Your Construct of "Talent" Is (Far Too) Restrictive...

If you are like most recruiters, you probably spend a (large?) part of your time complaining - or even lamenting - about the lack of talent in certain jobs and/or certain sectors... #TooSad

"I can't take it anymore! Where are all the good candidates hiding... Seriously?! 🤯🔥"

At the same time, most recruitment processes leave an incalculable number of potential talents on the sidelines! Essentially, this includes practically everyone who doesn't match 100% with the hyper-restrictive job description or the prototypical representation of the ideal candidate*. For example, did you know that "Mohammed" had to send an average of 20 resumes to get an interview while "Michael" only needed 5 (and 4 for "Nathalie") to get an appointment with a recruiter? *** Yours or that of the manager you are recruiting for... ** Study by the Montaigne Institute (October 2015)

Why does this happen?

The problem is that many recruitment teams continue to behave the way "Major" record labels did in the '80s and '90s (the pre-internet era). Back then, the music you had access to was limited to what the majors considered "worthy of being signed"! As a result, the range of songs you heard on the radio was EXTREMELY limited, all lazily broadcast from the Top 100 and other incredibly conservative charts... Of course, fans of more underground music could spend their time searching for the few songs that were out of the ordinary... provided, however, they knew precisely which stores would carry them! And what was happening to the tens of thousands of artists whose demos hadn't caught the attention of the major labels? Well, pretty much the same thing as in the literary publishing field... their works never truly saw the light of day! Classified as "alternative," these records or books found themselves buried in niche categories... with no chance of reaching their potential audience!

And then out of nowhere: 💥BOOOOOM💥 The Internet changed everything! ✨🚀✨

From Napster to MySpace to YouTube to TikTok, technological advances have revolutionized the music industry. Today, practically anyone can make their music accessible to the rest of the world. And the World can choose - each on their own - what they want to listen to and discover! And fortunately, it is no longer up to the few selected producers and the few major labels to dictate what the public should listen to. Similarly, when it comes to recruitment, it is not keyword searches, targeted schools, obtained degrees, or any other restrictive practice that should dictate who is suitable (or not) for open positions at your (or any) company...

From "Perfect Match" to "High Potential"!

Despite the technological advances that have transformed the recruitment landscape in recent years, most companies continue to rely heavily on (pre)selection criteria from another era: "I want a Russell Group/Ivy League graduate," "Must have a Master's degree," "Minimum 3 years of experience or no chance!"...Result: prolonged recruitment delays, the frustration of operational managers who can't find "good profiles," candidates struggling to find a job... Clearly, this way of doing things no longer works. #GameOverBonus: 46% of candidates recruited using this "classic" approach are fired or resign after just 18 months. And in 89% of cases, it has nothing to do with the candidates' technical skills, the schools they attended, or their previous experiences!

How to recruit more diverse profiles.

#1 - Recruit based on (real) skills, abilities, and potential!The fact that candidates have the "right background" is NOT an essential condition for success... and in no way guarantees their integration and development - in your company - especially in the long term.#2 - Broaden your perspectives... and your sourcing channels.Take time to look for new schools (and not just the Top 10), dedicate time (or someone on your team) to this! If you don't... nothing new will happen.#3 - Use the right tools.If you want to select your talent based on the right criteria (potential), continuing to base your choices on resume keyword scores won't get you anywhere. Equip yourself with solutions to analyze personality, motivations, or cognitive abilities of your candidates. Try predictive recruitment!#4 - Be open to new and unknown profiles, representative of the society in which we all live!People with disabilities, from various backgrounds, promote gender and age representation within your teams... without particular preconceptions. Obviously, to achieve such a result, the greatest obstacle to overcome will undoubtedly be shifting the overall mindset from an intellectual standpoint... Because good news! The characteristics that represent potential are extremely well distributed and evenly spread across all segments of the population.What if the only thing to do to start finding more "good candidates" was simply to change your perspective on what defines "talent"?