Posting a role and finding the right person are not the same thing.
Most businesses know this. Fewer appreciate just how wide that gap really is. I want to walk through a search I completed recently, because the numbers make the point better than I ever could.
The Role: Senior Finance Leader. The timeframe: 10 Days.
Three sources. One shortlist.
Of those four candidates: one came from a job ad, two came from direct LinkedIn approaches, and one came through a referral. Three different sources. And three of them would never have made that shortlist if someone hadn't actively gone looking.
That is not what a SEEK post delivers on its own.
"Seek" and a prayer is not a recruitment strategy.
So where does this leave your internal team?
If your HR function is managing employment contracts, performance reviews, policy, compliance, and internal interviews, when exactly are they finding the time to run a search at this level?
The honest answer is that most are already stretched before a vacancy even lands on their desk. BAU does not pause because you have a role to fill. A performance matter at 9am and a leadership offsite at 2pm means recruitment gets whatever time is left. Which is rarely enough to go much beyond who applies.
I want to be clear: I am not dismissing in-house teams. If you have a dedicated Talent Acquisition function with the genuine bandwidth to run a full search, that is brilliant. Truly.
But there is a meaningful difference between a dedicated TA team and a HR generalist who is already doing three other jobs before the vacancy even hits their desk.
The gap is not about effort. It is about focus and coverage.
What structured coverage looks like
What the numbers above represent is structured, active market coverage across multiple channels, sustained over 10 days, with singular focus. No competing priorities. No internal distractions. Just the search.
Yes, there is a fee involved. It is not an insignificant one, and I would never pretend otherwise.
But consider the alternative. A wrong hire, even a well-intentioned one, brings with it lost productivity, a restart process, team disruption, and sometimes months before you even realise something isn't working. The cost of getting any recruit wrong almost always exceeds the recruitment fee. Often by a significant margin.
The right person does not always find you
Most exceptional candidates at senior level are not actively looking. They are not refreshing SEEK at midnight. They are doing their jobs well, keeping their heads down, and only considering a move if the right conversation lands in front of them at the right moment.
The question worth pondering is not whether you can fill the role. It is whether, with the resources and time currently available, you can be confident you have seen the full picture of who is out there.
Because in my experience, the person who changes everything for a business rarely walks through the door. Someone has to go and find them.
Ready to find the right person?
Elements Recruitment specialises in placing professional leaders across Western Sydney businesses. Let's have a real conversation about your search.
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