There is more than one 70/30 rule online. The version this post uses comes from interview training: listen 70 percent of the time and talk 30 percent. Some people use a different version, where 70 percent of a hiring decision rests on skills and track record and 30 percent on fit. Both say the same thing underneath. Spend most of your effort finding out, not telling.
The version we are using
Interview trainers have taught the 70/30 split for years. The interviewer asks short questions and listens. The candidate talks. If you talk more than a third of the time, you leave the room knowing what you think, not what they can do.
Recruiters can use the same rule in two places: the candidate screen and the client intake call. The intake call is where it pays off most.
Apply it to the intake call
Most intake calls are backwards. The recruiter talks about the firm, the process and the fee. The client says "warehouse, nights, forklift, as soon as possible" and hangs up. The recruiter now has a job title and a guess.
Flip it. Ask five short questions and let the client talk.
- What would make this hire a mistake?
- Which three things are must-haves, not nice-to-haves?
- Who decides, and by when?
- Who did this job well before, and what made them good?
- What is the pay, the shift and the start date?
Ten minutes of listening gives you an order you can write down in five lines. That written order is what every submittal gets checked against.
What it means for the week
Here is the other 70/30 that matters on a desk: how the time is spent. Many recruiters spend about 5 percent of an order's time on intake and 95 percent on sourcing. Then they source for the wrong thing and do it twice.
A better shape is closer to 30 percent on taking the order and planning the search, and 70 percent on finding and checking people. Thirty minutes of intake and planning often saves a day of sourcing. The search is narrower, the submittals match, and fewer come back.
The other version, in one minute
The skills-and-fit version says: decide 70 percent on whether the person can do the job, shown by past work, and 30 percent on whether they will fit the team and the site. For a staffing desk, that is a useful reminder. Fit matters. But a friendly candidate without the current certification is still the wrong submittal.
Where M-Tracker fits
The 70/30 rule gives you a good order. The next problem is keeping every submittal honest to it. In M-Tracker, the written order is the brief, and each submittal is read against it before the client sees it. The ten minutes of listening at intake keep paying off on every candidate that follows.
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Questions people ask
Which 70/30 rule is the "real" one?
Neither. They are rules of thumb from different trainers. Pick one, say which one you mean, and use it the same way every time.
Does 70/30 apply to candidate screens too?
Yes. Ask what they did on a normal day and listen. You will hear whether the resume claims hold up.
What if the client will not give me ten minutes?
Ask the first question anyway: "What would make this hire a mistake?" One answer beats none.
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