Push or Pull Hiring: How to Tell
5 min read
Push selects for people who need another job. Pull selects for people who want a better job.
One is excited to leave. The other is excited to join. The difference shows in the job description, the outreach and the process, before anyone is interviewed.
Neither word grades the people. Someone made redundant is pushed and is not a worse hire. Push and pull describe what brought someone to the door, and what the hiring process was built to reach.
The job description
| Push | Pull |
|---|---|
| Is a buying document: the company shops, the candidate sells | Is a selling document: the role makes its case |
| Announces the job | Gives a reason to consider it |
| Lists what the role requires | States what the role offers |
| Describes the person wanted: a person description, not a job description | Describes the ideal candidate’s ideal role |
| Lists duties and tasks | Sets out what they would own, the numbers, and what changes because the seat is filled |
| Is static: describes the job as it is today | Is dynamic: describes the role over time |
| Says nothing about growth | States where the role goes next |
| Starts most sentences with “you will” | Is written to the seniority of the role |
| Opens on the mission and the founders, and reaches the role late | Opens on the role |
| Leans on “fast-paced”, “world-class”, “exciting” | Uses numbers and specifics |
| Still works with a competitor’s name swapped in | Could only have been written by this company |
| Lets culture, brand and benefits carry the weight: the EVP is the company | Builds the case for joining into the role itself: the EVP is the work |
| Leaves out the hard parts | States the hard parts |
| States company objectives | States how the candidate influences company objectives |
| Is full of lists | Ranks objectives in order |
| Offers a “competitive” salary | States the band |
The outreach
| Push | Pull |
|---|---|
| Is a shortened copy of the job description | Carries the same specifics as a rebuilt job description |
| Goes to anyone who matches the keywords | Goes to named people, chosen for this role |
| Gives the reader nothing to weigh against their current job | Answers the question: is the juice worth the squeeze? |
The process
| Push | Pull |
|---|---|
| The candidate is the product, for the company to buy | The job is the product, for the candidate to buy |
| High volume, low touch | Low volume, high touch |
| Writes for whoever applies | Decides who the role is for before writing a word |
| The recruiter actions the brief verbatim | The recruiter and hiring manager shape the role together |
| Success is counted in volume: applications, interviews | Success is counted in who entered: replies from the people the role was written for |
| Prioritises assessing candidates better | Prioritises the document, before anyone is approached |
| The interview is an audition | The interview runs both ways |
| Candidate fit: looks for people who fit the job | Job fit: looks for people the job fits |
The words that give push away
Claims with nothing behind them
| Push says | What it signals | Pull says instead |
|---|---|---|
| “Fast-paced”, “hyper-growth”, “at scale” | There are no numbers, or they are not good | Team size, growth rate, volume |
| “Exciting opportunity”, “career-defining”, “high impact”, “huge ownership” | Asserted in the first paragraph, never shown | The evidence, with the adjective left out |
| “Join our growing team” | Growth with no figure | Headcount now and a year from now |
| “Competitive salary”, “DOE” | The band is undecided, or low | The band |
Instructions, not a role
| Push says | What it signals | Pull says instead |
|---|---|---|
| “You will...” on every line | No autonomy: the work was decided before they arrive | What the role owns, and what is theirs to decide |
| “Support”, “assist”, “help”, “ensure” | No authority | What the role decides without sign-off |
| “Propose and take ownership” | Ownership, with nobody named who says yes | Who signs off, and on what |
| “What you will achieve in your first six months” | An instruction with a deadline | What we want to achieve, and how much of it is theirs to shape |
| “Other duties as required” | Scope nobody has written down | The split of the work |
Requirements written from the company’s side
| Push says | What it signals | Pull says instead |
|---|---|---|
| “The ideal candidate will...” | A description of a person, not a job | What the work needs |
| “Nice to have”, “bonus points for”, “valuable, not required” | Decoration | Job stretch |
| “X+ years of experience” | Time served stands in for ability | The objectives, ranked |
| “Apply even if you don’t meet every requirement” | The list is a catch-all | An accurate list |
Culture and mission doing the role’s work
| Push says | What it signals | Pull says instead |
|---|---|---|
| “Passionate about our mission” | Belief is part of the job | The job described as a job |
| “Self-starter”, “wear many hats”, “comfortable with ambiguity” | Nothing is decided and nobody will decide it | What is undecided, and who decides it |
| “Rockstar”, “ninja”, “world-class” | Hype standing in for specifics | Specifics |
Telling people how to behave
| Push says | What it signals | Pull says instead |
|---|---|---|
| “Good communicator”, “excellent communication skills” | Could be any posting | Who they communicate with, and about what |
| “Team player”, “collaborative” | Could be any posting | The team: its size, who is in it, how decisions get made |
| “Enthusiastic”, “energetic”, “positive attitude” | A mood is being hired, not a skill | What the work demands day to day |
| “Driven”, “hungry”, “go-getter” | Pressure, with the reward left out | The targets, and what hitting them earns |
| “Resilient”, “thrives under pressure” | The pressure is real and unexplained | What the pressure is, and how often it comes |
| “Detail-oriented”, “highly organised” | The trait is described because the work is not | The work where the detail matters |
| “Culture fit” | A filter nobody has written down | What working here is actually like |
| “Bring your whole self to work” | Arrives after the posting has specified how to behave, so the two contradict each other | Cut it. The working pattern and how disagreement gets handled say more |
What push leaves unseen
- Every push applicant has a reason to leave. The process never finds out whether they also have a reason to join.
- Someone leaving and someone joining can look the same on paper and in interview. The interview checks whether they qualify, not why they are moving.
- The people pull would have reached never applied, so no report shows them.
- The recruiter’s part ends at the start date. The hiring manager works with what follows.
- In Component and Vital Component roles, who fills the seat changes what the role delivers. Push leaves that choice to whoever needed to move.
When each one fits
Push suits Fuel roles: static, repeatable work where the requirements are the job, volume is high and speed of fill matters most.
Pull suits Component and Vital Component roles: dynamic roles, where the people who could fill them have options.
The terms describe roles, not the people in them.
The five-minute test
Push candidates ask whether they qualify. Pull candidates ask whether it is better than what they have.
Mark every line of the posting Q or B. Q for qualify: does it tell me whether I qualify? B for better: does it tell me whether this is better than what I have?
If there are no Bs, the posting runs on push.