Building a candidate pipeline before the vacancy exists

7 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Introduction

A client calls at ten in the morning with a role they need filled. Three agencies have the same brief. The first submits two strong candidates by four that afternoon; the others begin advertising and searching, and submit in a week.

The first agency did not work faster. It already knew four people in that discipline who were open to a move, because it had spoken to them over the preceding months about nothing in particular. Speed of submission decides a large share of placements, and speed is entirely a function of work done before the brief existed.

1. Building a candidate pipeline before the vacancy is what produces speed

Understand where placements are actually won.

Being first with a credible shortlist wins work that better sourcing later cannot recover. Once a client has interviewed two suitable people, everything submitted afterwards is competing against candidates already in process.

2. Choose a defined market and work it repeatedly

Depth is what makes a pipeline possible.

A specific discipline, level and geography contains a knowable number of people. Trying to maintain a pipeline across everything produces a list that is shallow everywhere and useful nowhere, which is the usual outcome of a generalist desk.

3. Talk to people who are not looking

The counterintuitive core of the work.

The strongest candidates are usually employed and not applying. Conversations with them, months before anything is available, are what mean you can call somebody with a specific role rather than approaching a stranger cold.

4. Record what actually matters

Names alone are not a pipeline.

What they do, what they earn, what would move them, notice period, location constraints and when they last considered a change. This is what allows you to filter a list in ten minutes when a brief arrives, which is the entire point.

5. Keep in touch on a schedule

Data decays quickly in this market.

People move, get promoted, change what they want and become unavailable. A cycle of contact every few months keeps the information current, and it is the difference between a pipeline and a list of people you spoke to once.

6. Give people a reason to take your call

Value before the ask.

Salary information, what is happening in their market, who is hiring, and honest advice about their options. Candidates take calls from recruiters who have been useful to them and ignore the ones who only appear when they need something.

7. Work the people you did not place

An overlooked source of depth.

Candidates who reached final interview and were not selected are qualified, known and frequently still open. They are the fastest submissions available and most agencies lose contact with them within a fortnight of the rejection.

8. Use referrals from every conversation

The compounding mechanism.

Asking each person who else is good in their field, at the end of a genuine conversation, builds depth faster than any sourcing tool. People in specialist markets know each other, and the recommendation carries weight when you make contact.

9. Measure the pipeline, not just the placements

The leading indicator.

How many current, contactable, qualified people you have in each part of your market. That number predicts next quarter's revenue considerably better than this quarter's billings do, and almost no desk tracks it.

Keep the data properly, because it is regulated. Candidate information is personal data with obligations about consent, retention and access in most jurisdictions, and a pipeline built without regard to that is a liability sitting alongside the asset.

Conclusion

Do the work before the brief arrives, because speed of submission decides most competitive placements.

Define a market narrow enough to know properly, talk to people who are not currently looking, record what would actually move them rather than only their details, contact people on a regular cycle because the information decays, be useful to candidates before you need something, stay in touch with those you did not place, ask everybody for referrals, measure the size and freshness of the pipeline as a leading indicator, and handle candidate data in line with your obligations.