You know what’s the worst? Dedicating your time to something that doesn’t pan out. Especially in the realm of hiring, when the process already takes a fair amount of time, it can be frustrating to block off valuable time for an interview that goes nowhere. For any of us, that’s an irritating scenario. For an entrepreneur who needs to fill critical startup roles yesterday, it’s maddening. A 30, 60, maybe even 90 minute interview that doesn’t amount to anything? What else could that time have been used for?
You might be able to find out, if you use a candidate persona. Candidate personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal candidates. When they’re used correctly, they can help shorten that critical time between attracting applicants and narrowing down your top candidates. That’s because a well-crafted candidate persona makes it easier to target and identify candidates who are more likely to match with the startup roles you’re hiring for. You can save time in the candidate acquisition phase, which means you get back to other stuff sooner. Best of all, candidate personas are easy to make, and they can be used for literally any role you hire for.