Employers Hub | Best practices for planning a candidate search

Table of Contents
    Add a header to begin generating the table of contents

    Step three of the four-step process follows on from taking a detailed job brief and then building out a profile that matches the role. Once we’ve covered these two parts of the process, it’s time to use our market knowledge to map out where we are most likely to find the right person. For example, what type of role are they likely to be in, and where they are likely to work.

    Of course, we might already have a strong relationship with the right person who could be sitting in our database or talking with us right now; but we never leave things to chance and always cover all the bases and spread the net as wide as possible.

    Some of the things that I want to figure out are;

    1. What are the raw materials/contact list/vertical experience that this person must possess to succeed in this role? The answer to this question informs the other four points below.
    2. Where should we be looking to headhunt? In other words, where will we find people that will look at this opportunity as a step up in their career while also possessing the right background for the role?
    3. What job titles will be relevant? Job titles can be misleading in the world of tech sales, but broadly speaking, we will plan the search around what type of role this person has now or might have had in the past.
    4. What businesses train well and retain badly? See point one.
    5. Who should we avoid and why? 

    As Benjamin Franklin said – “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail.”

    This has never been more true than in today’s highly competitive war for talent, and with Pulse, you will have a partner that leaves nothing to chance.

     

    BUILD YOUR TEAM WITH ELITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

    Benefit from Pulse Recruitment’s expertise in IT, sales, and marketing recruitment to secure the finest professionals in APAC and the US. Discover the difference and start your journey by submitting your job vacancy!

    FROM OUR PULSE NEWS, EMPLOYER AND JOB SEEKER HUBS

    Featured Articles

    3 GTM Roles Experiencing 30% Salary Surges in Australia

    The landscape of corporate growth has changed fundamentally. Over the last three years, organizations across Australia have quietly undergone a massive structural shift. The initial shockwave of generative AI introduction has passed, leaving in its wake a completely rewritten playbook for corporate growth and talent management. While the broader Australian economy shows steady but modest…

    The Hidden Stakeholder Problem: Why Enterprise Deals Stall When You Miss the Full Buying Committee

    Enterprise buying committees are getting larger. That is not speculation. It is observable across every vertical and every deal size. What was once a three-person approval process is now a seven-person approval process. Finance has more say. Security has more say. Operations has more say. Procurement has more say. But most enterprise AEs are still…

    Why Pipeline Quality Matters More Than Pipeline Size in Enterprise Sales

    There is a fundamental misunderstanding in enterprise sales that is costing AEs opportunities and hiring managers are starting to notice it. The assumption is that more pipeline means more deals. More conversations mean better odds. If you have twenty deals in your funnel, surely five of them will close. The math seems obvious. It is…

    The Danger of “Feature-Dumping” in B2B Sales

    It is a classic trap that ensnares some of the most intelligent, passionate, and deeply knowledgeable sales professionals in the industry. You know your product or service inside and out. You understand every single piece of code, every design choice, every advanced configuration, and every niche capability it possesses. You are incredibly proud of what…

    Stalled deals killing your sales pipeline? Try this.

    Every sales professional has experienced the ghost town phase of a deal. You have a fantastic discovery call, the prospect seems deeply engaged, you send over a comprehensive proposal—and then, silence. Weeks pass. Follow-up emails go unanswered. Your voice messages disappear into a corporate void. You check your pipeline metrics, and a deal that felt…

    A Guide to Breaking Into Tech Sales with Zero Experience

    For decades, popular culture has painted a very specific, hyper-aggressive portrait of the salesperson. We think of sharp suits, high-pressure pitches, and the relentless mantra of “Always Be Closing.” But in the modern software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecosystem, that archetype is not just dead—it is a massive liability. Today’s tech sales professionals are consultants, problem-solvers, and strategic…

    The SDR to Account Executive Roadmap: How to Get Promoted

    The Sales Development Representative (SDR) role is the engine room of the tech sales world. It is a grueling, high-volume position fueled by cold outreach, relentless activity targets, and the constant pressure to feed the pipeline for older, higher-paid sales professionals. While it is an incredible training ground for learning resilience and baseline communication skills,…

    How to Prepare for a Sales Role Play Interview

    You’ve passed the phone screen. You’ve nailed the first round. And now the hiring manager has just sent through a calendar invite with two words that send a chill down every candidate’s spine: role play. For many tech sales candidates — even experienced ones — the role play interview is where confidence evaporates. Suddenly, all…

    Stop Treating Talent Connections Like Leads

    Imagine walking into a high-end, exclusive networking event. You see an influential industry player standing by the drinks. You walk straight up to them, skip the pleasantries, slide your business card into their jacket pocket, and say, “Hi, I’m looking for a job. Let me know if you hear of anything that fits me.” Then…

    Why Your Personal Brand Is the Only GTM Resume That Matters

    There is a parallel universe in Go-To-Market (GTM) hiring, and if you are relying on standard job boards, you are entirely locked out of it. Here is the uncomfortable truth about the tech sales landscape today: The best GTM sales roles are almost never publicly posted. By the time a Head of Sales, VP of…