A Director-level job advert took around 12 hours to write.

A couple of hours sat down with the MD of an SME tech company understanding their background and context, what they wanted to achieve in the role, what good looks like in a candidate, how we might find them across all appropriate channels.

Agreement on what the recruitment process should look like and how candidates would be assessed.

3 hours to re-write their job description, change the job title, correct false assumptions, strip out responsibilities that weren't relevant (and had been cut and pasted from a JD for the wrong job title) remove ambiguity and give it meaning.

4 hours to write an executive summary creating the proposition for why their ideal candidate might want to work there.

A couple of hours of discussion and edits, ensuring the MD and I were pointing in the same right direction.

Then an hour to distil this in advert targetted at the one individual we wanted to apply.

A couple of weeks later, the interview shortlist comprised of two advert applicants, two candidates developed from headhunting and one referral.

One of the advert applicants got the job - their suitability proved by a rigorous multichannel approach. They've been there 18 months and doing what needs to be done.

The advert was a consequence of my approach to recruitment.

Had we not started from the right first principles, they might have recruited a good candidate for the wrong job.

Just my normal approach and one example of what I mean by "I recruit right".