Talent Makers

Expert Insights: Jill Macri

Jill Macri led global recruiting at Airbnb. She was there for six years, from when it was around 100 people to about 4,000 people. She then co-founded a firm called Growth By Design Talent, which helps companies to navigate the high-growth experience when it comes to hiring.

What would you say are steps companies should take when they want to overhaul their candidate experience?

We work with two types of companies. One type has a really strong consumer brand, in which case they are overwhelmed with demand, with too many candidates coming into the top of the funnel. So, they have a filtration problem.

The other type of company effectively has no brand, so they're not getting any inbound interest. But with both, we start with the same fundamental question: What differentiates you? We work with a lot of tech companies, and they often lean on the same things—high growth, opportunity for impact, and so on—so candidates are hearing the same buzz words from every company. Giving a candidate swag during the interview process is not a meaningful differentiator.

We therefore suggest that companies first listen very closely to what candidates say about the process, based on surveys we do of both rejected and accepted candidates, and also through focus groups.

What are some misconceptions that companies typically have about the hiring process?

Every founder or leader will believe that the talent that they need to attract is unique. In addition—especially in ...