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:

1. The brief often needs another look

Job descriptions can be generic. They don't always reflect the skills already in the team, the gap you actually need to fill, or what would genuinely make someone successful in the role.

I've found that stuck roles often start moving once you talk the brief through thoroughly with the hiring manager, rather than simply sourcing harder against the same job description.

2. "There's no one out there" usually isn't quite true

It often means the usual search routes have been exhausted. The right people may be out there, just not actively applying or sitting in the same places everyone else has been looking.

3. Recruiting is two relationships, not one

The relationship with the hiring manager matters just as much as the relationship with the candidate. The hardest roles I've worked on have often been unblocked by understanding both sides properly: what the business genuinely needs and what would make the right candidate interested. Then finding a way to bring the two together.

The stuck roles are still the ones I find most interesting. They're where the actual work is.

If you have a role that's been open longer than you'd hoped, I'd be interested to know what's proving difficult.

And if you'd like a second pair of eyes on the brief or a conversation about where the search might go next, feel free to message me.

Which part of a hard to fill role do you find most frustrating: getting the brief right, finding the right people, or getting them interested?