Dear Persona Problem,

Candidate personas help recruiters like you better target and craft killer job descriptions. But what exactly is a candidate persona and how can you create an effective one?

Here’s a rundown on candidate personas: what they are and the steps needed to use them to boost your application rate.

What is a candidate persona?

In marketing terms, a persona is a composite sketch of a key segment of one’s audience. It’s essentially a fictional stand-in for your ideal audience member.

In recruitment, a candidate persona represents a key segment of your pool of candidates. If you’re targeting mid-range web developers with their own transportation to get to the office you might then craft the persona of “Stacey” – a 35-year-old web developer with six years of industry experience who has their own car. Your candidate doesn’t have to be Stacey exactly, but when crafting your job description and listing, it helps to have her in mind as your target audience.

Candidate personas essentially help you write job listings targeted to a specific audience by giving you an individual audience member to strive to engage.

How do you craft a candidate persona?

Crafting a candidate persona needn’t be a trial. Let’s break it down.

Gather information

Interview stakeholders and other employees in the company. Get a feel for the role and how the new potential candidate will fit into it. At the very least you should understand:

• The role’s hard requirements
• The role’s soft requirements
• Who your candidate will be working with
• The type of people who have filled the position in the past
• The role’s driving factor

Once you have this information you’ll be able to move onto the next step.

Storify your candidate

Humans love stories. There’s very little use in creating a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out of a persona and expecting it to do the hard yards.

This is where your creativity comes in. You should ask yourself: who is your candidate?

For starters, give your candidate persona a name. This will help you personify their traits. Based on the information gathered in your information gathering stage, fill out demographic details such as:

• Possible designations
• Current company
• Skillset
• Educational background

Knowing these features will help you determine behavioral patterns. You’ll be able to lock down your persona’s skills and interests. It can also help you determine where your candidate persona spends time online – a gold mine of information when it comes to sourcing.

Don’t stop there, though. Give your candidate persona goals, objections, driving factors, and a preferable culture fit. You’re essentially molding a fictional person to help you better target real people.

Once you have your persona, use them in crafting your job descriptions. Ask yourself, “would my persona apply for this job?” If the answer is yes, you’ve created an effective candidate persona.

Craft a killer candidate persona

Candidate personas are an essential tool in the belt of any good recruiter. Now you know what they are, how they work, and how you can go about crafting your own.

Sincerely,
Jenny