You are hiring the wrong people because you have not clearly defined who you need. A candidate persona maps out your ideal candidate, helping you reach the right people, in the right way, at the right time.
Have you advertised for 20 hires without receiving a response?
Are you receiving plenty of CVs, but none from suitable candidates?
If these 2 situations sound familiar, the problem may not be the market, the salary or the candidates. It may be how you define the right person for the role. This is where a candidate persona can help.
What is a candidate persona in recruitment?
In marketing, businesses build a customer persona to sell more effectively. This profile describes their ideal customer’s age, behaviour, interests and preferred channels, among other characteristics.
Similarly, in recruitment, a candidate persona describes the ideal candidate for a role. It addresses questions such as:
- Where do they currently work? Consider their industry, employer and location.
- What matters most to them? Salary, working environment, stability, creativity or other priorities?
- What would motivate them to change jobs?
- What would make them decline a job offer?
Without a clear profile, recruitment becomes guesswork. A candidate persona helps you find the right person, beyond someone who simply appears to have the right skills.
A practical example: Recruiting without a candidate persona
The context:
A foreign company supplying mooring equipment for seaports wanted to fill a Sales & Marketing role.
The position was attractive, with a good salary and an interesting product range.
The advertising approach:
The team advertised the role under the title “Hiring: Sales & Marketing” on LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads and other platforms.
The result:
Dozens of applications arrived, but:
- Applicants included marketers running cosmetics advertising campaigns.
- Sales candidates came from retail and had no B2B experience.
- None had experience with technical projects or understood the products.
What went wrong?
The title “Sales & Marketing” was too broad. Without a clear candidate profile, the team could not reach the right people.
A candidate persona for this role:
| Criteria | Candidate persona |
|---|---|
| Where do they work? | Companies supplying industrial equipment, construction services or technical solutions |
| Who do they sell to? | Business customers and project clients with long purchasing cycles |
| Personal qualities and skills? | Can interpret technical documentation, communicate effectively and patiently manage long sales cycles |
| What motivates their job search? | A professional working environment, specialist products and a niche market |
| Where can you reach them? | LinkedIn, construction and engineering industry groups, and employee referrals |
Build a candidate persona with 5 simple questions
| Question | Example |
|---|---|
| What do they currently do? | Have worked at a fintech company for 2-3 years and enjoy working with locally developed products |
| What matters to them? | Work-life balance and no overtime |
| How do they find jobs? | Referrals and private groups |
| What puts them off? | Unclear career progression and micromanagement |
| What would prompt them to update their CV? | A positive working environment, a capable manager, a workplace free from toxic behaviour and the option to work remotely |
Refine your job advertisement using the candidate persona
❌ Avoid: Hiring: Sales & Marketing
✅ Use: Hiring: B2B Sales – Technical Equipment for Seaports
- International working environment; strong English skills required
Technical products with in-depth training provided - Customers: seaports, main contractors and design consultants
- Preferred experience: B2B projects and an understanding of technical processes
- International working environment; strong English skills required
Why are candidate personas important in recruitment?
- Understand candidates’ behaviour and motivations
- Write clearer job descriptions that avoid misunderstandings
- Reach the right people at the right time through the right channels
Look beyond skills alone to find candidates who are truly suited to the role. A candidate persona is a practical guide that helps employers navigate recruitment.
Does your business need to fill a challenging vacancy? Explore CNK Consulting’s executive search and specialist recruitment services for hard-to-fill roles in Vietnam.
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