Recruitment is all about a brief moment in time. 2 weeks before the job was advertised a better candidate may have been available but isn’t now. 2 weeks after the job is filled a better candidate may come onto the market but it’s too late. We cannot change the fleeting nature of the moment but we can make sure that we get the most out of it at the time.

So when the hunt’s on do you choose Sniffer dogs or an Eagle?

The traditional method is the Sniffer dog approach: highly tuned and effective but it takes time, has limited range and is labour intensive. You’ll only ever get a ground-level view of the market.

What we need is an alternative recruitment method that is: faster, leaner and covers more candidate ground and to get that you need an eagle’s view of the market.

To simulate this aerial perspective you need to gather information quickly from multiple recruiters to produce a market-wide map of available matching candidates. This perspective enables employers to quickly hone in on target candidates and to then deal with local recruiters on the ground to ensure safe delivery.

Our suggestion is that you choose the method that best suits the role you’re hiring for. If the target market is small and well-defined use the dogs. If you need the aerial perspective use the eagle.