In my work, organizations often come to me with the same concern:
“We can’t find the right person.”
The first instinct is to look at the market. Candidates are scarce. The people with the right experience are already employed. Salary expectations have risen.
Sometimes, that is true.
But before starting a search, I like to ask another question:
Does your role appeal to the talent you want to attract?
Finding the right person is only part of the job.
That person also needs a good reason to consider your opportunity.
My work begins before the search
When I take on a search assignment, I don’t start by looking for candidates.
I start by understanding the role.
Why does this position exist? What do you really expect from this person? What problem will they need to solve? How much influence will they have within the organization?
I also look at market conditions.
Are the skills you need hard to find? Where can we find people with that experience? What compensation could they earn elsewhere? What are other employers offering them?
And sometimes, this is where the conversation with the client becomes more difficult.
I may have to say:
“There are people who fit what you’re looking for, but what you’re offering may not be enough to attract them.”
That is not always what an employer wants to hear.
But it is part of my role.
The people you want to attract are often already in a good position
When you are looking for specialists or high performers, you are generally not approaching someone who urgently needs a new job.
They are already working.
Their employer often values them. They know their worth. And they know they have options.
So they will look at your opportunity differently.
They will consider more than salary.
They will look at the organizational culture, what they would be expected to accomplish, their responsibilities, the impact they could have, their decision-making authority, opportunities for growth, the work environment and what a move would really offer them.
Their question is not:
“Is this an interesting role?”
It is:
“Is this opportunity appealing enough for me to leave what I already have?”
That distinction matters.
The market gives us feedback, too
In some searches, we approach strong candidates and keep hearing the same feedback.
The work does not appeal to them.
The compensation does not meet their expectations.
The responsibilities are not clear enough.
Or the move simply does not offer a meaningful step forward in their career.
At that point, continuing to look for more candidates is not necessarily the answer.
We need to listen to what the market is telling us.
That is part of my job, too.
My role goes beyond presenting résumés.
I need to be able to go back to my client and explain what I am hearing from candidates.
Sometimes, the compensation needs to change.
Sometimes, certain expectations need to be reconsidered.
Sometimes, we need to clarify what the person will be expected to accomplish or better define what makes the opportunity appealing.
And sometimes, we simply discover that people with the required combination of skills and experience are much harder to find than the organization expected.
A sound search starts with realistic expectations
I believe a professional recruiter should not create false hope.
If I think a search will be very difficult to complete under the proposed terms, it is my job to say so.
I would rather have that conversation at the outset than after several weeks of searching.
Strategic recruitment does not begin with:
“Where will we find this person?”
It begins with another question:
“Once we find them, what will make them want to hear us out?”
An honest answer to that question often helps lay the groundwork for a successful search.
This is also a significant part of the value a recruiter brings:
understanding the market, listening to its feedback and helping the employer present an opportunity that is both realistic and appealing.
Ultimately, the organization does not get to decide whether its role is attractive.
The people it hopes to attract do.
What if the challenge goes beyond finding the right talent?
Before launching a search, it can help to take a step back and review the role, your expectations and market conditions.
At Mes Partenaires RH, our approach to talent search starts with that assessment: understanding your needs, assessing the role against market conditions and helping make the opportunity appealing to the right people.