Define the role before the rate.
A job description lists tasks. A CV lists jobs. Neither tells you whether the two fit. KYR and KYC put a role and a person into the same four boxes, so they can be laid side by side and read in about an hour.
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KYR is Know Your Role. KYC is Know Your Candidate. Both describe one side of a hiring match in the same classical SWOT grid — four boxes, four ranked points each — so a candidate and a role become comparable. A third sheet, the Fit, reads the two grids against each other.
You can build both from two documents you already have: a job description and a CV.
The same four boxes, filled from two sides
| Box | KYR — the role | KYC — the person |
|---|---|---|
| S · Strengths | What the company brings | What I bring, with proof |
| W · Weaknesses | The gap the hire must fill | Where I am still growing |
| O · Opportunities | What the role offers | Where I create most value |
| T · Threats | What makes it hard | What would make a role fail |
Build the KYR from a job description
- Find the reason. Why does this role exist now — a deadline, a failed project, growth? One sentence.
- Read for problems, not tasks. Behind every task line sits a problem. "Harmonise 14 company codes" means the processes differ today. Problems go to W.
- Sort every line into a box. Sponsor, budget, team and assets go to S. Scope, reporting line, pay and growth go to O. Deadlines, travel and dependencies go to T.
- Keep four per box, ranked. Merge duplicates. Drop boilerplate such as "dynamic team" and long module lists.
- Test the must-haves. Keep only what you would reject a strong candidate for. Everything else is an advantage.
- Note the silences. What the description does not say — pay, decision rights, real travel — becomes a question for the first call.
Build the KYC from a CV
- Pull out decision stories. Three to seven moments where you decided something and it changed a result. Each needs a number.
- Strengths: what you know, what you can do as verbs, and whom you serve best. Each point carries its proof.
- Weaknesses: the honest gaps your next role should close. Growth steps, not apologies.
- Opportunities: where market demand meets your strengths, plus the level, pay and place you want.
- Threats: what would make a role fail for you, and what you need instead. These are your deal-breakers.
- Purpose: one sentence on what you want your work to change. Sign it off yourself.
Three rules that make the grids comparable
- Four per box, ranked. Most important first. The ranking is what makes two grids comparable at all.
- Proof for every point. A project, a number or a named result. No proof, no point.
- The same words on both sides. Write the KYC in the role's language, not in module codes.
Reading the fit: four crossings
Lay the two grids side by side. Each crossing asks one question, and each line gets one of three marks: Match, Partial or To clarify.
| Crossing | The question it asks | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Role W × candidate S | Can the candidate fill the gap the role exists for? | Decides whether a conversation is worth having at all |
| Must-haves × evidence | Does every must-have have proof in the KYC? | A must-have without proof is "to clarify", not a rejection — CVs leave the best evidence out |
| Role O × candidate W and O | Does the offer grow the candidate? | A role that closes a gap keeps someone longer than one they have already done twice |
| Role T × candidate T | Do the role's hard parts hit a deal-breaker? | Travel, pace, decision rights, team setup. One confirmed deal-breaker ends the match |
Then reach a verdict. Count the marks: many matches in the first two crossings mean the candidate can do the job. Read the partials — partials in crossing three are good news, because they show where the person will grow. And turn every "to clarify" into a question for the first call, in the order that could end the match soonest.
How each side uses it
- Candidates: build the KYR from the job ad before you apply, then send your KYC and the fit instead of a cover letter.
- Employers: write the KYR before the job ad. If the W box is hard to fill in, the role is not clear yet.
- Recruiters: present candidates as KYC plus fit, so the hiring manager sees proof rather than adjectives.
The worked example
The guide ends with one invented case carried all the way through: a job description for an SAP S/4HANA finance transformation lead, a CV, the KYR and KYC built from each, and the fit between them — seven matches, three partials and three questions for the first call. The job description and the candidate are both fictional.
Where this sits
KYR and KYC are how the sapperment Talent Network describes roles and people: honest mandates on one side, evidence on the other. The framework runs through The Talent Brief, our monthly brief on the SAP talent market — subscribe here.
Negotiating the package rather than the fit? That is a different question, and it has its own page: Know your worth. Interview ahead of you? Interview coaching.
The grid is a classical SWOT. Its question set draws on the Flower exercise by Richard N. Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute? (Ten Speed Press). The framework, the SAP content and all examples are sapperment's own; every example is fictional. SAP is a trademark of SAP SE.