Smarter Hires

So you’ve decided to add a position to your startup company (or perhaps to a business of longstanding).  You know what you’re looking for, but how exactly do you put your expectations into words?

Here’s a list of questions that I use with clients of my retained executive search firm. It’s a useful reminder of the sorts of issues and concerns that you should be thinking about when you go about putting together a position description for a new hire.

1)    BACKGROUND
a)    Please provide a brief history of your company and a description of its principle products and services. If your company is publicly traded, please indicate its trading symbol.

b)    Please name your company’s primary competitors and briefly describe the market for the products or services of your the company or the unit for which you are hiring.

c)    Please list the names and titles of your company’s principal officers (i.e. CEO, COO, President, SVPs, etc.)

2)    POSITION
a)    Please specify the title of the position you want to fill.

b)    Please specify the name and title of the person to whom this position reports and indicate where that supervisor sits in the company’s leadership hierarchy (e.g. reports to SVP Sales, reports to COO).
Name:
Title:
Reports to (title):

c)    What are the primary responsibilities associated with this position? Please list (use additional sheet if necessary):
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________

d)    Is this a newly created or an existing position? (please circle one)
i)    New position
ii)    Existing position

e)    If this is a newly created position, why was it created?

3)    CANDIDATE BACKGROUND
a)    Must the successful candidate have experience in the same industry (i.e. would you consider a Director of Marketing for Digital Television for a position as Director of Marketing for Cellular Telephone Services)? (please circle one)
i)    Yes
ii)    No

b)    Must the successful candidate hold or have held a position of the same or similar rank (e.g. Must a candidate for CEO have previous experience as a CEO or COO? Must a candidate for SVP/Sales have sales management experience as opposed to marketing management experience?) Please circle one.
i)    Yes
ii)    No

c)    How many years of experience in the field for which you are hiring is desirable?  Please indicate ____________

d)    Does this position require a college degree? Please circle one.

i)    Yes. If Yes, is the minimum degree acceptable. Please circle one:
(a)    A B.A. or B.S
(b)    A Master’s
(c)    A Doctorate
(d)    Other. Please specify ____________________________

ii)    No

e)    Does this position require specific technical training? Please circle one.
i)    Yes. Please specify ________________
ii)    No

4)    CANDIDATE EXPECTATIONS
a)    What are your specific expectations of the person you hire to fill this position (e.g. develop digital sales division from scratch, establish and manage new Southwest regional sales office, reduce time to market of new consumer products by 12 months, increase sales by 22 percent over three years, increase organization membership by 15 percent and organization revenues by 25 percent)? Use additional sheet if necessary.

i)    ____________________________
ii)    _____________________________
iii)    ____________________________
iv)    ____________________________
v)    ____________________________
vi)    ____________________________

b)    Please list three or four positive characteristics of the best person you have seen in this or a similar position (e.g. aggressive, self-starter, collaborative, good listener, good networker, meets deadlines, energetic, contemplative, team-player, willing to follow direction, competitive with coworkers, etc.)
i)    ____________________________
ii)    _____________________________
iii)    ____________________________
iv)    ____________________________
v)    ____________________________
vi)    ____________________________

b)    Please list three or four characteristics that you do not want to see in candidates for this position (e.g. aggressive, self-starter, collaborative, poor listener, does not meet deadlines, soft-spoken, contemplative, loner, competitive with co-workers, etc.)

i)    ____________________________
ii)    _____________________________
iii)    ____________________________
iv)    ____________________________
v)    ____________________________
vi)    ____________________________

5)    COMPENSATION
a)    Please indicate the salary range for this position. $___________________

b)    If the duties of this position include sales, will compensation be tied to a draw system?  Please circle one
i)    Yes
ii)    No

c)    If the answer to 5b is Yes:
i)    How much is the draw? (Indicate dollar amount) $_______________per _________

ii)    How often is it paid?  Please circle one.
(1)    Weekly
(2)    Bi-weekly
(3)    Monthly
(4)    Quarterly
(5)    Other (please specify)_______________

d)    Will a bonus be offered? Please circle one.
i)    Yes
ii)    No

e)    If the answer to 5d is Yes, what is the maximum amount of the bonus? (Please specify percentage of salary or absolute dollar amount)
$___________________ (or) _____________________%

f)    How often will the bonus be calculated?  Please circle one.
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

g)    How often will the bonus be paid. Please circle one.
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

h)    Will the bonus be based on achieving (please circle one):
i)    Quantitative goals?
ii)    Qualitative goals?
iii)    A mix of quantitative and qualitative goals?

i)    Will a commission be offered? Please circle one.
i)    Yes.
If Yes, what is the percentage of the commission? (If the commission percentage is a sliding scale, such as 10 percent of first $250,000 sales, 15 percent of next $250,000 sales, etc., please explain in detail).
___________________________________%
ii)    No.

j)    If a commission is paid, how often is it calculated? Please circle one.
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

k)    How often is the commission paid? Please circle one.
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

l)    Is there an override on sales of the unit supervised? Please circle one
i)    Yes
(1)    If the answer is Yes, please indicate the percentage of the override. ________________%

ii)    No.

m)    If there is an override, how often is it calculated? (Please circle one)
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

n)    If there is an override, how often is it paid? (Please circle one)
i)    Weekly
ii)    Bi-weekly
iii)    Monthly
iv)    Quarterly
v)    Semi-annually
vi)    Annually
vii)    Other (please specify)_______________

o)    Does the compensation plan include equity? Please circle one.
i)    Yes.
(1)    If Yes, what is the percentage of total equity available to the occupant of this position?
(2)    What is the current value of that equity?
(a)    If publicly traded, please use stock market value and specify the date calculated.
(b)    If privately held, please indicate if company is an established enterprise or a startup (please circle one)
(i)    Established enterprise
(ii)    Startup
1.    If a startup, please indicate what funding round you currently are in?  Please circle one.
a.    A round
b.    Mezzanine
c.    B
d.    Other
2.    Is further funding likely? Please circle one.
a.    Yes
b.    No.
(3)    Over what period of time will the equity vest? Please indicate number of years _______________
ii)    No, will not offer equity.

p)    Does the compensation package include an employer-provided health insurance plan? Please circle one.
i)    Yes
(1)    If Yes, who is the plan administrator (name insurance company)_____________________
(2)    What is the waiting period to join the plan? Please indicate number of months ________________
(3)    If Yes, what is the estimated monthly cost to the candidate of his or her share of insurance plan as a single subscriber? Coverage only of candidate $___________
(4)    If Yes, what is the estimated monthly cost to the candidate of his or her share of insurance plan for coverage of the candidate, his or her spouse, and two children? Coverage of candidate and family $_____________
ii)    No

q)    Do you offer company-paid life insurance?  Please circle one.
i)    Yes
(1)    If Yes, what is the multiple of salary that is offered?
ii)    No.

r)    Do you offer long-term disability insurance (other than state or federally mandated Worker’s Compensation)? Please circle one.
i)    Yes
(1)    If Yes, is coverage paid for entirely by the company? Please circle one.
(a)    Yes.
(b)    No.
(2)    If coverage is not paid entirely by the company, what would the monthly cost be to the person filling this position? $______________
ii)    No.

s)    Please circle any of the other benefits you offer:
i)    A company car?
ii)    Reimbursement for mileage (if applicable)?
iii)    Membership fees for social clubs useful for company networking (e.g. country clubs, golf clubs)? Please give specifics: __________________
iv)    Other (please specify type and value)_______________________

t)    How many paid holidays do you offer each year? Please state number:

u)    How many paid sick days, if any, do you offer each year? Please state number:

v)    How much paid vacation time is offered with this position? Please state number of days

w)    What is the number of years of service required to reach the next highest level of paid vacation? Please state number of years.

x)    How many weeks are included in the next highest level of paid vacation? Please state number of weeks.

6)    CONTRACT
a)    Do you intend to offer the candidate a contract or is this an employment at will position? Please circle one.
i)    Yes, intend to offer a contract.
(1)    If you intend to offer the candidate a contract, what is the term of the contract (in years)?
ii)    No, this position will be employment at will.

7)    RELOCATiON
a)    Will you offer relocation benefits to the successful candidate? Please circle as applies.
i)    Yes, will offer relocation.
(1)    If Yes, do those benefits include:
(a)    Purchase of the candidate’s current house or apartment?
(b)    Payment of fees to the broker who sells the candidate’s current home?
(c)    Transportation from the new work location to the candidate’s former home if his or her family stays behind to sell the house?
(i)    If so, how many trips?
(d)    Payment of fees to a broker who helps the candidate find a new home or apartment?
(e)    Temporary living expenses at the work location (rent, utilities, etc.)? What is the maximum amount you will pay? $_____________
(f)    Payment of moving and storage costs?If so, what is the maximum amount you will pay? $_______________

Thanks for your help in filling out this questionnaire.  If you have any questions about it, please email or call me at henry@intermediatorgroup.com or 212.742.0071.

Please print and sign your name when you have completed the questionnaire and indicate an email address and telephone number below at which you can be reached for followup questions.

Name:
Title:
Email Address:
Telephone Number:

Tags: Hiring, job_description, position_description

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 8:08 am and is filed under Job Description. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.