Interim hiring is different. The expectations are sharper, the timelines are tighter, and the margin for error is smaller. You’re not hiring someone to “settle in” or slowly build influence. You’re hiring someone to step into a gap, solve a problem quickly, stabilise a situation, or create momentum when the business needs it most.
And yet, interim hiring is where many organisations become reactive. The brief is rushed, the shortlist is messy, interviews feel unstructured, and decisions are made under pressure rather than with clarity. That’s when interims generally underperform – not because they’re not equipped with the tools to make an impact, but because the process hasn’t set them up to succeed.
Hiring an interim properly is all about structure, pace, and precision. The best hires happen when the process is clean, deliberate, and easy for both sides. Here’s how high-performing businesses hire interims well – and how a defined approach gets it right first time.
Start With Clarity: Define the Problem, Not Just the Role
Most interim hires fail long before the interview stage. Not through a lack of candidates, but through a lack of clarity.
The biggest mistake businesses make is mis-scoping the role – and essentially not fully diagnosing the problem. A job description lists tasks. An interim brief defines outcomes. What exactly needs fixing? What isn’t working? What must happen in the first 30, 60, or 90 days? Where is the pressure coming from?
Interims are problem-solvers, not placeholders. They need to know:
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The commercial context
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The decisions they’ll be influencing
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The deliverables that matter most
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The pace and environment they’re stepping into
When that clarity is missing, organisations attract the wrong people – often excellent permanent candidates, but not the kind of interim operator who thrives in ambiguity and urgency. Strong interim hiring starts with an honest assessment of the challenge, not a generic list of responsibilities.
Understand What Interims Are Actually There to Do
Interims aren’t there to “cover” a role. They’re there to deliver outcomes that permanent hires often don’t have the headspace – or the mandate – to address quickly.
They bring:
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Pace
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Objectivity
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Experience of similar challenges
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High-impact delivery without political friction
Interims operate differently from permanent staff. They’re used to walking into messy situations, absorbing complexity quickly, and making decisions within days. They’re not there to build a career – they’re there to make an impact.
Misunderstanding that difference leads to mismatched expectations, slow decision-making, and frustration on both sides. When you hire an interim, you’re not hiring tenure. You’re hiring capability, clarity, and momentum.
Move Fast, But With Structure
Speed matters – but only when the process supporting it is tight.
The instinct in interim hiring is to move as quickly as possible. But fast without structure becomes frantic: too many CVs, too many conversations, and not enough alignment. A better approach is controlled pace: moving quickly because the brief is tight, the network is strong, and the shortlist is curated.
This is where the right recruiter makes all the difference. They’re not starting from scratch – they already know who can deliver in the environment, sector, and timescales you’re working within. A structured, time-bound process isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about removing noise.
Interim recruitment isn’t a numbers game. It’s a clarity game.
Curate, Don’t Collect: Build an Intentional Shortlist
Strong interim processes don’t involve sending ten CVs and hoping something sticks. Instead, they focus on building a shortlist with purpose – people who are credible, capable, and aligned with the defined outcomes.
A curated shortlist should reflect:
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Relevant delivery, not just relevant experience
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Ability to operate at pace
- Evidence of stepping into similar challenges
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Confidence and clarity in stakeholder-heavy situations
Before you meet anybody, you should already understand why each candidate is recommended. That context allows you to interview with intention, rather than spending the first half of the conversation working out what the candidate actually does.
A shortlist isn’t a menu. It’s a recommendation.
Interviews Should Confirm Fit, Not Create Confusion
Interim interviews aren’t about long-term leadership potential or hypothetical scenarios. They’re about validating whether someone can deliver exactly what your business needs, exactly when you need it.
Strong interim interviews focus on:
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Delivery style
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Speed of understanding
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Relevant achievements – recent and specific
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Stakeholder management under pressure
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How they navigate ambiguity
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What they will fix first, and why
When the brief is clear and the shortlist is curated, interviews become straightforward: a conversation about approach, impact, and fit. When the process is muddled, interviews become a guessing game – and you lose valuable time.
Set Interims Up to Succeed From Day One
Hiring the right interim is only half the equation. The impact they deliver hinges on the environment they walk into – the access they’re given, the clarity around expectations, and the way the business chooses to support them. Even the most capable interim will struggle if they enter a culture that treats them as a temporary fix rather than a critical partner.
The businesses that get this right understand that interims need two things above all: a clear runway and the right conditions to use it. That starts well before their first day. Competitive compensation signals that the business values the calibre of professional it wants to attract – and it ensures you’re choosing from the best talent, not the remaining talent. When organisations align scope, expectations, and budget upfront, they avoid the mismatch that often leads to hiring someone who simply isn’t equipped to deliver the level of impact the role demands.
But capability alone isn’t enough. Interims also need cultural access. They need to be treated as part of the team from the moment they arrive, not as detached observers or temporary outsiders. When they’re given context, trusted with information, and introduced to the people who shape decisions, they get up to speed quickly. When they’re kept at arm’s length, forced to navigate politics without guidance, or left to piece together priorities themselves, their impact is delayed – and sometimes completely lost.
Supporting an interim isn’t about hand-holding. It’s about clearing the obstacles that slow them down. The organisations that consistently get strong results from interims are the ones that bring them in properly: with clarity, with intention, and with the cultural openness that allows them to deliver real change.
Rule of thumb: A good interim process shouldn’t stop once the offer is made. It should carry through to the moment they walk in the door – and the moment they walk out when the project is complete.
Final Thought
Hiring an interim properly isn’t about luck or speed – it’s about clarity, structure, and intention. When businesses diagnose the problem, understand the role of an interim, curate their shortlist accurately, and move with disciplined pace, they get hires who deliver genuine impact, not just short-term cover.
At We Do Group, we specialise in interim finance appointments that work first time. Our structured approach, deep interim network, and focus on outcomes mean our clients get the right hire quickly – without the noise, guesswork, or wasted time.
If you’re thinking about bringing in an interim, or want a cleaner, more effective process, we’re here to help.
