In financial markets they talk about canny investors being “stock-pickers”, which refers to an ability to select ‘diamonds in the rough’; investments that will outperform over time.

Great recruiters are “talent-pickers”.

We would love to place every person who approaches us, or who we interview. But that is not going to happen.

In fact, spreading your talent activity too thin will dilute your ability to find people work. Candidate selection is key. Selecting the best ones will be an art, developing a relationship with them will be a skill that many of today’s transactional recruiters will find hard to adapt to.

We have to be nimble enough to understand the trends in clients’ needs and adjust our candidate activities to meet those needs. In fact, we need to predict impending client needs and source talent accordingly; ahead of time.

Then we need to assess which candidates are truly motivated to move. Finding someone a job is only half the battle. Getting them to accept it is the other half.

Winning clients is important, obviously. But as the market tightens, increasingly those recruiters who select committed, in-demand candidates to work with will emerge the winners.

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