If you’re hiring for a new type of role for the first time (i.e. you’ve never hired or managed that function before), my biggest recommendation is to do “calibration calls” before you write a JD, hire a recruiting firm, or anything else.

Maybe you’re a first time founder… it’s highly unlikely you’ve hired a VP Finance or VP People before. So how are you supposed to know what good looks like or how to hire for the position? And beyond that, you need to also figure out the scope you’re looking for. As a simple example, there are VP Finance candidates who are more strategic, and some who are more executional. There are VP People who are more recruiting focused, and others who are more culture/HRBP focused. And the list goes on.

And even once you do figure out the scope of the role you need, you likely don’t know what great looks like. Again, calibration calls come to the rescue for this.

So… what is a “Calibration Call” and how do you do them to optimize for learning what ‘great’ looks like?

First, find 2-3 people you can talk to who are exceptional at the role you're hiring for. Of course - this begs the question… how do you know who is exceptional?

That’s where investors or founder friends can help.

Ask them “Who is the best <role> you’ve worked with or seen?”, and see if they can make an introduction for you… you likely will want to make it clear you’re not trying to poach your friends’ employee, but rather, just want to learn from him or her.

Then try to set up quick, 30-minute calls with at least 2-3 of these people to see how they operate. Start by giving context on your company. For example:

“We’re a 1-year-old company growing quickly. Our business is operationally heavy, with meaningful revenue in, and significant payouts out. We just raised a Series A and are now at ~$2M net ARR. I’m hiring our first finance leader, and want to understand how great people approach this role.”

Then ask questions that help you understand what they do all day, and what you think will or won’t be pertinent to your company. Here are some example questions:

How they actually spend their time

• Walk me through a typical day and week in your role.
• How do you split your time across [X, Y, Z] areas?
• What do you own vs outsource?

What the role really requires

• What prior experiences or qualifications actually matter in this seat?
• What skills are overrated?
• I’m trying to understand the different types of <role> that are out there. What have you seen that is different between your focus areas or skillsets vs your colleagues’ at other companies?
• After they answer, you can follow up with a question like: When do you think a company is a better fit for someone like you vs a different profile of candidate who focuses on one of the other areas you mentioned?

How the function evolves