The Top 5 Hiring Styles (And Why They're Important)

Whether you know it or not, most hiring managers have a hiring style that is more reflective of who they are as a person, and not necessarily reflective of the companies for which they work.

However, like a duck drawn to water, people will feel naturally drawn to a culture that aligns with their value system, and thus, they hire accordingly. Over twelve years of recruiting for a wide-variety of companies, industries and alongside highly effective hiring managers, I have outlined below the top five hiring styles.

To the extent this helps you better understand your own hiring style or how to manage your candidacy and expectations as a job-seeker, I do hope this insight helps as you search for that one, true fit!

• Prefers a quick process with fewer candidates and lengthier interviews
• Believes there may be only one perfect person for a job within their immediate reach
• Internalizes and identifies concerns on the spot, making a higher percentage of good, gut-level decisions
• Can have impossibly high ideals and expectations, identifying one person with broad and deep skill sets in many areas
• Often loses interest in candidates who have more than one other job opportunity to consider
• Believes the right person would want the job even if it puts the candidate at high personal risk
• Often makes hiring decisions independently, and will only ask for buy-in if necessary

• Qualifies candidates based on specific criteria that may or may not be realistic, idealizing internal referrals
• Works well with disappointments in the process and able to realign priorities if derailed
• Prefers assessment-based decisions and deep due diligence
• Makes better decisions with a larger talent pool and identifies more than two choice candidates
• Will delay hiring if not enough time has been committed to identifying, vetting and prioritizing candidates
• Can make final decision independently, but prefers buy-in at all levels

• Idealizes raw intelligence and potential
• Prefers hiring the right pedigree and attitude over experience
• Adept at nurturing promotable people
• More likely to create an internal opportunity then wait for an opening
• Pulls the trigger on hire more quickly if at risk of losing a candidate
• Quickly abandons hire if places too much pressure on resources
• May overlook internal talent in favor of bringing in fresh perspective
• Often acts independently when making hiring decisions

• Runs tightly managed process with average hire time of 3 months
• Prefers to have 2 or 3 top candidates, including an internal employee, competing for the position
• Often relies on assessments to back up gut instinct, but still acts independently on decision-making
• Considers heavily who wants the job most and who will take the biggest risk to secure it
• Won’t settle for the runner up, likely to start process from scratch if candidate of choice declines
• May or may not want HR involved in the final decision, but almost always consults a senior peer or CEO for approval

• Values a long interview process with a strong emphasis on team-based feedback
• Prefers moderate to heavy assessment-based decisions
• Typically makes better, more informed decisions about candidates allowing time to get to know each one before tendering offer
• Candidate’s fit with the company culture is a top priority, often trumping experience and skill set
• Can start out as a tightly managed process, but then become overly managed and drawn out resulting in a lack of momentum
• Can be inflexible about moving forward if all parties do not buy into a final candidate

Once you figure out the hiring manager's style and get the job offer, Salary.com can help you learn how to negotiate and get paid fairly.

The first thing you should do is research, so you're able to come to the table armed with the knowledge of what your job is worth. Use our free Salary Wizard below to find out what's a fair salary for your position. You can enter your location, education level, years of experience and more to find out an appropriate salary range before you negotiate.

Good luck.