The intake call: the template that cuts time-to-fill

The most common cause of a long process isn't the interviews. It's opening the search with no real agreement on who you're looking for. The intake call fixes that in 45 minutes, and it's the lever that moves time-to-fill the most without changing anything else.

Why it matters so much

When a recruiter starts with no formal intake, they're betting their read of the profile matches the hiring manager's. That bet fails often, and the cost shows up late: three candidates rejected at final interview "because it wasn't what I was looking for". Each cycle like that is two or three weeks lost.

The template

The role

• Why does this role exist now? Backfill, growth, new project?
• What three things does this person have to achieve in the first six months?
• Who do they report to and who do they manage?

The profile

• What do they need to have done already? Not years: concrete achievements.
• What's negotiable and what isn't?
• Which companies or teams would a strong candidate come from? Which ones not?

What usually breaks the search

• What went wrong in recent hires for this role or a similar one?
• What's the real compensation range, including variable and equity?
• Is there anything a strong candidate would ask for that we can't give?

The process

• Who interviews, in what order, and what does each person assess?
• Will you commit to feedback within 48 hours of each interview?
• When do you want to see the first shortlist?

What you do with the answers

Turn the intake into a scorecard of 4 or 5 criteria with the non-negotiables at the top. That scorecard is what every interviewer uses, so feedback stops being "I liked them / I didn't" and becomes comparable across candidates.

In Klyver

The scorecard lives on the role and everyone who interviews fills it in, including the hiring manager from the portal. Feedback stays on the candidate's card, not in scattered emails, and Reporting shows each interviewer's response time.