I took a brief on Friday, and finished around 20 hours of sourcing yesterday evening. The vacancy has been live since March with no candidates in view.

First CV already submitted and invited to interview.

Three candidates considering the opportunity, who all appear good fits.

Eight potential candidates to speak to this morning.

What's the disconnect and is it really that easy?

Firstly I work outside-in (candidate first) rather than inside-out (company first). While that might seem contrary - it is always the best way to fill a vacancy and serves the employer most. I expect less than 5% of hiring process work this way, if I'm generous.

Secondly the briefing process checks for blind spots by establishing what the realistic needs are and what good looks like in a candidate. This is often fundamentally different to how an employer describes it.

That insight allows wider access to potential candidates, looking in places an employer might not think of and won't have access to. It allows allows engaging messaging that appeals to the right people.

Thirdly I've a 20 year career in recruitment, am always learning and improving process. That helps.

While I can't guarantee this role will be filled from this initial shortlist (and I'll keep going til the job is done), experience says it's a likely outcome - 100% likely looking back over the past 3.5 years.

I'm waiting on sign-off for three retained vacancies this week - my commitment is to complete shortlisting within 4 weeks of instruction, but as you can see it can be a lot quicker.

Until they've instructed me, I'm free to start two new projects.

If you have a pickle of a vacancy, you're in the UK and are a decent employer, we can talk.

#BirchamWyattRecruitment

If you're interested in outside-in recruitment, I talk about it more in today's newsletter:

https://lnkd.in/eT2-c7sB