Job Intake Process

The recruitment process begins with a job intake or kickoff meeting between the recruiter and the hiring manager.

The goal is to clearly define the job role, required qualifications, timeline, and process before any candidate sourcing begins.

This stage sets the foundation for a successful search by aligning everyone on what “great” looks like for the position.

In an job intake meeting, the recruiter and hiring manager will:

Define the Role and Profile: Confirm the job title, core duties, and the must-have vs. nice-to-have qualifications for candidates. For example, they’ll decide if certain certifications or industry experience are essential or merely preferred.

Discuss Hiring Stages and Tools: Align on the recruitment stages and who will be involved at each step. This includes planning any assessments or panel interviews ahead of time.

Set a Timeline and Metrics: Establish a timeline for each stage. This includes target dates for sourcing, interviews, offer) based on past time-to-hire metrics. They will also anticipate how many candidates might be needed in the pipeline to reach a hire.

Align on Salary and Approvals: Ensure the compensation for the role are known. In addition, any required approvals (HR, Finance) for opening the requisition are obtained.

Embed Company Culture/Strategy: Top companies use intake to embed strategic and cultural priorities into hiring. For example, GE explicitly aligns recruiting plans with corporate strategy. They ask: “Given the company’s strategy, what kind of talent do we need?”.

Leverage Past Data: Recruiters often come prepared with data. For example, how similar past roles were filled, which sources yielded good hires, and market salary benchmarks. This helps set realistic expectations and guide the search.

Job Intake Best Practices

A well-run intake stage prevents miscommunication later. It engages the hiring manager early and gets buy-in on the process. Companies like Amazon and Microsoft stress up-front clarity.

At Amazon, job intake discussions often include which of Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles are most relevant to the role. This ensures the interview process will screen for those behaviours.

Recruiters at Microsoft use a “skills-first” mindset from the very start. This ensures they focus on the capabilities and growth potential needed, which advances inclusive hiring.

Another best practice is setting service-level agreements for communication. For instance, the recruiter and manager might agree on a weekly update or a certain turnaround time for resume reviews. This keeps momentum.

As Workable’s hiring toolkit notes, “the hiring process begins long before screening resumes…”. Hence, success often hinges on solid preparation in the intake phase.

By investing time in the job intake, future stages run smoother.

The job description can be written clearly and candidates are evaluated against agreed criteria. Finally, fewer surprises pop up (like a misaligned salary expectation).

Some organizations use an recruitment planning templates to ensure all topics are covered and documented. This includes job requirements, key traits, timeline, interview panel, etc.).

The recruitment process begins with a job intake or kickoff meeting between the recruiter and the hiring manager.

The goal is to clearly define the job role, required qualifications, timeline, and process before any candidate sourcing begins.

This stage sets the foundation for a successful search by aligning everyone on what “great” looks like for the position.

In an job intake meeting, the recruiter and hiring manager will:

Job Intake Best Practices

This formalizes the kick-off or hiring strategy meeting. And the next step, is building the sourcing strategy.

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