Getting Oriented: a quick snapshot of your talent operation

• Tell me briefly about the hiring rhythm that most defines your company right now, high level Options: Steady ongoing hires, Frequent waves and surges, Rare, strategic hires only, Rapid growth across many teams
• Describe the last quarter for talent acquisition in one sentence, including one win and one persistent problem
• On average, how many hires does your organization make each month? Options: 0-9, 10-49, 50-199, 200+
• Which recruiting functions do you currently own in-house versus outsource Options: Sourcing, Screening and interviews, Offer negotiation, Employer branding, Reporting and analytics, None of the above
• Who on your leadership team is most directly accountable for hitting hiring targets, and how do they measure success

Where the current system falls short for your leaders

• If someone on your HR team had to name the single outcome that would make this problem unacceptable, what would they say Options: Time to fill reduction, Consistent hire quality, Predictable monthly cost, Reduced reliance on agencies, Improved hiring manager satisfaction
• Walk me through a recent role that missed expectations, what broke and who noticed first
• How much of your quarterly headcount plan missed its target last quarter, by percentage Options: 0-5%, 6-15%, 16-30%, 30%+
• Which recruiting step causes the most lead time variability today, for example sourcing, screening, interview scheduling, or approvals Options: Sourcing, Screening, Interview scheduling, Hiring manager decision, Offer negotiation, Onboarding handoff
• What downstream business outcomes have been harmed by these TA inconsistencies, and can you quantify one of them
• What single failure in your current setup would make you stop a search for a vendor and instead rebuild internally Options: Data access issues, No clear SLA, Impossible brand adoption, Leadership resistance

Who matters in this decision and how they see risk

• Which stakeholders must be satisfied before a new recruiting model is approved, and which one will be the toughest to convince Options: CHRO / Head of TA, CFO / Finance, Business unit leaders, Legal / Compliance, IT / Security
• Describe the last time a vendor implementation ran into resistance from hiring managers, what started the resistance and how it was resolved
• How do your hiring managers currently rate the quality and responsiveness of external agencies and your internal recruiters Options: Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neutral, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied
• Who owns the vendor approval and contracting timeline, and how many signatures or reviews typically happen Options: HR only, HR + Legal, Finance + Legal, Procurement involved, Multiple executives
• If a pilot reduced your blended cost per hire by the target amount, who could sign off to scale immediately and what would stop them

What outcomes will actually change how you run TA

• If you could guarantee one measurable improvement from an embedded recruiting partnership, which would move the needle most for your leadership Options: Lower cost per hire, Faster time to fill, Higher hiring manager satisfaction, Improved retention of hires, Better role coverage for critical skills
• How do you currently measure recruiter performance, and which metric do you find most credible Options: Time to fill, Quality of hire, Offer acceptance rate, Interview-to-offer ratio, Hiring manager NPS
• Tell me about the last time a change in TA delivered measurable ROI, what was measured and how long before results appeared
• What target window for seeing reliable results would you use to judge a 4 to 6 week embed, for example measurable improvements within 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or by quarter end Options: Within 4 weeks, Within 8 weeks, By quarter end, Longer than a quarter
• Which single acceptance criterion, if unmet after the pilot, would make you pause further engagement Options: No access to ATS, Hiring managers refuse to work with sellers, Recruiter quality below agreed standard, No measurable improvement in time to fill

Operational readiness, access, and technical constraints we cannot start without

• Which applicant tracking system category does your organization use today, and who controls admin access Options: Corporate ATS managed by TA, Decentralized team ATS, Vendor-managed ATS, No ATS in use
• Do you have API or admin-level access available for your ATS and reporting systems, and who would provision that access Options: Yes, API access available, Yes, admin credentials available, Limited access only, No access available
• How clean and centralized is your candidate and hiring data, for example can you reliably report on vacancy age and source within one hour Options: Fully centralized and clean, Mostly centralized with gaps, Fragmented across teams, Not centralized
• Who in IT or systems integration would be our point of contact during onboarding and how many hours per week could they allocate
• Are there legal, security, or compliance approvals that typically add time to vendor onboarding, and how long do those reviews take Options: None, Standard legal review 2-4 weeks, Security review 4-8 weeks, Regulated industries require >8 weeks
• Which single technical or access constraint would stop the embed from proceeding as planned Options: No ATS access, No hiring manager introductions, Data sharing not permitted, Third-party integrations blocked

The competitive landscape you are weighing

• Which alternatives are you actively considering right now, including internal options and incumbent vendors Options: Keep current internal TA only, Scale internal recruiters, Use more contingency agencies, Traditional RPO, Embedded recruiting partner, Other
• For any incumbent or competing provider you are evaluating, what is the one thing they must demonstrate to keep your business
• Has anyone internally proposed solving this without a partner, and if so who and what was their suggested approach Options: Yes, build internal team, Yes, ramp internal recruiters temporarily, No internal proposal, Other
• What would have to be true about your current approach for you to choose to stay with it instead of changing to a persistent embedded model Options: Predictable cost below target, Improved quality without external help, Faster ramp than vendor, Ability to own brand and culture fully
• If a vendor matched your incumbent on price and promised outcomes, what remaining factor would tip the decision in their favor Options: Proof of brand adoption, Transparent reporting, Manager testimonials, Shorter implementation timeline

Acceptance criteria, commitments, and next steps that actually move things forward

• Assuming a pilot proves the agreed metrics, what internal approvals would be required to convert to a longer term contract Options: HR approval only, HR + Finance, Exec committee, Procurement required, Other
• Which measurable guarantee would make the decision to proceed nearly immediate, for example a specified reduction in time to fill or cost per hire Options: X% reduction in time to fill, X% reduction in blended cost per hire, Improved hiring manager NPS by Y points, Guaranteed role coverage percentage
• What resources or commitments would you need to provide during a 4 to 6 week embed to make it succeed, for example hiring manager introductions, ATS admin hours, or weekly steering meetings Options: Hiring manager time, ATS admin access, Weekly governance meetings, Sourcing tools access, None of the above
• When would you realistically be able to start a pilot if all prerequisites were met Options: Immediately, Within 2 weeks, Within 1 month, In 2 to 3 months, Unsure
• What single remaining concern would stop you from running a pilot this quarter Options: Budget timing, Leadership alignment, Technical access, Skepticism about recruiter fit
• Who should be on a two week readiness call to confirm the scope, and provide names and roles for that panel

• Solution Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm the current state statement and the quantified cost, time, or quality consequences tied to it.
• Deliver a fitted team composition and monthly cost comparison versus the buyer's current blended agency plus internal spend before the follow-up session.
• Orientation: how an embedded recruiting partnership works
• You agree that the demonstrated embedded recruiter workflow and role coverage would prevent the specific breakdowns you described.
• Provide a 90-day hiring forecast by role family and a list of primary hiring manager stakeholders for the pilot roles.
• Run an end-to-end recruiter workflow using your context
• Prepare and share a sample SLA dashboard populated with anonymized or sample data that reflects the agreed success signals within five business days.
• You accept the proposed measurement approach will capture the success signals and cost comparison needed for a commercial decision.
• Identify any ATS, reporting, and interview workflow constraints that will affect a 4 to 6 week embed.
• Show team roles, handoffs, and SLA outcomes
• Demonstrate measurement and cost comparison
• Validate the fit

• Solution Experience Session
• Solution Experience Deck
• Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Embed dedicated recruiting team
• Operate full‑cycle candidate sourcing
• Conduct screening and qualification interviews
• Manage offer negotiation and acceptance
• Represent employer brand in candidate outreach
• Operate and maintain ATS candidate records
• Deliver hiring pipeline and outcome analytics
• Coordinate reference and background checks
• Execute candidate handover to HR/People Ops
• Scale recruiting capacity for hiring surges
• Build passive talent pipelines
• Train embedded recruiters on client tools and processes

Embed dedicated recruiting team

• Which job families and teams should the embedded recruiting team cover in the first 12 months (for example: engineering, sales, customer success)? Options: Engineering, Sales, Customer Success, Product, Operations, Other
• How many full-time embedded recruiters do you estimate per 100 open requisitions during steady-state hiring? Options: 1 per 10 requisitions, 1 per 25 requisitions, 1 per 50 requisitions, Custom
• Who will be the primary hiring manager owners for escalations and weekly syncs (name roles or titles, e.g., VP of Engineering, Director of Sales)?
• Do you require an on-site presence during any portion of the 4-6 week embed period (for example: initial kickoff week, panel interviews)? Options: Yes, No, Partial — scheduled visits only
• What evidence will validate that an embedded recruiter is fully adopted into your hiring team (examples: active hiring manager calendar invites, recruiter access to your ATS dashboards, first filled requisition within agreed SLA)?
• What training or accreditation should embedded recruiters complete to match your employer brand voice and interview rubric (for example: interview panel rubric, offer approval matrix)?

Operate full‑cycle candidate sourcing

• Which sourcing channels are prioritized for your roles (for example: internal referrals, industry communities, paid job boards, employee networks)? Options: Internal referrals, Industry communities, Paid job boards, Employee networks, University / early talent, Other
• How many passive outreach messages per week per recruiter should be targeted to build pipelines for senior roles? Options: 10-25, 26-50, 51-100, Custom
• Who approves use of external talent pipelines and any referral incentives in your organization (provide role or approval artifact)?
• When should the sourcing team begin active sourcing relative to requisition creation (immediately upon req approval, after job spec finalized, or after hiring manager kickoff)? Options: Immediately upon approval, After job spec finalized, After hiring manager kickoff
• Describe the employer brand messaging assets to use in outreach (for example: careers page link, benefits one-pager, employee testimonial video).
• Specify any candidate diversity or sourcing targets to be tracked per role (for example: percent sourced from underrepresented groups, internal mobility targets).

Conduct screening and qualification interviews

• Provide the screening rubric or scorecard recruiters should use for first-round qualification (attach or name your scorecard template).
• How long in minutes is your preferred phone screen for technical roles and for non-technical roles (choose closest)? Options: 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, Other
• Identify the interview panel members for on-site or final interviews for senior hires (list roles or titles, e.g., hiring manager, tech lead, People Operations partner).
• Do you require structured interview questions stored in your ATS for each job level before interviews are scheduled? Options: Yes, No
• What pass/fail criteria on the screening scorecard should move candidates to hiring manager interviews (for example: minimum aggregate score or no red flags on culture fit)?
• How should interview feedback be submitted into your ATS (discrete score fields, free-text comments, or a combined approach)? Options: Discrete score fields, Free-text comments, Combined fields and comments

Manage offer negotiation and acceptance

• What is your standard offer approval matrix including salary thresholds and required approvers (for example: manager sign-off under $X, director sign-off over $Y)?
• Which components must be included in the offer letter template (for example: base salary, equity grant, bonus target, start date, relocation terms)? Options: Base salary, Equity, Bonus target, Start date, Relocation, Other
• Who is the authorized signer for formal offers and what approval artifact is required prior to issuing an offer (for example: written approval in ATS, signed compensation form)?
• What standard offer expiration window do you use for external candidates (choose the closest option)? Options: 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, Custom
• What negotiation guardrails should recruiters follow for counteroffers and compensation flexibility (for example: maximum deviation from salary band, equity exceptions require approval)?
• Describe the final offer approval workflow that must be reflected in the ATS (for example: offer draft -> compensation approver -> legal -> authorized signer).

Represent employer brand in candidate outreach

• List the employer brand assets approved for candidate outreach (for example: careers page link, benefits PDF, employee testimonial video).
• How should recruiters present total compensation for roles that include equity or variable bonus (examples: show target on offer slide, include equity vesting schedule)?
• Are there legal or compliance disclosures that must appear in recruiter outreach messages (for example: salary range statement, equal employment opportunity language)? Options: Yes, No
• What review process will you require for outreach templates before they are published in your ATS (for example: People Ops review, legal sign-off)? Options: People Ops review, Legal review, Hiring manager review, No formal review required
• Identify the candidate touchpoints that must include employer brand content (for example: initial outreach, interview confirmation emails, offer package).
• Which messaging tone should recruiters adopt for executive-level outreach versus individual contributor outreach (for example: consultative, concise, technical depth)? Options: Consultative, Concise, Technical depth, Other

Operate and maintain ATS candidate records

• What fields in your applicant tracking system must be mandatory for every candidate record (for example: source, hiring manager, requisition ID, scorecard link)?
• What acceptance criteria will confirm candidate record hygiene and ongoing ATS maintenance is complete (examples: duplicate rate below 2%, interview feedback attached for 100% of progressed candidates)?
• How often should deduplication and data-quality checks be run against your ATS candidate records (weekly, biweekly, monthly)? Options: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly
• Which integrations must be maintained between your ATS and other systems such as your HR information system or background check vendor (list integration endpoints)?
• What data-retention policy should be applied to inactive candidate profiles in your ATS (for example: retain for 2 years, purge after 5 years)? Options: Retain 1 year, Retain 2 years, Retain 5 years, Custom policy
• Who owns ATS field definitions and naming conventions in your organization (provide role or team, e.g., People Operations analyst)?

Deliver hiring pipeline and outcome analytics

• What pipeline stages should be represented on the shared hiring dashboard (for example: sourced, screened, interviewed, offer, hired)? Options: Sourced, Screened, Interviewed, Offer, Hired, Other
• Which KPIs must appear in executive reporting (for example: time-to-fill in days, cost-per-hire, quality of hire proxies)? Options: Time-to-fill, Cost-per-hire, Offer acceptance rate, Quality of hire proxy, Other
• How often do you require hiring pipeline reports to be delivered (daily dashboard, weekly summary, monthly detailed review)? Options: Daily dashboard, Weekly summary, Monthly detailed review, Quarterly review
• What target thresholds should trigger escalation to People Ops or the recruiting manager (for example: time-to-fill > 60 days, pipeline conversion rate below X%)?
• What analytics endpoint or reporting format do you require for ingesting recruiting metrics into your people analytics platform (for example: CSV export, API endpoint, BI dashboard link)? Options: CSV export, API endpoint, BI dashboard link, Other
• Describe any historical data context we should use for forecasting (for example: average monthly hiring volume, seasonal peaks, recent restructuring events).

Coordinate reference and background checks

• Which types of background checks are required by role (for example: criminal, employment verification, education, credit check for finance roles)? Options: Criminal, Employment verification, Education, Credit check, Drug screen, Other
• What vendor or integration endpoint do you use for background checks and reference verification, and what is the required PII transfer method?
• Who in your organization is responsible for reviewing background check results and making final eligibility decisions (provide role or team)?
• When should background checks and reference checks be initiated in your hiring workflow (upon offer acceptance, after conditional offer, or upon finalist selection)? Options: Upon offer acceptance, After conditional offer, Upon finalist selection
• What turnaround SLAs do you require for background and reference checks (for example: 48-72 hours for employment verification)? Options: 24-48 hours, 48-72 hours, Up to 7 days, Custom
• Are there role-specific adjudication criteria or eligibility rules we should apply when reviewing background check results (for example: positions requiring clean driving record)? Options: Yes, No

Execute candidate handover to HR/People Ops

• What form of handover package do you require for accepted candidates (for example: completed candidate profile in ATS, signed offer, signed compensation approval form)? Options: Complete ATS profile, Signed offer, Compensation approval artifact, Background check results, Other
• What acceptance criteria will confirm a candidate handover to HR/People Ops is complete (examples: all onboarding documents submitted, start date scheduled in HRIS)?
• How should the onboarding start date and new hire data be transmitted to your HR information system (HRIS) or payroll endpoint (for example: API push, CSV batch, manual entry)? Options: API push, CSV batch, Manual entry
• Who will be the People Ops or HR point of contact for new-hire intake and onboarding coordination (provide role/title)?
• Which candidate documents must be delivered at handover (for example: signed offer, I-9 copy, tax forms, background check report)? Options: Signed offer, I-9, Tax forms, Background check report, Other
• What timeline do you require between offer acceptance and HR/People Ops receiving the completed handover (for example: within 24 hours, within 3 business days)? Options: Within 24 hours, Within 3 business days, Within 1 week, Custom

Scale recruiting capacity for hiring surges

• What peak hiring volume should we plan for when sizing surge capacity (for example: 50 hires in a quarter, 200 hires annually)?
• Which roles are most likely to require rapid scaling during surges (list job families or specific requisitions)?
• How quickly must additional recruiter capacity be onboarded during a surge (for example: within 2 weeks, within 30 days)? Options: Within 2 weeks, Within 30 days, Custom ramp
• What surge SLAs do you expect for time-to-fill and pipeline velocity during peak hiring periods (for example: time-to-fill target of 30 days for volume hires)?
• Which internal processes must be preserved during scaling (for example: interview calibration, hiring manager approval workflow)?
• What is your contingency budget or spend ceiling for additional recruiter capacity during a surge (provide band or authorization approach)?

• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Order Form & Pricing Schedule
• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Acceptance Criteria & Go‑Live Certificate
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Performance Guarantee Addendum
• Change Order Agreement
• Termination & Transition Plan
• Confidentiality Agreement (NDA)
• Regulatory Compliance Addendum (conditional)

• Go-live Health Check (weeks 1-4)
• First Outcomes Measurement (weeks 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate Review (around day 90)
• Quarterly Success Review (recurring)

• Update the reporting definitions and dashboard widgets to include an SLA heatmap and a hiring manager satisfaction breakdown by hiring function.
• Publish an updated sourcing plan and recruiter activity targets to reduce median time-to-fill within the agreed timeline.
• Correct or annotate any data-source discrepancies and redistribute validated metric extracts for the Acceptance Gate review.
• Restate acceptance criteria and numeric targets
• Produce a documented acceptance decision with named signatory tied to the acceptance criteria recorded in Solution Scope.
• Record pass/fail status with evidence for each acceptance criterion and publish the evidence log.
• Agree remediation timelines for any failed criteria and confirm the incumbent vendor wind-down plan is scheduled or completed.
• Publish the formal acceptance record with named signatory and attach the evidence log for each acceptance criterion.
• Create a remediation project plan for any failed criteria with milestones and resolution dates.
• Execute the incumbent wind-down checklist including contract closure or retention terms, data migration or archival confirmation, and confirmation that the old process is in read-only or decommissioned state.
• Performance trend review
• Confirm whether requisition fill rate within SLA meets Solution Scope targets and identify actions for any drift.
• Confirm whether hiring manager satisfaction score meets Solution Scope targets and identify specific improvements to address gaps.
• Prioritize the operational backlog and agree delivery timeframes for the next quarter.
• Publish the quarterly performance dashboard with trendlines for requisition fill rate within SLA and hiring manager satisfaction score.
• Produce a prioritized backlog with target completion dates for the agreed enhancements.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Confirm the embedding tasks in Solution Scope are complete or have documented remediation plans.
• Surface and document top 3 operational blockers and the planned immediate remediation actions.
• Verify ATS and reporting endpoints are accessible and return expected data samples.
• Publish the go-live health summary with current status of each Solution Scope checklist item.
• Log and circulate the open-issue tracker with target resolution dates for all blockers identified.
• Deliver a sample extract from the ATS showing active requisitions and recruiter activity for the first 30 days.
• Agree a dated corrective action plan that moves the engagement to the Acceptance Gate readiness window.
• Present first-period outcome data
• Determine whether median time-to-fill is trending toward the target recorded in Solution Scope and document the gap if not.
• Determine whether cost-per-hire is on track to meet the Solution Scope target and agree specific levers to correct course.
• Deliver a root-cause analysis report that maps each metric gap to proposed corrective steps and expected impact.
• Present outcome evidence against each criterion
• Detailed review into persistent gaps
• Compare outcomes to Solution Scope targets
• Deployment and configuration validation
• Document pass/fail per criterion and capture formal decision
• Root-cause diagnosis for gaps
• Operational backlog and issue burn-down
• Early adoption signals and usage patterns
• Agree corrective actions and timeline to Acceptance Gate
• Open issues and blockers with owners
• Agree remediation plan for any unmet criteria
• Agree prioritized enhancements and timelines
• Confirm instrumentation and reporting fidelity
• Agree immediate remediation actions
• Incumbent vendor and legacy process wind-down
• Confirm reporting and data needs