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Source: frameworks/kit-job-description-optimization/06-consultant-methodology.md

Consultant Methodology — Job Description Optimization Extraction

Where This Fits in the Engagement

Role definition is the first major deliverable in a recruiting engagement. After the practitioner validates that the role is needed and before sourcing begins, the position profile, job description, and (if applicable) job ad must be built. Everything downstream — sourcing criteria, screening questions, scorecard design, compensation negotiations — depends on how well the role is defined here.

The extraction interview captures what the organization actually needs from this role right now — not what the prior job description says, not what the job title implies, and not what similar roles look like at other organizations.

Before the Interview

Know What You're Building

Review the engagement context. Know:

Confirm Logistics

Who needs to be in the room:

Both the hiring manager and their leader should be in the same session. The conversation between them often surfaces disagreements about what the role actually is — and resolving that disagreement IS the work.

The extraction typically takes 45-60 minutes.

Interview Structure

Part 1: Role Validation (10 minutes)

Do not assume the role is needed. Start here.

For a new role: "What changed in the organization that created this need? What have you been doing without this role that you can't sustain?"

For a backfill: "The prior person left. Before we talk about replacing them — is this the right role? Does the organization need the same thing it needed when this role was created, or has something changed?"

This question surfaces the opportunity to redesign rather than replicate. Many backfills should be different roles than the one being replaced. The practitioner's value here is asking the question the client hasn't thought to ask.

Role purpose: "If this role is filled, what changes about the organization's capacity? What can you do that you can't do now?"

This produces the role purpose statement. If the stakeholders struggle to answer, the role may not be well understood — which is itself valuable information.

Part 2: The Ideal Candidate (15-20 minutes)

"Forget the job description for a moment. Describe the person you're imagining in this role. What's their background? What have they done before? How do they show up? What are they like to work with?"

Let them paint the picture. This question produces:

Then pressure-test: "You described someone who has done [X, Y, Z]. If someone has X and Y but not Z — do you pass?"

Walk through each element they described. This is how you distinguish must-haves from nice-to-haves. Most stakeholders call everything a must-have until you make them choose.

The "who are you not looking for?" question: "Tell me about someone who would look great on paper but would fail in this role. What would they be missing?"

This produces the risk indicators that feed the scorecard's "what risk looks like" descriptions.

Part 3: Responsibilities Deep-Dive (10-15 minutes)

"Walk me through a typical week or month for this person. What are they spending their time on?"

Listen for:

If they describe responsibilities as competencies: "You said 'strategic leadership.' What does that look like in practice? What meetings are they leading? What decisions are they making? What are they producing?"

Push from labels to actions. The job description needs actions. The scorecard needs competencies. They're different things, and the extraction must capture both.

Part 4: Organizational Context (5-10 minutes)

"What's happening in the organization right now that this hire will walk into? What will be different about this organization in a year?"

This produces the organizational context section and also informs the job ad's compelling elements. Listen for:

Part 5: Compensation and Working Conditions (5-10 minutes)

"What's the compensation range for this role? Has that been benchmarked?"

If benchmarking has been done, confirm the range. If not, flag it as a gap.

"Where is this person working — on-site, hybrid, remote? What does travel look like?"

"Is there relocation involved? If so, what's the organization willing to provide?"

"Any other working conditions a candidate should know about before deciding to pursue this?"

Part 6: Prior Job Description Review (5-10 minutes, if applicable)

If a prior description exists, walk through it section by section:

"Looking at this prior description — is this still accurate?" "What's changed since this was written?" "Are these requirements still real, or did they accumulate over time?" "Is there anything missing that matters now?"

This is where requirement inflation gets caught. Prior descriptions carry requirements from previous incumbents that may not apply anymore.

What Must Be Confirmed Before Closing the Interview

Signals That the Extraction Is Incomplete

Everything is a must-have. → Force the choice: "If they have everything else but not this, do you pass?" Keep asking until something moves to nice-to-have.

Responsibilities are competencies. → "You said 'financial oversight.' What does that mean on a Tuesday morning? What are they looking at? What decisions are they making?"

Role purpose is a responsibility list. → "I hear what the person does. Why does this role exist? What does the organization not have without it?"

Organizational context is boilerplate. → "You said 'a growing organization.' Growing how? What's different about this year versus last year? What will this person walk into on day one?"

Prior description repeated back to you. → "Let's set that aside for a moment. If you were describing this role to a friend — someone you wanted to recruit — what would you say?"

Stakeholders disagree about the role. → Don't resolve it for them. Name it: "I'm hearing two different versions of this role. Let's talk about that, because the position profile can't be both." The disagreement IS the extraction's most valuable output. Document both perspectives and let the practitioner work with the stakeholders to resolve it.

After the Interview

Within 24 Hours

Write up extraction notes mapped to the three deliverables:

Produce the Gap Report

Work through the Required Inputs table in 01-context.md.

Advisor Review

The advisor reviews extraction notes and gap report. They:

Build starts only after the advisor confirms the gap report is resolved.

Connection to the Engagement

Every role definition extraction produces two things: deliverables and advisor insight.

The deliverables document the role. The extraction conversation reveals how well the organization understands its own needs. When stakeholders can't articulate why a role exists, when everything is a must-have, when the ideal candidate description sounds like the person who left — these are signals about organizational maturity and decision-making clarity that inform the broader engagement.

The best role definitions come from organizations that have been pushed to think clearly about what they actually need. The extraction interview is where that push happens. Use it.