Glossary
Hiring manager
A hiring manager is the person who asked for a new hire and will usually manage them, and who typically makes or signs off on the final hiring decision.
The hiring manager is the person who feels the empty seat. They know what the job really involves, what’s going wrong without the hire, and what good looks like in the team. They usually have the final say.
Hiring manager versus recruiter
| Hiring manager | Recruiter | |
|---|---|---|
| Owns | The decision and the role definition | The process and the candidate relationship |
| Knows best | The work, the team, the gaps | The market, the pipeline, the logistics |
| Typical tasks | Sets must-haves, interviews, decides | Sources, screens, schedules, communicates |
| Time spent on hiring | Part of their job | Most of their job |
At a startup, the founder is often both.
What a hiring manager owns
- Defining the role. What the person will do in their first 90 days, not a generic job description.
- Choosing the skills. Which three to five matter most, and at what level.
- Calibrating early. Reviewing the first few screened candidates to confirm the bar is right.
- Interviewing in later rounds.
- Giving fast feedback. Every day of delay costs candidates.
- Making the decision and owning it.
A kickoff checklist
Before screening starts, the recruiter and hiring manager should agree on:
- What does success look like after three months?
- Which skills are must-haves, and which can be learned on the job?
- What level is expected for each: beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert?
- What would make you say no, even to a strong candidate?
- How many candidates do you want to see in the next round, and when can you meet them?
- Who else interviews, and what does each person assess?
- How quickly will you give feedback after each round?
Common friction
- Vague requirements. “I’ll know it when I see it” leads to a long, inconsistent process.
- Moving goalposts. Changing the skills after 50 candidates have been screened makes earlier results hard to use.
- Slow feedback. Candidates wait, recruiters chase, good people leave.
- Skipping the first-round review. A hiring manager who glances at the first ten screened candidates catches a miscalibrated bar early.
A good first round is one of the most useful things a recruiter can give a hiring manager: fewer, better candidates, each with evidence behind them.