hiring-pipeline

name	hiring-pipeline
description	- You're hiring for a small business or solo practice and have 20+ applications to triage for a single role

Hiring Pipeline

When to activate

• You're hiring for a small business or solo practice and have 20+ applications to triage for a single role
• Your current hiring process is ad-hoc — different roles get different screening questions, different reference checks, different decision criteria
• You've made one or more bad hires in the past year and want a more structured process before the next one
• You're hiring a role you've never hired before and don't have a playbook (first sales hire, first ops lead, first operations manager)
• You've delegated hiring to a manager and they need a structured framework to follow

When NOT to use

• You have a dedicated recruiter or HR lead who already runs a structured process — they should keep ownership
• You're filling a senior or executive role where the search is relationship-driven and structured screening would feel impersonal
• You're using a staffing agency or recruiter to source — they handle the pipeline; you handle final interviews

Instructions

Step 1: Set up the role context

Say:

"We're hiring for [role title] at [salary range]. The role reports to [position]. The role's main responsibilities are [list]. The role exists because [reason — replacement, growth, new function]. Our company is [description]. Our culture is [3 adjectives]. The kind of person who succeeds here is [persona]. The kind of person who would struggle is [anti-persona]."

Step 2: Job description

Say:

"Draft the job description for [role]. Include: (1) a clear opening that explains why this role exists and what success looks like, (2) the day-to-day responsibilities, (3) the must-have qualifications and the nice-to-haves, (4) the explicit anti-patterns — who shouldn't apply, (5) compensation transparency (range, equity if any, benefits summary), (6) the application process and timeline."

Most job descriptions are written for legal compliance and read flat. Claude's draft in your voice reads like a leader describing the role to a friend. That voice attracts better candidates.

Step 3: Application triage

When applications come in:

Say:

"Here are [N] applications for [role]. For each, evaluate against the must-have qualifications and assign a score 1-5. For any application scoring 4+ on must-haves, evaluate against the nice-to-haves and add commentary on what would make this candidate interesting or risky to interview. For applications scoring 2 or below, suggest a polite rejection email."

Read the triage carefully. Claude is reasonably good at this for structured criteria but can miss candidates whose unconventional background is actually a strength. Don't let the triage be the decision — let it be the starting point.

Step 4: Phone screen

For candidates who clear the application triage:

Say:

"Draft a 25-minute phone screen for [role]. Structure: (1) a 5-minute warm intro and company context, (2) three behavioral questions tied to our must-haves, (3) two role-specific judgment questions, (4) candidate's questions for us, (5) clear next steps. For each question, include what a strong answer looks like and what a red flag answer looks like."

The phone screen quality determines the entire downstream pipeline. A bad phone screen advances bad candidates and ends the conversation with good ones.

Step 5: Reference check structure

When you're at the reference stage:

Say:

"Draft a reference check call structure for [candidate] for [role]. The candidate's stated strengths are [list]. The areas I'm trying to verify are [specific concerns — leadership style, conflict handling, specific past role responsibility]. Structure 6-8 questions: 2 warm-up, 3-4 targeted to my concerns, 1-2 about culture fit, 1 about how they'd manage this person again."

The targeted reference check is what most hiring processes skip. Generic reference checks confirm nothing; targeted ones surface the issues that would otherwise come out three months into the job.

Step 6: Offer and onboarding

When you're making an offer:

Say:

"Draft the offer letter for [candidate] for [role] at [comp]. Include: (1) the role-specific opener that references our conversation and why we're excited, (2) the comp and benefits summary, (3) the start date and reporting line, (4) the 30/60/90 day expectations, (5) the formal terms (at-will, NDA reference, etc.), (6) a clear acceptance deadline."

After acceptance:

Say:

"Draft a 30-day onboarding plan for [new hire] for [role]. Week 1: orientation and shadowing. Week 2: first solo work under review. Week 3: starting to own pieces of the role. Week 4: full ownership with check-ins. For each week, list specific milestones and the manager check-in agenda."

Example

You run a 12-person marketing agency. You're hiring a Senior Strategist — the first one you've hired (you and a junior strategist have been handling all senior work). You posted on three job boards. 87 applications came in within two weeks.

You set up the role context. Must-haves: 5+ years B2B marketing strategy experience, portfolio of campaign work, demonstrated client-facing communication, comfort with the messiness of a small agency vs the structure of an in-house team. Anti-pattern: anyone whose past roles were all at large agencies running massive accounts — they'd find the scrappy pace and direct client work unfamiliar.

You drop the 87 applications into Claude for triage. Within 5 minutes, you have:

• 12 candidates scored 4-5 on must-haves with specific commentary
• 31 scored 3 with notes on why they're borderline
• 44 scored 2 or below with suggested polite rejection language

You read all 12 top-tier candidates yourself. Two of them have unconventional backgrounds that Claude underweighted — one came from publishing, the other from in-house product marketing — but their portfolios show strategy work that's exactly what you need. You add them to the interview list, bringing it to 14.

You run phone screens using the structured framework. Within 10 days, you have 5 candidates for the on-site interview. By 4 weeks from job post to offer, you've hired the Senior Strategist. The hiring process was 60% faster than your previous hires and produced a hire who, 6 months in, is performing at the top of expectations.

The skill also surfaces something you didn't expect: the polite rejection workflow turns rejected candidates into goodwill for future hires. Three of your rejected candidates from this round refer friends who become future hires. That's a hiring channel that previously didn't exist.