04/05/2026
What actually happens when a client asks us to find someone for their team?
The first place we look isn’t LinkedIn. It’s our own network - People we’ve met, placed, and tracked over many years in region - in some cases, 15–20 year relationships. We know where they started, how they’ve grown, how they operate – people we have mutual trust in.
These networks that our recruiters operate in, have taken literally years and years to build, which is not something that many people may overlook.
Next - We’ll usually run a LinkedIn advert, mainly to see who else is out there. Realistically, LinkedIn is noisy and can be a headache. A lot of people apply for everything and anything, whether they meet the brief or not, so there’s a slim chance we will find the ‘selected candidate’ via a LinkedIn job application.
Unfortunately the part that candidates often misunderstand is that we’re not paid to find a job for the candidate. We’re paid by the client to find the right person. If a role has clear “must-haves” and you don’t meet them, you’re simply not the best fit.
There are also hidden ‘blocks’ happening in the background that candidates don’t see. In this region, sometimes it’s nationality quotas or government restrictions. It means even strong profiles don’t always progress, and it’s not something we can change or even post about in the job advert.
We’re also simultaneously headhunting specific individuals often working for our client’s competitors, usually high performers who aren’t actively job hunting. Instead of waiting for applications, we go directly to the market, identify the right profiles, and approach them discreetly.
Once we’ve combined any potential candidates from our existing networks, headhunting and job applications (our ‘long list’), we then start our more detailed calls, meetings / interviews. Digging deeper to understand whether their experience is right for this particular role, understanding motivations, team / culture fit.
From there, we narrow it down to a shortlist of just 3 to 5 people who we believe our clients could hire any of them.
Before they meet the client, we prep them on another call. How the hiring manager thinks, how they interview, what they’ll focus on. Small details that make a big difference.
End result: a process that’s a lot more considered than most people realise.
