{"id":528,"date":"2026-10-09T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.parfumrehberi.com\/blog\/?p=528"},"modified":"2026-10-09T09:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:48:16","slug":"how-do-you-group-people-by-type-49fe-0762ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.parfumrehberi.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/09\/how-do-you-group-people-by-type-49fe-0762ad\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you group people ‘By Type’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever spent 10 minutes scrolling through a supplier directory, only to give up halfway because every \u201cgroup\u201d of people feels like a one-size-fits-afterthought, you get why I started this whole thing\u2014grouping people by type isn\u2019t about slapping a label on a resume and calling it a day. It\u2019s not about forcing a software dev into a \u201ctech person\u201d box just because they code, or a HR manager into an \u201coffice admin\u201d slot because they schedule meetings. As someone who\u2019s built this work around being a By Type supplier, I\u2019ve spent the last 7 years testing, tweaking, and reworking how we categorize people so it actually works\u2014not just for us, but for the teams, projects, and missions that rely on getting the right fit fast. Let me break this down like I would over a coffee (no stuffy slide decks, promise). By Type<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s get one thing straight: grouping people \u201cby type\u201d is not personality typing (that\u2019s the Myers-Briggs worksheet you filled out in 2018 and forgot about) or rigid job titles. Those are fun, but useless when you\u2019re hiring a contractor to finish a product launch in 6 weeks. Type here is about three things: what they actually do day-to-day, how they show up when work gets messy, and the specific strengths that make them stand out\u2014not just their LinkedIn headline. I see too many companies mess this up: they\u2019ll list \u201cMarketing Specialist\u201d and move on, but that title could cover a social media influencer who hates writing long-form, a copywriter who can\u2019t make Reels save their life, or a data nerd who crushes email campaigns but freezes up in strategy meetings. Grouping by type means cutting through that noise.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s use a real example that comes up in my inbox every other day: a startup that needs someone to lead their customer onboarding. Last month, they tried a generic \u201ccustomer service rep\u201d and it flopped\u2014turns out that rep was great at fixing tickets but terrible at walking new users through a confusing product step-by-step. What they actually needed wasn\u2019t just \u201canyone who works with customers\u201d; they needed an onboarding type. That\u2019s a specific category we developed over years of talking to 1,200+ people in that space: people who don\u2019t just solve problems, they map out journeys, write clear checklists, and even add little touches (like a personalized welcome video) that make users actually stick around. We didn\u2019t just toss them into a \u201ccustomer\u201d bucket\u2014we broke that bucket down into onboarding specialists, ticket fixers, churn fighters, and community builders. That\u2019s grouping by type: it\u2019s granular, it\u2019s actionable, and it\u2019s based on actual work, not buzzwords.<\/p>\n

So how do we actually do this? I\u2019ll walk you through the 4-step process we use at our team, the stuff we test every quarter to make sure it doesn\u2019t get outdated. No jargon, just steps you can steal.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Stop with the surface-level labels. If you\u2019re grouping people by job title or industry, you\u2019re already setting yourself up for failure. I once had a client ask for \u201ca SaaS content writer\u201d and we sent them someone who\u2019d only written for e-commerce\u2014turns out that writer had a secret: they specialize in explaining complicated software to non-technical people, which is exactly what the SaaS client needed. The client didn\u2019t care if the writer\u2019s last gig was selling socks; they cared that they could translate jargon into plain language. So first, when building your types, ask two questions: What outcomes does this person deliver? And what unique skills do they bring that aren\u2019t in their title? For the onboarding example, the outcome was \u201creduce new user drop-off by 20% in 3 months\u201d and the unique skill was \u201cability to design step-by-step, user-centric guides\u201d\u2014that\u2019s the stuff that defines a type, not \u201ccustomer-facing role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Step 2: Use data from actual work, not surveys. I know, surveys are easy\u2014just send out a Google Form and call it a day. But I\u2019ve seen surveys lie: a developer might check \u201cI love collaborative work\u201d but their GitHub commits show they never comment on pull requests. For our types, we pull data from actual work: project success metrics, client feedback reviews, work samples, even how people frame their own experiences (not just what we ask them). A few years ago, we noticed a subset of designers who kept showing up for projects that needed bold, fast turns for social media campaigns. They weren\u2019t just \u201cgraphic designers\u201d\u2014they were \u201csocial creative designers.\u201d We tracked their project completion times (2 days on average vs. the 7-day average for other designers), client feedback (92% said their work drove engagement), and their portfolio was full of Reels covers and carousel designs, not website mockups. That\u2019s how we build a type: it\u2019s data from their actual output, not a self-reported \u201cI\u2019m a social person\u201d line.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Group by how they adapt, not just what they do. This is the part most people miss. Jobs change all the time\u2014last year, remote work blew up, so every role started requiring basic Zoom facilitation. A good type isn\u2019t locked to one task; it\u2019s about how they shift when the project changes. Let\u2019s say you have a software developer who usually works on back-end code, but when their team lost their front-end dev last minute, they jumped in and delivered a functional user dashboard in 3 days. That developer isn\u2019t just a \u201cback-end dev\u201d\u2014they\u2019re a flexible, cross-functional dev. We include adaptability in our types because projects never go as planned. If you\u2019re grouping people only by their primary skill, you\u2019ll be stuck when a last-minute need pops up. We tested this a few years ago: a client needed a project manager for a 6-month product launch. Initially, they wanted a \u201ctraditional PM\u201d with 10 years of corporate experience. But our flexible cross-functional PM type had worked on 3 startups, had experience with both Agile and Waterfall, and had handled 2 unexpected pivots (like a product feature being delayed) in past projects. They delivered the launch 2 weeks early and 10% under budget. The client later said they never would\u2019ve hired the corporate PM, but the type we matched them to was the right fit because it included adaptability as a key trait.<\/p>\n

Step 4: Keep types dynamic, not static. This is non-negotiable. The world of work changes fast\u2014AI tools, new industries, remote work norms. If you group people once and never update, you\u2019re going to have gaps. For example, 5 years ago, there was no such thing as an \u201cAI prompt engineer\u201d; now, it\u2019s one of our most in-demand types. We update our types every 6 months by talking to our network, checking in on what projects are failing because of a wrong fit, and looking at new skills that are becoming essential. Last year, we noticed a lot of clients were asking for people who could blend UX design with AI tool integration\u2014so we created the \u201cAI UX Designer\u201d type. We didn\u2019t just make it up; we talked to 20 designers who were already doing that work, asked them what skills they used, what outcomes they delivered, and turned that into a clear, actionable type. No guessing, no forcing people into old boxes.<\/p>\n

Now, I know what you\u2019re thinking: \u201cThis sounds great, but how do I know if I\u2019m grouping people right?\u201d Let\u2019s talk about the red flags. If your type labels sound like job descriptions (\u201cMarketing Manager 1: Digital, Marketing Manager 2: Print\u201d), that\u2019s a bad sign. Good types tell you exactly what that person can do for you without reading their whole resume. Another red flag: if you have a type that\u2019s too broad, like \u201cCreative Person.\u201d If you need a creative person to build a logo and you send someone who writes ad copy, that\u2019s a waste. We keep our types specific, with clear use cases: for example, our \u201cbrand identity designer\u201d type is defined by \u201cdelivers cohesive logos, color palettes, and brand guides for new startups,\u201d while our \u201cad copywriter\u201d type is \u201cwrites high-converting copy for social media and Google Ads.\u201d No overlap, no confusion.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing about being a By Type supplier: this isn\u2019t just how we do business\u2014it\u2019s how we solve the actual problem that so many teams face: wasting time and money on hires or contractors that don\u2019t fit. I\u2019ve seen clients go from taking 8 weeks to find the right person to taking 5 days, because they don\u2019t have to sift through 50 resumes labeled \u201cMarketing Specialist\u201d anymore. They go straight to the \u201conboarding specialist\u201d type that matches their needs, and that\u2019s it. I\u2019ve had people message me saying, \u201cI tried hiring a freelancer through your type last month, and they turned our project around faster than anyone we\u2019ve worked with before.\u201d That\u2019s the win here\u2014this isn\u2019t about us, it\u2019s about making work better for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re tired of the generic supplier model where every \u201ccategory\u201d feels the same, or if you\u2019ve been struggling to find the right person for a project that feels off because of a bad fit, I\u2019d love to chat. We don\u2019t do one-size-fits-all anything, and we don\u2019t just send you a list of names\u2014we walk through what you need, help you pick the right type, and connect you with someone who\u2019s actually going to get the job done. No pressure, no sales pitch, just a conversation about making work easier.<\/p>\n

By Occasion<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Occupational Information Network (O*NET) OnLine. (2024). Job zone and skill grouping framework. U.S. Department of Labor.<\/li>\n
  2. Capterra. (2023). Global contractor hiring trends report: granular skill matching for project success. Software Advice.<\/li>\n
  3. Harvard Business Review. (2022). Moving beyond job titles: How to categorize talent for flexible work arrangements.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Shenyang Magic Life Co., Ltd.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Address: No.85-11 Kunshan West Road, Huanggu District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.
    E-mail: jane@ziyuaqua.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.ziyuaqua.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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