Ask the typical hiring manager what they’re looking for in a job candidate and most recruiters will receive a job description or something very much like a job description.  There’s nothing wrong with job descriptions, the only problem is that they don’t do much to help recruiters source the right people.  Because job descriptions only focus on a candidate’s skill, experience and academic background, they can cause recruiters to ignore valuable candidates who have what it takes to get the job done; but who may not fit an employer’s “want list” much of which is arbitrary.  So what can a recruiter do?  The first step is to translate that job description into information that is much more useful.  Let’s take a look at a few tips:

1. If you received a job description from a hiring manager, turn each item on their want list into a question.  For example, “What do you expect that the job candidate’s 10 years in litigation will help them accomplish while at your firm?”  Maybe, the hiring manager will say that they’re just now taking on litigation cases and want an experienced person to head it up.  But maybe in this conversation you and the hiring discover that 10 years aren’t really necessary for what the client wants, so instead they change it to five years. Asking these types of questions will help the hiring manager put their hiring needs into perspective.
2. The next step is to identify the most critical and important objectives for the job.  What exactly is the new hire expected to deliver to the employer each day, week, month etc.?  Maybe an employer says that they want someone who has experience in contract law. Is the new hire expected to review them, create them from scratch etc.?  Does the employer have an expectation of how many contracts the attorney must create each month? Find out what they want delivered and you will have an easier time sending them the right type of job candidates.
3. Finally, ask the hiring manager about their deal breakers.  Which objectives must the new hire accomplish to be considered a success in their new position?  While the hiring manager may have a mile long list of “must haves” ask them to pare down their list to about five solid objectives.