Build an Ideal Candidate Persona

When to use it

The prompt

Based on this role, build an ideal candidate persona I can source against. ROLE: {{Job Title}}, {{level}} CONTEXT: {{team, product area, why this role exists now}} WHAT THE FIRST YEAR LOOKS LIKE: {{the main problems they'll own}} SOMEONE WHO'D DO THIS WELL: {{a past hire or a profile the hiring manager pointed to, if any}} CONSTRAINTS: {{location, comp range, visa sponsorship yes or no}} Give me: 1. Two or three realistic background profiles, not one: likely past titles, company types and sizes, and the kind of work they've done. Include at least one non-obvious route into the role. 2. The 3-4 skills or experiences that separate a strong candidate from an average one, phrased as things I can actually spot on a profile. 3. Requirements the hiring manager will probably list that don't actually predict success here. 4. What would make this person move: what they likely lack in their current job that this role offers, and what we can't compete on. 5. Where they're likely to be found — companies, communities, events, the content they follow. 6. One assumption in this brief to double-check with the hiring manager before I start sourcing. Describe experience and skills only. No age, gender, nationality or other personal characteristics, including indirectly through shorthand like "digital native" or "young and hungry".

Tip

If the persona looks like the current team, push back on it. A persona built from 'someone like the last person we hired' quietly turns into a filter, and you end up sourcing from the same three companies on repeat.

How to use it

Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or whichever assistant you use, then replace every {{bracketed}} part with your own detail. The more specific and messier your input, the better the output — a model given raw notes has more to work with than one given a tidy summary you wrote first.

More Sourcing prompts

Open the full tool for all 87 prompts, the glossary, and the JD decoder.