He'd seen the ad. He didn't apply.
He's one of the strongest people in that market.
So I called him. We talked it through and he changed his mind. Then I had to chase him for a CV, and at one point he told me to prioritise the people with solid CVs already chewing my hand off.
He didn't need to worry. The ones chewing my hand off had already applied, and the client had already said no to them.
He wasn't a no. He was undecided. No hiring process I know of has a box for that.
Every system I've seen has two outcomes. Applied, or didn't. Everyone in the second group gets read as not interested, when most of them were never asked. Undecided doesn't fill in a form and it doesn't sit on a job alert. It shows up as nothing at all. It also doesn't stay undecided for long once a process has moved on without it.
He interviewed. He didn't get it. He wasn't beaten on ability, he was beaten by a clock that had been running since before anyone thought to call him.
Getting someone off the fence is most of the work now, and it has to happen before the advert goes out, not after it hasn't worked. Half the clients I'm working with came to me with a critical hire after direct attraction had already failed them. One hadn't seen enough depth in a shortlist to make a hire at all.
This isn't a tough market. It's a good one. Most firms are only seeing the part of it that applied.
I'm in discussions on a senior proposition role at the moment. The client hasn't landed it. I know three standout people for it and not one of them is on the active market.
None of them will apply.
That's the value. It's also the cost when it's a process and not a person that decides who you meet.