There's something genuinely exciting about starting work on a new recruitment brief, even after decades in the industry. Every business is different, every role brings its own challenges, and the satisfaction of finding someone who can make a real difference is very rewarding, not to mention the genuine thrill of helping a candidate find their dream role.
But we're always surprised by how often a client makes the process much more complicated than it needs to be, with a laundry list of requirements as long as your arm! The perfect candidate must have X years of experience, a very specific industry background, a particular set of skills, the right personality, the ideal leadership style, and somehow fit within a salary that may not quite reflect everything being asked of them.
Sound familiar?
If you're struggling to find the right person, it might not be the candidates that are the problem. It might be the brief.
Of course, it's important to be clear about what you need, but there's a big difference between identifying the essential skills and experience and trying to find someone who ticks every conceivable box. The longer the list, the smaller the pool of potential candidates, and you could be ruling out some excellent people before you've even considered them.
Sometimes, the best candidate isn't the person whose CV matches your brief line by line. It's the person who brings the right combination of experience, commercial understanding, attitude and potential to do the job exceptionally well. So, before the search begins, ask yourself: what does this person genuinely need to bring to the role, and what would simply be nice to have?
It's easy to build a picture of the ideal candidate, but the salary, level of responsibility and expectations of the role all need to stack up. If you're looking for someone to lead a team, shape strategy and drive growth, you need to be realistic about what the market can offer at your proposed salary.
That doesn't necessarily mean increasing the budget. It might mean rethinking the level of experience required, prioritising the skills that matter most or considering someone whose career has taken a slightly different path. And don't overlook an older or more experienced candidate looking for a role they can boss in their sleep. They could be the hidden gem you didn't know you needed!
A CV can tell you a lot about someone's career, but it can't tell you everything. In FMCG, understanding the brand, the consumer, the commercial environment and the culture of a business can be just as important as having held a particular job title.
Someone who has delivered outstanding results in one organisation might not necessarily be the right fit for another. Equally, someone whose experience doesn't match every line of your brief might bring exactly the perspective, capabilities and motivation your business needs. Looking beyond the CV helps you understand what a candidate has actually achieved, what motivates them and what they could bring to your business.
When we take on a new brief at Tarsh & Partners, we're upfront about the market, the availability of talent in the location and whether the salary on offer is likely to attract the right people. If there's a mismatch, we'd much rather have that conversation at the beginning than discover it several weeks into the search.
There's another question we think clients should ask themselves: why would a great candidate want to join your business?
There's sometimes a tendency to assume that because a role is exciting from the client's perspective, candidates will automatically see it that way, too. But candidates have their own ambitions and priorities, and in a competitive market your opportunity is likely to be one of several they're considering.
It's important to be clear about what makes your business and the role stand out. What can you offer that another employer can't? What could the person achieve? Why should they choose you over a similar opportunity elsewhere? If we can't articulate those things clearly, persuading the best people to come on board becomes much harder.
Being realistic about the market also means being prepared to move when the right candidate comes along. The strongest candidates are often exploring more than one opportunity, and they won't necessarily wait around while a client takes their time deciding whether to meet them or holds out in the hope that someone even better might appear.
We understand that hiring decisions matter, and nobody wants to make the wrong choice. But there's a difference between being thorough and losing a very good candidate because you've been too cautious. We don't believe in producing long shortlists just for the sake of it, and our best clients understand that, too. If we present one or two strong candidates who genuinely fit the brief, there's no need to assume we're holding back the really good ones! Our job is to find the right people, not fill your diary with interviews.
The perfect candidate may be out there somewhere, but they're not much use to you if you lose the excellent one who's already sitting in front of you!
At Tarsh & Partners, we believe a good recruitment partnership is built on honest conversations, realistic expectations and trust. We'll give you our considered view, even when it's not necessarily what you were hoping to hear, because our aim isn't simply to get a brief signed off or send you a pile of CVs. It's to help you make the right hire.
Need a fresh perspective on your next recruitment brief?
At Tarsh & Partners, we help FMCG businesses challenge assumptions, get to the heart of what they really need and find the talent that can make a difference. Get in touch to discuss your next hire.
