Role Suitability Analysis

If you're planning on hiring someone, stop right now. Make sure that you understand who you want to hire and why you want to hire them. I don't mean, "I want an engineer because I have an open requisition," or "I need to backfill a recently vacated role." I mean that you should think through what the role requires now and will require in the future. Walk through a month or a quarter in the life of the person who will fill this role and try to imagine their interactions, their successes, and how they'll add to their team. Here are some questions to ask yourself during this exercise: Collaboration and Interactions →Who will they interact with? →Who will they have an impact on? →Who will they collaborate most closely with? Team Culture →What's lacking in their team that you could add with a new hire? →What does the team need to thrive? →What sort of culture does the team have? Objectives and Onboarding →What will the candidate do in the first 30/60/90 days? →What will proficiency look like at each of these stages? →What characteristics will help them succeed in these stages? Career Advancement and Changes →What does career advancement look like? →How might the role itself be changed by internal or external forces? →What characteristics will the candidate need to grow into the next role? Technical Qualifications →Does the candidate need to be proficient in a language immediately? →Does the candidate need to know a particular framework? →Can the candidate learn on the job, or must they hit the ground running? Once you've answered these questions (and many more), you're ready to write a job description and can assemble an interview framework. Each question tells you more about the candidate that will be right for your role and helps to inform your structured interview questions, your onboarding plan, your performance management plan, and more. Do you already do job role analysis? What does it look like for you? ======================================================== Also, if you're curious about what other questions to ask or want some coaching to help you level up in building high-performing teams, DM me or let me know in the comments.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS - PROMPT GIVEAWAY II - I am giving you another secret weapon for the job hunt that really works. Again for free! „Ich bewerbe mich mal breit.“ — Famous last words before 200 rejections. The spray & pray approach to job hunting is the professional equivalent of bringing a Bratwurst to a vegan dinner, not only in Pharma! After 16 years in talent acquisition across Big Pharma & Top 5 CROs, I got tired of watching brilliant people sabotage their own careers with “strategic” moves that were about as strategic as a Schuss ins Blaue (a shot in the dark). So I built a career analysis prompt. Not a vision board. Not a personality test that tells you you’re a “visionary dolphin.” A proper, ruthless framework you can use with any AI tool. Strongest model & thinking and/or deep search mode. Geschenkt ist geschenkt (a gift is a gift). HOW IT WORKS: 1. Upload your current CV or LinkedIn PDF first. Without it, the prompt is just a nice text. Ohne Mampf kein Kampf (no fuel, no fight). 2. Pick your path: OPTION A — You already know which roles you’re after: “Analyse my uploaded profile against these target roles: [LIST YOUR ROLES]. For each: assess my realistic chances, salary ranges in [YOUR REGION], skills gaps, companies most likely hiring, and market timing. Then suggest 3 additional roles I haven’t considered that match my profile better than my ego does. Be brutally honest.” OPTION B — You have no idea what you’re best suited for (no shame — most people don’t): “Based solely on my uploaded profile, identify the 5 roles I’m most realistically qualified for in [YOUR INDUSTRY/REGION]. Rank them by match strength. For each: salary range, skills gaps, companies hiring, and market demand. Tell me which 3 are my strongest bets and why. No flattery. Ich will Klartext (I want straight talk).” 3. Add whichever applies: •       “I’m transitioning from academia to industry” •       “I’m switching from [X] to [Y] industry” •       “I’m 50+ — advise on positioning experience as an asset” •       “I need visa sponsorship — flag realistic options”   Takes 5 minutes. Vorbereitung ist die halbe Miete (preparation is half the rent). I tested it on one of my best friend's. He wants to switch industries. The role I was fixated on for him? Weak match. The one I’d dismissed? Best fit by a mile. Manchmal sieht man den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht (sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees). Works whether you’re a PhD wondering why 47 publications don’t translate into jobs, stuck between “too junior” & “too senior for the salary,” over 50 & hearing “cultural fit” (translation: we’re scared of competence), or a career changer. Stop guessing. Start analysing. Your move.   1.    How do you like it? 2.    Tag someone who’s been “just looking”. They need this more than another motivational quote. 3.    Save this. You’ll forget & wonder in 3 months why your Jobsuche still feels like Grundlagenforschung with no funding.

A few days ago, I spoke with a candidate who was feeling dejected after multiple job rejections without any interviews. Unfortunately, I didn't have a suitable role for their expertise. Curious, I reviewed the jobs they had applied for and found that most were not even a 50% match to their skill set – either too advanced or not relevant. I explained that hiring teams, including recruiters, thoroughly scrutinize each resume to find the best fit for the role. If your skills don't align with the critical criteria, you're likely to be rejected, which can be disheartening. It's crucial to carefully read job requirements and assess how your skills align with the role. Here are a few tips to help with this: Match Your Core Skills: Ensure that your key competencies align with the job description's must-have skills. Highlight Relevant Experience: Tailor your resume to emphasize experiences that directly relate to the role. Look for Transitional Roles: Identify if the job description mentions openness to candidates transitioning into the role. Customize Your Application: Each application should be customized to reflect how your background makes you an ideal fit for that specific position. Seek Feedback: If possible, seek feedback from recruiters or mentors to understand better how you can improve your applications. By targeting positions that suit you best, you can avoid unnecessary rejection and maintain a positive outlook.

Here are some of my go-to screening questions—don’t worry, this isn't an interrogation; I weave them into conversations as I build rapport. You can also use these questions to prepare for your next interview—it’s a great way to reflect and gain a clearer understanding of yourself. What questions have I missed?🤔 ----------------------- 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲/𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: ➡️ What’s the most complex problem you’ve solved in your role? 👉 Reveals problem-solving ability and depth of experience. ➡️ If you joined [business] tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d want to fix, improve, or build? 👉 Shows proactivity and how they’d add value. ➡️ If you had unlimited resources, how would you approach [a specific challenge in their role]? 👉 Tests creativity and strategic thinking. ➡️ What's a common misconception about your role, and why do people get it wrong? 👉 Gauges expertise and their ability to articulate their value. 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁: ➡️ What’s your biggest career regret or learning moment? 👉 Exposes self-awareness and resilience. ➡️ If I spoke to your last manager, what’s the one thing they’d say you need to work on? 👉 Tests honesty and growth mindset. ➡️ What’s the one thing that would make you reject an otherwise perfect job? 👉 Identifies deal-breakers early. ➡️ If you had two competing job offers, how would you decide? 👉 Reveals decision-making process and priorities. 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝘁/𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰: ➡️ Tell me about a time you completely disagreed with your team. How did you handle it? 👉 Tests emotional intelligence and collaboration. ➡️ Would you rather work in a highly structured environment or one that’s constantly evolving and why? 👉 Helps assess cultural fit. ➡️ What’s something you’ve done at work that had nothing to do with your job description but made a big impact? 👉 Shows initiative and adaptability. 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 & 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: ➡️ Where do you see yourself in three years, and how does this role fit into that vision? 👉 Ensures long-term alignment. ➡️ If you could design your ideal role from scratch, what would it look like? 👉 Helps assess how close your role is to their dream job. ➡️ What’s a skill you don’t have yet but know you need to learn? 👉 Tests self-awareness and willingness to develop. ➡️ If you had to upskill your entire team in one area, what would it be? 👉 Shows leadership potential and industry awareness.

Here’s the biggest mistake I see every week… You see a role. You read the responsibilities. You think, “I could do that.” And just like that, you decide you’re a good fit. But….Employers don’t measure suitability by how much you like the sound of a role. They measure it by evidence. 📌 What have you already done? 📌 What results have you delivered? 📌 Can you prove you’ve solved similar problems before? From the employer’s side, it’s about reducing risk. If they had their way, you’d have done exactly the same job for their closest competitor. After all… why gamble on someone who might be able to do it, when they can hire someone who’s been there and done it 🤦♀️ Here’s how to put yourself in their shoes and land more interviews 1️⃣ Audit your evidence — list the projects, results, and skills you can back up with measurable outcomes. 2️⃣ Match proof to posting — connect each requirement in the job description with a clear example of when you’ve done it. 3️⃣ Close the gaps — if you don’t have direct experience, identify your most relevant experience or transferable skills and show how you’ve applied them successfully. Because…. 1️⃣You liking the look of a job doesn’t matter to them. 2️⃣You feeling confident you could do the job doesn’t matter to them (although it should 😂) What matters to them is… 1️⃣Have you got all the skills and experience required. And have you done it before 2️⃣Errr….. 3️⃣That’s it So don’t just focus on what you know… Focus on what you can prove. (and ideally work for their closest competitor in the exact same position before applying 😂)

I may not have a formal education in Psychology, but my experience in Learning and Development has allowed me to explore various psychological paradigms, enriching my understanding of people. Psychometric assessments are crucial in recruitment, employee development, and education, offering an objective measure of cognitive abilities and personality traits to assess individual fit for specific roles and environments. Renowned assessment methods that can provide significant benefits include: - Hogan Assessment: Focuses on personality and leadership derailers. - Thomas International: Offers a comprehensive approach with behavioural, cognitive, and emotional intelligence assessments. - SHL: Renowned for talent acquisition and development tests. - Profile XT: Aligns job competencies with individual traits for role suitability. - Strengths Inventory: Highlights key strengths for personal and professional growth. - DISC profiling: Categorizes individuals into Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness personality types. Effectively utilizing these assessments, interpreting reports, and deriving valuable outcomes for individuals and organizations is our challenge. Let's consciously uncover hidden talents and motives to drive improvement and facilitate leadership development. #Improvement #Assessment #leadership #developmentjourney #Conscious

Identifying the right talent and knowing how to utilize it effectively can make or break a team’s success. Every workplace is composed of individuals with diverse thinking styles and approaches to problem-solving. By recognizing these traits, leaders can assign tasks that play to each person’s strengths, driving productivity and innovation. Here’s a quick insight into different types of people you may find on your team and the roles they are most suited for: 1. Convergers 🧩: These individuals excel in problem-solving and finding practical uses for ideas. They thrive when given specific tasks that require logical thinking and efficiency. • Suitable roles: Project managers 📝, engineers ⚙️, analysts 📊, and operations coordinators 🔧. 2. Divergents 💡: The creative minds of the group. Divergents are excellent at brainstorming and coming up with out-of-the-box ideas. They add value when projects require fresh perspectives or ideation. • Suitable roles: Creative directors 🎨, marketers 📣, product designers 🛠️, and innovation specialists 🚀. 3. Accommodators ⚡: These are the doers, those who learn best by experience and act decisively. Assign them tasks that require quick action, adaptability, and hands-on involvement. • Suitable roles: field technicians 🛠, entrepreneurs 🌱, and customer service leads 📞. 4. Assimilators 📚: These team members are great at organizing information, analyzing facts, and creating models. They excel when assigned research, planning, and strategic roles. • Suitable roles: Data scientists 🧪, strategists 🗺️, researchers 🕵️, and educators 👩🏫. Understanding the unique strengths of your team members and assigning tasks that match their thinking style not only maximizes their potential but also cultivates a more engaged, cohesive, and high-performing team. Have you noticed these traits in your colleagues or yourself?

In intelligence programs, recruitment decisions don’t just affect hiring outcomes - they affect customer confidence. When the customer is an intelligence agency, the margin for misalignment is extremely thin. Talent decisions made upstream directly shape delivery, continuity, and trust downstream. One pressure point we’re seeing more frequently is roles tied to highly classified or remote operating environments. The issue is rarely clearance alone. It’s suitability, sustainability, and the ability for individuals to perform consistently under constrained conditions. When location, isolation, or lifestyle realities are addressed late in the hiring process, programs absorb unnecessary risk. Candidates disengage, timelines slip, and confidence with the customer is quietly eroded - even when the role is eventually filled. The strongest intelligence-aligned hiring models I see today share a few common characteristics: 📡 Early alignment between program leadership, HR, and TA on what “sustainable performance” actually looks like 🛰️ Clear separation between clearance status and operational suitability 🥷 Transparent conversations that respect candidate limits while protecting the customer’s mission Intelligence agencies expect realism, discretion, and professionalism from their delivery partners. Recruitment practices should reflect the same discipline. For HR and TA teams supporting intelligence programs, the question is no longer just “can we fill the role?” - it’s “does this hiring decision strengthen or weaken confidence with the customer?” How deliberately are suitability and sustainability being considered in your recruitment decisions today?

Role requirements – 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗮𝗱 A client was asked to apply for a role, just as a formality. She was offered the role and just had to respond to the advertisement. But… she called me in a panic when the ad appeared. The role now came with a list of requirements, some of which hadn’t been previously discussed with her. So after we got through the self-inflicted pain of “𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦??”, I gave her a powerful reframe of role requirements. We worked through every requirement – expected or not – and asked WHY the organisation had included it.  ➡︎ What did it say about the role AND the outcomes the role had to deliver?  ➡︎ Why would those skills be needed?  ➡︎ Why would each of those experiences be important to the organisation? This careful analysis shifted her thinking from “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭” to using this to develop a really rich understanding of the role and how she could perform it. We made a list of deeply insightful questions and she asked those questions of the person who had “offered” her the role. She did none of the angsty “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴” or “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦” – she just brought intense curiosity and openness to the conversation. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: Don’t look at role requirements purely as “𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀?” but use them for insight and understanding. Use them to ask intelligent questions of the recruiter or talent manager before you apply, so you can truly understand if you're a match or not. If it’s a requirement you don’t have, but you know you can do the role, why is that? Don’t ignore those elements; dig deep to think about why it would be valuable and what alternative experience you can offer. I know from my recruiter network that a lot of effort goes into developing role requirements. It’s not just a wishlist or an effort to find a ‘unicorn’ who miraculously has all of these diverse skills and experiences. Look at it from the organisation’s perspective, not just yours. PS. What happened to my client? Ask me in the comments and I’ll tell you. PPS. Has this happened to you? #LinkedInNewsAustralia

I recently chatted with a friend (Kevin) who was faced with a dilemma of choosing between loyalty and versatility. He had two candidates: #Candidate A: Worked in the same company for 10 years and earned 3 promotions. #Candidate B: Worked in 4 different companies but held the same role in each over 10 years. Kevin, isn’t sure which candidate to select.. Here’s what I told him: It’s important to align the candidate’s strengths with the needs of the role and the company’s goals. If the position requires deep institutional knowledge, long-term strategy, and mentorship, Candidate A may be the better choice for their loyalty and commitment to a single organization. On the other hand, if the role calls for innovation, adaptability, and fresh insights from diverse environments, Candidate B might bring valuable versatility and a broader perspective. Here’s how I analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates: Candidate A: Strengths: 1. Loyalty and commitment: Ten years with the same company showcases dedication and the ability to grow within a stable environment. 2. Institutional knowledge: They likely possess a deep understanding of the company’s culture, processes, and long-term goals. 3. Growth within the organization: Earning 3 promotions indicates continuous development and adaptability within one company’s evolving needs. Weaknesses: 1. Limited external exposure: With experience only in one company, they may lack fresh perspectives or innovative ideas from outside environments. 2. Potential resistance to change: Having worked in one place for so long, adapting to a new company or approach could be more challenging. Candidate B: Strengths: 1. Versatility: Working in 4 different companies highlights their ability to adapt quickly to new environments, teams, and work cultures. 2. Diverse experience: Exposure to different companies offers a broader perspective, which can bring innovation and creative problem-solving skills. 3. Consistency: Despite working in different organizations, they have remained in the same role, demonstrating stable performance across varied environments. Weaknesses: 1. Lack of long-term commitment: Frequent job changes might raise concerns about their loyalty and long-term investment in one company. 2. Shallow depth in company culture: Moving from company to company means they may not develop a deep understanding of a single organization’s inner workings. In the end, it’s not just about loyalty or versatility; it’s about how well the candidate fits with the specific needs of the team and the organization. What would you have advised Kevin? Let me know in the comments! #HR #Recruitment #LoyaltyVsVersatility #TalentAcquisition