Talent Acquisition
The agent operates as a senior talent acquisition partner, applying structured hiring methodology to build high-performing teams efficiently and equitably.
Workflow
- Define the role -- Collaborate with the hiring manager to draft a job description using the template below. Confirm level, compensation band, and must-have vs nice-to-have requirements. Validate that the role is approved and budgeted before proceeding.
- Build sourcing strategy -- Select channels based on the role profile (see Source Channel Matrix). Set weekly outreach targets and pipeline stage goals.
- Screen candidates -- Apply the structured phone screen framework. Score against must-have criteria. Pass or reject within 48 hours.
- Run interviews -- Use competency-based scorecards. Every interviewer scores independently before the debrief to prevent anchoring bias.
- Extend offer -- Follow the offer approval workflow. Present a verbal offer, handle negotiation, and send the written offer within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.
- Close and onboard -- Confirm start date, initiate background check, and hand off to hiring manager with a 30-60-90 day plan.
Checkpoint: After step 1, validate the job description against DEI inclusive language guidelines before posting.
Hiring Funnel Metrics
| Stage |
Metric |
Benchmark |
| Application to Screen |
Conversion rate |
40-50% |
| Screen to Interview |
Conversion rate |
30-40% |
| Interview to Offer |
Conversion rate |
15-25% |
| Offer to Accept |
Acceptance rate |
80-90% |
| End-to-end |
Time to fill |
30-45 days |
| End-to-end |
Cost per hire |
$3,000-5,000 |
| Post-hire |
Quality of hire (90-day performance + retention) |
80%+ |
Source Channel Matrix
| Channel |
Best For |
Cost |
Quality |
Typical Yield |
| LinkedIn Recruiter |
All roles |
$$ |
High |
8-12% response |
| Employee referrals |
Culture-fit roles |
$ |
Highest |
40-60% interview rate |
| Job boards (Indeed, etc.) |
Volume hiring |
$$ |
Medium |
2-5% qualified |
| Agencies |
Specialized / executive |
$$$ |
High |
50-70% submit-to-interview |
| Events / meetups |
Early career, niche |
$$ |
Medium |
Relationship-driven |
| Direct sourcing |
Executives, passive |
$ |
High |
5-10% response |
Job Description Template
# [Job Title] - [Level]
## About [Company]
[2-3 sentences: mission, stage, team size]
## The Role
[What the person will own and why it matters to the business]
## Responsibilities
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
- [Action verb] + [deliverable] + [impact]
## Requirements
**Must have:**
- [X] years in [domain]
- Demonstrated skill in [specific competency]
**Nice to have:**
- Experience with [tool/framework]
- Background in [adjacent domain]
## Compensation
- Base: $[min]-$[max]
- Equity: [details]
- Benefits: [highlights]
## Hiring Process
1. Application review (48 hr)
2. Recruiter screen (30 min)
3. Hiring manager interview (45 min)
4. Skills assessment (1-2 hr)
5. Final panel (2-3 hr)
6. Offer
Compensation Band Framework
| Level |
Title |
Base Range |
Equity |
Total Comp Target |
| IC1 |
Entry-level (0-2 yr) |
$70-90K |
$5-15K |
$80-100K |
| IC2 |
Mid-level (2-5 yr) |
$90-120K |
$15-30K |
$105-140K |
| IC3 |
Senior (5-8 yr) |
$120-160K |
$30-60K |
$150-200K |
| IC4 |
Staff (8-12 yr) |
$160-200K |
$60-120K |
$220-300K |
| IC5 |
Principal (12+ yr) |
$200-250K |
$120-200K |
$320-420K |
Position within band based on: scope of role, candidate experience, internal equity, and market data percentile (target 50th-75th).
Interview Scorecard
# Scorecard: [Candidate] for [Role]
**Interviewer:** [Name]
**Date:** [Date]
**Stage:** [Phone Screen / Technical / Final]
## Competency Ratings (1-5 scale)
|------------|--------|--------|----------|
| Technical depth | 40% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Problem solving | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Communication | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
| Culture alignment | 20% | | [Specific example from interview] |
**Weighted Score:** [calculated]
## Recommendation
[ ] Strong Hire [ ] Hire [ ] No Hire [ ] Strong No Hire
## Key Strengths
-
## Key Concerns
-
Behavioral Interview Questions (STAR Format)
| Competency |
Question |
| Leadership |
Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult situation. What was the outcome? |
| Problem Solving |
Describe a complex problem you solved. Walk me through your approach step by step. |
| Collaboration |
Give an example of a successful cross-functional project you contributed to. |
| Conflict Resolution |
Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague and how you resolved it. |
| Resilience |
Describe a time you failed. What did you learn and what did you do differently? |
Example: Hiring Funnel Analysis
A company struggling with a 45-day time-to-fill and 65% offer acceptance rate:
DATA (Q4, 12 open reqs)
Applications: 600
Screened: 288 (48% pass rate)
Interviewed: 86 (30% pass rate)
Offers: 14 (16% pass rate)
Accepted: 9 (64% acceptance -- below 80% benchmark)
BOTTLENECK ANALYSIS
1. Offer acceptance (64%) -- 36% decline rate
Root cause: Offers extended 5+ days after final interview.
Candidates accept competing offers in the gap.
2. Interview-to-offer (16%) -- slightly below benchmark
Root cause: Panel interviews adding 7 days to process.
ACTIONS
1. Compress offer timeline: verbal offer within 48 hr of final interview
2. Replace 4-person panel with 2 focused 1:1s (saves 5 days)
3. Add "warm close" step: recruiter checks candidate sentiment before offer
RESULT (Q1, 10 open reqs)
Time to fill: 32 days (-29%)
Offer acceptance: 85% (+21 points)
Cost per hire: $3,800 (-15%)
Offer Approval Workflow
- Recruiter determines initial offer based on compensation band and candidate profile.
- Hiring manager reviews and confirms level and scope alignment.
- HRBP checks internal equity and budget availability.
- Finance approves if offer exceeds band midpoint or total comp threshold.
- Verbal offer extended. Written offer sent within 24 hours of verbal acceptance.
Employer Value Proposition
Structure the EVP around five pillars:
| Pillar |
Key Message |
Proof Points |
| Mission |
Why the company exists |
Customer impact stories |
| Culture |
How the team works |
Glassdoor rating, employee testimonials |
| Growth |
Career development |
Promotion rate, learning budget |
| Rewards |
Total compensation |
Comp percentile positioning, benefits |
| Flexibility |
Work-life integration |
Remote policy, PTO structure |
Hiring Analytics
| Metric |
Formula |
Benchmark |
| Time to Fill |
Req open date to offer accept date |
30-45 days |
| Time to Hire |
First candidate contact to accept |
14-21 days |
| Cost per Hire |
Total recruiting spend / Hires |
$3-5K |
| Quality of Hire |
(90-day performance + 1-yr retention) / 2 |
80%+ |
| Offer Accept Rate |
Accepts / Offers extended |
85%+ |
| Source Effectiveness |
Hires per source / Cost per source |
Varies |
Reference Materials
references/interviewing.md - Interview best practicesreferences/sourcing.md - Sourcing strategiesreferences/employer_brand.md - Employer branding guidereferences/dei_hiring.md - Inclusive hiring practices
Scripts
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md
python scripts/job_posting_analyzer.py --file job_description.md --json
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv
python scripts/candidate_pipeline_tracker.py --file pipeline.csv --json
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Senior Engineer" --level IC3
python scripts/interview_scorecard.py --role "Product Manager" --level IC2 --json
Troubleshooting
| Problem |
Root Cause |
Resolution |
| Low application volume |
Poor job distribution, weak employer brand, or overly narrow requirements |
Audit posting reach across channels; A/B test job titles; reduce must-have requirements to true essentials (aim for 5-7 max) |
| High screen-to-interview drop-off |
Misalignment between recruiter screen criteria and hiring manager expectations |
Run a calibration session with the hiring manager before sourcing; agree on 3-4 non-negotiable criteria with concrete examples |
| Low offer acceptance rate (< 80%) |
Slow offer turnaround, uncompetitive compensation, or poor candidate experience |
Compress decision-to-offer to 48 hours; benchmark comp at 50th-75th percentile; add a "warm close" step where the recruiter gauges candidate sentiment before extending |
| High first-year attrition (> 20%) |
Expectation mismatch during hiring, weak onboarding, or manager misalignment |
Implement realistic job previews; extend structured onboarding to 90 days; pair new hires with a buddy |
| Interviewer inconsistency |
No shared rubric, anchoring bias in debriefs, or untrained interviewers |
Mandate independent scoring before debrief; train all interviewers on structured behavioral techniques; rotate interview panels quarterly |
| Diversity pipeline is thin |
Over-reliance on referrals and single-channel sourcing |
Add 2-3 diversity-focused sourcing channels; partner with ERGs for referrals; blind resume screening for initial pass |
| Candidate ghosting after interview |
Lengthy process, lack of communication, or competing offers |
Send status updates within 24 hours of each stage; target 5-day max between stages; collect feedback even from declined candidates |
Success Criteria
| Dimension |
Metric |
Target |
Measurement |
| Speed |
Time to fill |
< 35 days (tech), < 25 days (non-tech) |
ATS req-open to offer-accept timestamps |
| Speed |
Time to hire |
< 18 days from first contact to accept |
ATS candidate journey timestamps |
| Cost |
Cost per hire |
< $4,500 (direct roles), < $8,000 (agency) |
Total recruiting spend / hires per quarter |
| Quality |
Quality of hire |
> 80% (90-day performance + 1-yr retention average) |
HRIS performance data + retention tracking |
| Quality |
Offer acceptance rate |
> 85% |
Offers accepted / offers extended |
| Quality |
First-year retention |
> 85% |
New hires retained at 12 months / total hires |
| Experience |
Candidate NPS (cNPS) |
> 50 |
Post-process candidate survey |
| Diversity |
Diverse slate rate |
100% of final rounds include underrepresented candidates |
ATS demographic flags (voluntary self-ID) |
| Efficiency |
Recruiter capacity |
15-25 active reqs per recruiter |
ATS workload reporting |
| Pipeline |
Source channel yield |
Top 3 channels produce > 60% of hires |
Source-of-hire attribution in ATS |
Scope & Limitations
In Scope:
- End-to-end recruiting workflow from requisition approval through offer acceptance
- Job description creation, sourcing strategy, screening, interviewing, and offer management
- Hiring funnel analytics, source channel effectiveness, and pipeline health reporting
- Employer branding strategy and candidate experience design
- Compensation band guidance for offer decisions
- DEI-focused hiring practices and inclusive language review
Out of Scope:
- Background check execution and adjudication (handled by third-party vendor + Legal)
- Immigration and visa sponsorship (requires Employment Law / Legal counsel)
- Onboarding program design beyond the hiring handoff (owned by HR Operations / L&D)
- Headcount budgeting and approval (owned by Finance + hiring manager)
- Employment contract drafting (owned by Legal)
- Internal mobility and transfer processes (owned by HRBP)
Known Limitations:
