Question: “Somer, We posted an ad and our recruiting team is out there looking, but we keep seeing the wrong people. We’re not ready to use a search firm. Any advice?”
(I asked some questions to understand exactly what they’ve been doing.)
Answer:
Let me share some behind the scenes of what I do, and maybe it’ll be helpful to you.
Stop looking for titles. That’s throwing darts and no fun. Just go onto Google and type in any title after site:linkedin.com/in <title here> and see how many results you get! Titles are so ambiguous!
Let’s approach this as a treasure hunt.
We’re not looking for titles.
We’re not even first looking for people.
First look for companies.
Who has already been on your journey? Make a list of 30 companies. This is your starting point.
Who do you know at these companies? Call them. Tell them about your role. Learn about their company. Ask if they know anyone.
Have your team research the closest person at each company and reach out to them. Have a conversation vs throw a dart.
And when you get stuck, go back to that company list. Refine and add.
I could write more but there’s a character limit. Keep going. You’ll find the person!
PS: This is not about attracting; this is about finding. Two different things. That's another post.
See the conversation on LinkedIn here.