“Let me see the role description?” I asked. Graham shuffled through some papers and finally came up with a page printed off the internet.

“This is what we posted on the job board,” he grinned, proud that he could locate the piece of paper.

“This is a job posting, not the role description. Where is the role description?” I pressed.

“Well, I was waiting to get the role description from HR, but they are kind of backed up. They said something about health insurance renewals, whatever. But they looked in the file and this is what they pulled out,” Graham defended.

“But this is not a role description. This talks more about the company exceeding the expectations of its customers than it does about the work in the role. How do you expect to conduct a proper interview, and gather the data you need to make the hiring decision?”

“I know, I know. That’s why I use the resume to conduct my interview.” Graham nodded his head, feeling justified.

“What would happen if you re-scheduled all your interviews until after you write the role description?”

“What? I can’t do that. I promised to have someone hired by this Friday,” he protested.

“So, by this Friday, you are driven to hire someone, even if it’s not the right person, someone who will ultimately fail to meet the critical role requirements?”

“Yeah, you never know if someone is going to work out until they have been in the job for a few weeks.”

“So, what would it take, to find out enough about the person, related to the work, so that you have high confidence in their capability, on their first day?”