best candidate is above the range, what happens next?
Why ask it
There are three possible answers: more budget, a role moved up a level, or no. Find out which, and who would have to approve it, before you meet that candidate. If it is a flat no, stop interviewing people above the range in the hope it will bend.
Has anyone turned down an offer from this team recently, and what was the reason?
Why ask it
A declined offer is market information the company has already paid for. If two people said no over pay or remote days, expect the third to do the same and raise it in this meeting. When the manager does not know the reason, look in the notes from that search or ask whoever ran it.
The pitch
Why would someone who is good and happy where they are leave to take this job?
Why ask it
A posting is written for people who are looking, and many of the people you want are not. Push past 'great culture' to something a candidate could check: what they would own, build or learn. If the manager is stuck, ask why they joined and why they are still here.
What made the last two people who joined the team say yes?
Why ask it
Reasons given by real hires are more convincing than anything on the careers page. If the manager does not know, ask for ten minutes with one of those people, and for permission to pass on what they tell you.
What is the hardest or least attractive part of the job, and how should I describe it?
Why ask it
There is always something: on-call weeks, an old system, heavy travel, a demanding internal customer. Work out honest wording for it now and use it early. A candidate who hears it from you can opt out before anyone's time is spent, or arrive ready for it.
Where could this job lead in two or three years, and has anyone made that move?
Why ask it
Growth comes up on nearly every candidate call. A name and where that person went is worth more than a ladder on a slide. If nobody has made the move yet, say that, and pass on what the manager says it would take.
What will the first month look like for the person who gets the job?
Why ask it
A candidate choosing between two offers will want to know who trains them and what they will be working on in week two. If there is no plan yet, say it is being built and get a date from the manager, because 'you will figure it out' is a hard thing to sell.
How would you describe yourself as a manager, in words I can repeat to candidates?
Why ask it
People often choose the manager as much as the job, and a label such as 'hands-off' tells them little. Get habits: how often they meet each person, how much they want to see before work is finished, how they deliver bad news. If you have placed people with this manager before, compare the description with what those hires told you.
Who are we competing with for these people, and what do they offer that we do not?
Why ask it
You are hearing in advance the objections candidates will raise. Where a rival pays more or asks for fewer office days, work out the reply with the manager now, or accept that there is none and the pitch has to stand on something else.
Will you take a short call with a strong candidate who is hesitating?
Why ask it
Fifteen minutes with the person they would work for can do more than a third message from a recruiter. Decide together which candidates qualify and how fast the manager will make time, so it is not a fresh negotiation each time.
Sourcing
Where did your best hires for this team come from?
Why ask it
Go back first to whatever worked, whether that was a referral, one particular competitor, an internal move or a training program. Then find out which of those sources also produced hires who left quickly, and weigh it accordingly.
Which companies should I look at first, and are any off limits?
Why ask it
The target list saves days of guessing. Off-limits names tend to be clients, partners or a firm someone senior has promised not to recruit from. Confirm any restriction with HR or legal, because what applies depends on the company's agreements and on where you hire.
What do other companies call this job?
Why ask it
One firm's customer success manager is another's account manager. Five or six alternative titles, and the tools people list beside them, widen your search strings at once. Ask too which titles sound the same and are a different job.
Can I approach people who would need a visa or a move to take this job?
Why ask it
This decides who you can contact at all, so it comes before the first search. What is possible depends on the country, the role and the employer's policy, so get the answer from HR or whoever handles immigration there, and do not improvise it on a call with a candidate. For a move, ask whether the company pays any of the cost.
Is anyone inside the company, or anyone you already know, in the running?
Why ask it
A favored internal candidate changes what the search is for, and outside candidates deserve to know they are being compared with one. Some employers have their own rule about offering a job internally first, so learn yours before the posting goes up.
Has anyone already been interviewed or turned down for this role?
Why ask it
It keeps you from approaching someone who was rejected last month. Get the names and the reasons, and ask whether a runner-up from an earlier search deserves the first call, since that person has already been through the interviews.
Who on your team could refer someone, or tell me where people in this field gather?
Why ask it
The team knows the meetups, the forums and the former colleagues worth a message. An introduction from the manager gets a better reception than a cold email from you, so request one, and learn how the referral bonus works here if there is one.
Is any agency or other recruiter already working on this, and has it been posted anywhere?
Why ask it
Two recruiters reaching the same person with different stories makes the employer look disorganized. If you are with an agency, this is where you learn whether the search is exclusive. In-house, ask how a candidate who arrives from two sources is credited, and follow what the agency contracts say.
The process
What are the interview stages, who is in each one, and what is each meant to decide?
Why ask it
Draw it during the meeting: stage, interviewer, what they assess, how long it takes. Where two stages assess the same thing, propose merging them. You will be asked for this outline on the first call with every candidate.
Who makes the final decision, and can anyone else veto it?
Why ask it
It is not always the manager: a department head, a panel that must agree, or HR on level and pay may hold the last word. Find that person now and get their must-haves as well. A brief agreed with one person can fail in the final round with another.
How quickly will you get back to me on a resume, and after an interview?
Why ask it
Pin down a number of working days for each and put it in your follow-up note. Good candidates are usually talking to other employers, and a week of silence reads to them as a no. Ask what you should do when it slips: follow up, go to a named deputy, or tell the candidate plainly.
Is there a test, a case or a presentation, and at what stage does it come?
Why ask it
Find out how long it takes, who grades it and against what. A long unpaid task early in the process tends to lose the candidates who already have jobs, so propose shortening it or moving it later.
Can we hold interview slots in your calendar now for the coming weeks?
Why ask it
Scheduling is where many searches lose their weeks. Two standing blocks a week let you offer a candidate a time on the first call. Ask who interviews in the manager's place when they are traveling.
How many candidates do you want to see, and what should come with each one?
Why ask it
Some managers want three people you would stake your name on, and others want ten to get a feel for the market. Settle the format as well: resume, your notes against the must-haves, pay expectations, notice period. A profile that arrives in the expected shape gets read faster.
Can I send you three profiles this week to react to before I go wide?
Why ask it
A manager's reaction to real resumes exposes gaps in the brief that an hour of talk does not. Ask for a yes, no or maybe on each with one reason. These can be profiles you have not approached yet, so nobody is kept waiting on a test of the brief.
How often should we talk while the search is running, and how do I reach you fast in between?
Why ask it
A short standing call each week suits most searches: who is at which stage, what candidates are saying about the role and the pay, what needs a decision. The fast channel is for the urgent case, such as a finalist holding another offer, so name it now and use it sparingly.
Once you have chosen someone, how long does an offer take to approve and send?
Why ask it
Get the chain: who signs, how many days each signature usually takes, and which checks, such as references or background screening, your company runs and when. A finalist with a second offer will want dates, and you should have them.
What went wrong in the last search for this team that you would not want repeated?
Why ask it
Whatever is named, be it slow scheduling, a flood of unsuitable resumes or a finalist lost at the offer stage, is what you will be judged on. Build the fix into the plan, and use the moment to say what you need from the manager in return.
If we have not found the right person after a month, what would you change first?
Why ask it
This asks the manager to rank pay, location, level and the must-haves by which gives way first. Write the answer down. When the market proves difficult you will be returning to something they said, not arguing for a compromise of your own.
How to run the intake meeting
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you sit down
Do the reading the manager should not have to repeat
Read the old job description, the notes from the last search for this team and the profiles of the people already on it. Then the meeting can open with 'this is what I understand, what has changed?' and the manager sees that the search is in careful hands.
Bring something to react to
Two or three sample profiles and a rough view of the market, such as how many people in the area hold a similar title, give the conversation something concrete. A manager who struggles to describe the ideal hire can usually say at once what is right and wrong with a real resume.
Ask for a proper slot
Thirty to forty-five minutes, live, with the manager and not a delegate. A brief collected by email or a forwarded job description leaves out nearly everything under The pitch and The process, and those are the parts you will need when a good candidate is deciding whether to say yes.
If you recruit for an agency
Everything on this page applies, with two additions. You know the company less well than an in-house recruiter would, so spend longer on The pitch and ask to hear from someone on the team. Commercial terms, such as the fee and exclusivity, belong in the agreement with whoever signs it and not in this meeting, although the Sourcing questions will tell you who else is working on the role.
During the meeting
Keep the order
The groups run from the job to the person, then pay, the pitch, where to look and how the process will work. Each depends on the one before: you cannot sort must-haves until you know what the hire has to deliver, and you cannot judge the range until you know the must-haves. If time is short, ask the first two or three in every group and send the rest by email.
Say what you see in the market
This is the moment to tell the manager that the list of requirements and the pay range do not match, or that the date leaves no room for a notice period. Put it as a choice: 'With this range I can find people who have done A and B. For C as well we would need more. Which matters most?' The same point raised in week four, after a thin shortlist, sounds like an excuse.
Turn adjectives into evidence
'A self-starter', 'strategic' and 'a good communicator' cannot be screened for. Each time one comes up, ask what the person would have done in a past job that proves it, and write that down in its place.
Get the working terms said out loud
Feedback times, held interview slots and the weekly check-in are easy to skip because they feel like housekeeping. They are the commitments you will lean on hardest a month from now, so get a clear yes to each and repeat it back.
After the meeting
Send the brief back the same day
Keep it to one page: why the role is open, the outcomes, the two columns of requirements, the range and its ceiling, the selling points, the stages with names, and the response times the manager committed to. Ask the manager to correct it. A brief they have edited is one they will stand behind when a candidate matches it.
Pass the brief to everyone who touches the search
A sourcer, a coordinator and four interviewers may all work from the brief without having been in the room. Give them the same page, and tell each interviewer which must-have their stage is there to test. Without that, a candidate can meet a panel that is quietly hiring for four slightly different jobs.
Reopen the brief when the search tells you to
If candidates keep declining for the same reason, or nobody who meets the must-haves is inside the range, go back with the evidence and with the manager's own answer about what they would change first. A second, shorter intake is an ordinary part of a hard search and not a sign that the first one failed.
Where intake meetings go wrong
Taking the order
Writing down whatever is asked for and leaving is quicker and feels polite. It also means every problem with the brief surfaces later, as your problem. Questioning a requirement in the meeting is easier on everyone than quietly failing to meet it.
Skipping the meeting for a role you have filled before
The same title a year later can have a different manager, a different range and a different reason for being open. Ten minutes on what has changed is enough, but have them.
Leaving pay until an offer is near
If you start without knowing the ceiling and which parts of the package can move, you will find out at the worst moment, with a finalist waiting. Some managers find the Pay questions uncomfortable, and they still belong in the first meeting.
Passing on a preference that is not about the job
Now and then a manager states a preference about the kind of person, as opposed to the kind of work. Do not screen on it. Bring the conversation back to what the job needs, and if the preference persists take it to HR, since what an employer may consider is set by law that differs from place to place.