Taking a brief for a hard-to-define role
Everything after the brief depends on it. A loose brief makes partial matches, and partial matches sit. Leave the call with three must-haves the client has agreed in writing.
A role is a loop. It starts with a brief, runs through the shortlist, the submission and the follow-through, and ends with an outcome, which is often the next brief from the same client. Most of the tools on a recruiter’s desk show one part of that loop: call notes in one, sourcing in another, the candidate record in your ATS. The hand-offs between them are still yours, and that’s where roles stall.
The brief is the first hand-off, and everything downstream depends on it. The shortlist is only as sharp as the must-haves you search against. A submission lands only if it shows the fit against what the client said mattered. And when a hiring manager goes quiet, the brief is what you point back to.
The clock starts before you put the phone down. Clients expect three to five CVs that fit the market within 48 hours. With a loose brief, those 48 hours go on guessing, and what you send is a set of partial matches. Partial matches rarely get a quick no. They sit, while the candidate takes other calls and your fee goes cold.
What recruiters told us
Read together, those say a role’s speed is set on the brief call, not in the search. An ad can draw hundreds of applicants, and some recruiters have stopped advertising and headhunt instead. Either way, without three clear must-haves you read every CV in full and still can’t say which ones fit.
The hiring side shows the other half. A candidate who meets every requirement gets a fast answer. A partial match is left a few days while the hiring manager weighs it, and that pause is deliberate. It isn’t neglect: they’re deciding whether the gap matters. A brief with agreed must-haves lets you show the fit line by line, so there’s less for them to weigh.
Full matches get a fast answer. Partial matches get a few days of thought. The brief decides which you send.
Why briefs stay vague
Most clients aren’t being difficult. They know they need someone, and they haven’t had to put the role into words until you ask. So the brief arrives in a form that sounds clear and filters nothing: a title, a list of requirements, and a salary that may not match either.
Niche roles are where this bites. Clients define the same title differently: a forward deployed engineer can mean pre-sales engineering at one company and owning delivery at the next. Even “senior” shifts from one company to another. And when a skill is in demand, every CV claims it, so a must-have like “experience with X” lets everyone through. You end up reading CVs in depth for the detail that proves it, which is slow when nobody has said what that detail is.
Ask for the person, not the job description
A job description tells you what the last person was asked to do. You want the person who will succeed in this one, so ask about outcomes and evidence. “What does this person need to have done by month three?” turns a wish list into a result. “What on a CV would prove they could do that?” turns the result into something you can search for.
Then ask about the people already there. “Who does this well today, and what makes them good?” gives you a benchmark, and often a background to search from. If the title can mean different things, make the client choose: “When you say forward deployed, is this person in the sales cycle before the deal, or owning delivery after it?” Do the same with any loose word: “What would someone senior do here that a mid-level hire wouldn’t?”
Close with the question that brings out the requirement nobody wrote down: “What would make you say no to a strong CV?” The answer is often a sector, a type of company or a notice period, and it’s better heard now than in feedback on your shortlist.
Cut it to three must-haves
First briefs often list more essentials than any one person has. Three is enough to search against and few enough for the client to rank. Ask: “If you could only have three of these, which three?” Everything else is a nice-to-have, kept on its own line so it can tip a close call without ruling anyone out.
Then test them. “Which of these would you drop to hire a month sooner?” shows you what’s really fixed. So does your own history with the client: you’ll know which must-haves they’ve bent on before, and which they never do. That knowledge is the part of the brief nobody else has, and it’s why clients brief a recruiter rather than post an ad.
The value is in what you’ve picked up over years of calls: which must-have a client will bend on, and what “senior” means at this company.
From our conversations with recruiters
Check the three against the market while the client is still on the line. Expectations are sometimes out of reach, and the brief call is the cheapest place to say so: “I can find people with the first two at this salary. All three means a higher band or a longer search. Which matters more?” Ask who interviews and when they’re free, too. Interviewers’ diaries change fast, and the candidate’s is often the hardest to pin down, so agreeing the steps now saves days later.
The checklist
Take this onto the call, and have the second list in writing by the end of the day.
Ask on the call
- What must they have done by month three?
- Who does this well today, and why?
- Which must-have would you drop to hire sooner?
- What would make you say no to a strong CV?
- Who interviews, and when are they free?
Have in writing
- Three must-haves, in the client’s words
- Nice-to-haves, kept apart
- Salary band, location and working pattern
- The interview steps, and who is on each
- A date for feedback on the shortlist
Play it back in writing
Send the brief back the day you take it, in the client’s words, and get it confirmed before any CV goes over. It’s a short email that does three jobs. It catches what you misheard. It gives anyone else involved in the hire a chance to disagree now rather than at interview. And it gives you something to point to if the goalposts move: “The brief we agreed had these three must-haves. Has that changed?”
It also sets up the submission. When each CV goes over with a line against each agreed must-have, the hiring manager is reading a full match, not weighing a partial one.
Subject: [Role] brief: can you confirm?
Hi [Name], Thanks for your time today. Here’s the brief as I heard it. Must-haves: [one]; [two]; [three] Nice to have: [list] Salary: [band] · Where: [location and days in] Interviews: [steps], with feedback on the shortlist by [date] If anything’s wrong or missing, just reply and I’ll change it. Once you’re happy, you’ll have CVs by [day]. [Your name]
If the client can’t agree three must-haves, say so before you search. One more email costs less than a shortlist of partial matches.
The call is yours. The paperwork isn’t.
Most tools start at the CV. Hamrr starts at the brief, and carries the must-haves through the shortlist, the submission and, if a hiring manager goes quiet for over a week, the chase.
- Drafts the brief from your Granola notes or the client’s email
- Reads each CV against the must-haves
- Makes every CV on the shortlist client-safe
Questions
What should a recruitment brief include?
The role title, three must-haves in the client’s words, nice-to-haves kept separate, the salary band, location and working pattern, the interview steps, and a date for feedback on the shortlist.
What if the client can’t say what they want?
Ask who already does the job well and what the new hire must have done by month three. Then write three must-haves yourself and ask the client to confirm or correct them.
Should I send the brief back to the client?
Yes, the same day. A brief the client has confirmed in writing is what you check every CV against, and what you point to if the goalposts move later.
Can software take the brief for me?
It can take the notes, not the brief. Knowing which must-have a client will bend on, and which question to ask next, comes from years of calls. Hamrr drafts the written brief from your notes, so you can spend the call listening.