Things I've learned about recruiting for ‘hard to fill’ roles
The roles I remember aren't the easy ones. They're the ones that have been open for months. The ones where people have started saying, "There's no one out there." Or where everyone is working from a brief that doesn't quite seem to be getting the right response.
Over the years, I've found three things make the biggest difference:
You may have found the right candidate - but have you given them a reason to choose you?
An interview is not one-directional. You're assessing capability and fit, while the candidate is deciding whether this business is right for them.
A career move is a significant decision. If you believe someone is a strong fit, you need to bring the opportunity to life, not just describe the role.
The person you want to hire might never apply for your job
Not because they're not interested in moving.
• They might not see your advert
• They might see the role but decide it's not quite right for them based on the advert alone
• They might see that your advert has already attracted
The counter-offer trap
You've found the right person. Weeks of searching. A strong process. A good offer. They accept.
Then they hand in their notice, and their current employer makes a counter-offer. More money. A promotion. A promise that things are about to change.
And suddenly, the person who was excited about joining you isn't quite so sure.
The problem isn't always a lack of candidates. Sometimes it's too many.
The volume of applications companies can receive for some roles has changed significantly.
It wasn't that long ago that receiving 100 applications for a vacancy felt like a lot. Now, some roles are attracting 100+ applications within hours, with application numbers sometimes reaching 400 - 500.
What if the person you're interviewing remotely isn't actually the candidate?
It sounds far fetched, but deepfake technology is a real concern in recruitment.
According to data from First Advantage (Jan 2026 blog), 69% of UK hiring leaders cite AI-enabled impersonation and deepfake technologies as the most sophisticated emerging threat to recruitment integrity.
AI can make your CV sound impressive, but can you back it up?
AI has made it easy to produce a polished CV. Paste in the job description, upload your CV and, in seconds, you have something using the right language and keywords.
I understand why people do it.
But a polished CV and a clear picture of what someone has actually done are not the same thing.