How to brief us.
A short guide for clients writing their first brief to AEY. The brief is more than half the search - calibrate it well and the right shortlist is two weeks away; calibrate it poorly and we are still running the search in three months. Below is how we think about it.
- 01
What we need on the first call
A working draft of the role, an honest read of the team it joins, and a clear answer on time horizon. These three things shape every subsequent decision in the search; getting them right on the first call saves three to six weeks later.
- ▸ A working role title and a one-paragraph description - not yet a polished JD
- ▸ The team this role joins: who reports up, who reports across, what the technical bench looks like
- ▸ Why this role exists now, and what the firm will look different if it is filled well
- ▸ The latest realistic month you want this person in seat
- 02
What we do not need yet
Some founders feel they need to have every aspect of the role figured out before bringing us in. They do not. We do our best work when the brief is still slightly soft - we can help shape it. A pristine, finalised JD often signals over-rotation on a specific candidate type rather than the actual gap the firm is trying to fill.
- ▸ A finalised job description with bullet-point requirements
- ▸ Locked compensation bands (we will help you set these)
- ▸ A complete interview process designed (we will help you design it)
- ▸ Internal alignment on every detail - we work through ambiguity with you
- 03
The five questions we will ask
These come up on every first call. You do not need to have answered them before we speak; they are the conversation, not the prerequisite. But thinking about them in advance makes the first call shorter and more useful.
- ▸ "What would cause this hire to fail in the first twelve months?" - your real failure model
- ▸ "Who is the strongest person on the team this role joins, and what do they think of this role?" - internal alignment
- ▸ "What is the comp band the firm has signed off, and what is the comp band you would actually go to for the right candidate?" - flexibility
- ▸ "What is the latest month you want this person in seat, and what happens if that slips?" - true urgency
- ▸ "Have you tried to fill this role before - yourself, or with another recruiter - and what happened?" - search history
- 04
Compensation: be honest with yourself
The single most common cause of stalled searches is compensation bands that do not match the candidate pool. We can map the market for you, but the data is unambiguous: most internal bands lag the actual hiring market by 12-18 months. If you are unsure, ask us for a benchmark before we start the search - it takes 48 hours and saves months of churn.
- ▸ Base salary range - both the approved band and the stretch band
- ▸ Equity / bonus / day-rate where relevant
- ▸ Total compensation ceiling for an exceptional candidate
- ▸ What flexibility exists on title, scope, and start date as compensating levers
- 05
Confidentiality: tell us up-front
If discretion matters - replacing an incumbent who is still in seat, hiring against a competitor, expanding into a market that has not been announced - say so on the first call. The brief, the search and the candidate experience are all run differently when confidentiality is a constraint. We have engagements that ran for ten weeks without a single public signal that they were live; that takes deliberate design.
- ▸ Who can know about this search (internal and external)
- ▸ Whether the firm name can be disclosed to candidates we approach
- ▸ When the search becomes public (often: at offer, not before)
- ▸ Any specific channels or candidates that must be excluded
- 06
Process: shorter than you think
Strong candidates in our markets do not stay in process for more than four to six weeks. If your standard hiring process runs eight rounds across three months, we will gently push back; the strongest candidates will not survive it. We can run a three-step process that is more rigorous, not less, than the eight-step version.
- ▸ Maximum three to four stages, end-to-end
- ▸ A first conversation that is genuinely two-way - the candidate is also assessing you
- ▸ A technical / leadership deep-dive that is bounded in time
- ▸ A final conversation that closes, not one that defers the decision
A working brief template.
Copy this, fill in what you can, leave what you cannot. We will work through the rest on the first call.
ROLE: [Senior Embedded Linux Engineer] LOCATION: [Sydney, on-site preferred] SECTOR: [Defence-technology scaleup, ~80 FTE] COMPENSATION: [Approved band: $150k-$210k base; stretch to $230k for exceptional] START: [Latest acceptable: 1 September 2026] CONTEXT A two-paragraph description of why this role exists now, what the firm will look different if it is filled well, and what the team it joins looks like today. REAL FAILURE MODE What would cause this hire to fail in the first twelve months? Be specific. CONSTRAINTS - Citizenship / clearance status required - Any non-negotiable technical or domain experience - Any deal-breakers on background, style or trajectory WHAT WE HAVE TRIED Have we tried to fill this before? With whom? What happened? CONTACT Hiring manager: [Name, title] Decision-maker: [Name, title - if different] Best time for a first call: [Suggestion]
Send us a brief.
Submit it through the form, or email it directly to Farid. We will respond within one business day with the questions we would ask on the first call.