A role
you can't fill yourself.

You've got a team, the role is open, and you don't have the hours. I start with the brief, written with the manager who owns the hire, and it stays with you whatever happens next. Then I go and find the person, which in this market usually means the people who aren't looking. Retained for senior roles, contingent when that fits better, the terms agreed in writing before I make a single call.

Book a 30-minute call

The search didn't fail. Something before it did.

The ad has been up for 6 weeks. The shortlist had 3 names on it and the panel liked a different one each. The person everybody did agree on took 10 days to hear back and signed somewhere else on a Tuesday. None of that is a sourcing problem, and more sourcing won't fix it.

The good people in your market aren't looking. They're busy, they're well paid, and they'll only move for a role that's been thought through by someone who can explain why it's better than the one they've got. That's the search: having something worth saying when I get them on the phone.

The brief The role was described by the last person who had it, not by the outcome you need next. So the market hears a job title and stays put.

The room Four interviewers, four impressions, no shared scorecard. The decision takes a fortnight because nobody can say what they're deciding.

The offer It went out a week after the yes, at a number set before anyone met the candidate. The person you wanted took the one that arrived on time.

The follow-through Nobody called them between the offer and the start date. The counteroffer landed in that silence.

The brief first, and it stays with you.

I write the brief with the manager who owns the hire: what the role has to deliver in the first year, what the person has to have walked in with, what the business is really offering, and what you'd pay to get it. It takes an hour of their time and it's yours whatever happens next.

Brief An hour with the hiring manager. Written, agreed, and yours to keep.

Map Who's out there, including the people who aren't looking, and where they sit.

Approach The honest version of the role, told by someone who can answer their questions.

Room One scorecard, feedback inside 24 hours, a decision date set at the start.

Offer Out inside 48 hours of the yes, on terms agreed before the first interview.

Start Weekly contact until they walk in, and a check-in at 30 and 90 days.

The same straight story you get.

Candidates have always liked dealing with me because I tell them the truth: about the role, the money, the manager, and where they stand. That's why they pick up, and why the ones who reach the shortlist are still there at the offer.

Every person I approach for you hears the version of the role you signed off. Nobody gets oversold into a seat and nobody gets a silence where an answer should be. They'll remember how the process treated them long after they've forgotten the job title, and so will the people they talk to.

By the hire, in writing first.

Permanent roles on a fee agreed before I make the first call, paid when the person starts. Retained for senior roles, with part of it on brief, because a retained search gets the whole of my week. Contingent when that fits better. Contract roles on monthly terms, and if the contractor converts, what you've paid counts towards it. What the fee is comes out of the 30-minute call, not a rate card, and it's in writing before anyone spends a day.

Or write: fraser@caldertalent.com.au

Give me 30 minutes, and the role.

Bring the job description, or the week you've spent trying to write one. I'll tell you whether I can find the person, how long it'll take, and what the brief needs before anyone should start looking. If it's a role you can fill yourself, I'll say that too.

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