Finding Hidden Talent

One of the most difficult challenges recruiters face is competition. Company recruiters, private recruiting firms, universities, government, and side-hustle opportunities create an endless competition for top talent. Luckily, there’s help finding hidden talent in a competitive workforce market. Phyllis Furman from LinkedIn’s Talent Blog offers pro tips for finding hidden talent – highlights below.

Look Beyond Yale Blue and Harvard Crimson

It’s easy to believe that top schools attract top talent. But plenty of degreed derelicts share last names with collegiate libraries. Adds Furman, “Many high achievers, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, attend less prestigious universities for reasons having nothing to do with ability,” writes Lauren Rivera, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in the Harvard Business Review.”

Skill-Focused Searches

How do you ensure the cream rises to the top if you deactivate the ‘school filter’ on your candidate search? When you open your acceptance of searching for transferrable skills, your candidate options improve, suggests Furman. “Another way to find hidden talent is by being open to hiring candidates with transferable skills — skills that are not tied to a particular industry — such as adaptability, communications, and problem-solving. Someone with customer service experience who is good at listening to customers, for example, might make a fit for a client-facing position in another industry. A LinkedIn survey predicts that recruiters will increasingly prioritize job applicants’ transferable skills over their technical capacity to do specific tasks.”

The Only Way is Up if You Start at the Bottom

Adopting an unorthodox review of your candidate search results can yield unexpected rewards. Furman advises, “It’s no secret that recruiters look at the top of search results when sourcing candidates online. The problem is you and everyone else have put in similar keywords and are therefore getting similar results. Sourcing guru Glen Cathey recommends starting at the bottom of search results. Being a contrarian may lead you to strong candidates that competing recruiters have ignored. ‘If you’re not getting to the bottom,’ Glen says, ‘then you’re actually not looking at some of the best candidates.”

Finding hidden talent is easy when you search in the right place. Once you stop searching how everyone else is, you will likely find the candidates you are looking for.

Trent Lyons is a Technical Recruitment Lead at Business Centric Technology. If you are interested in learning more about how to get the best IT talent in the Dallas metroplex, contact Trent, who specializes in recruiting IT talent in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and North Texas. If you are looking for a rewarding career, contact us today.