When a growing digital business had two unsuccessful attempts to hire the same role, they knew simply running the same recruitment process again was unlikely to produce a different result.
The challenge was not a lack of candidates. They had met plenty.
The challenge was finding the right Digital Project Manager for the role, the team and the way their business worked.
The challenge ahead
The client needed an experienced Digital Project Manager to sit between its creative, digital and client services teams.
Previously, they had recruited using a traditional contingent approach. The vacancy was shared with several agencies, including Beyond The Book through our Deliver service, with recruiters working simultaneously to find suitable candidates.
They received a good level of interest and made a hire.
Unfortunately, the candidate pulled out shortly before they were due to start.
The search reopened and a second person was appointed. This time they joined the business, but within two months it became clear the fit was not right and they left.
Two recruitment processes, two offers and still no long-term solution.
Aside from the recruitment cost, the business had spent a significant amount of management time interviewing, onboarding and then returning to the market.
The reality check
Before starting for a third time, we talked honestly about what had happened.
The previous candidates had the technical experience required. On paper, both looked capable of doing the job.
The bigger issue was whether enough time had been spent understanding the less obvious parts of the requirement.
This was a fast-moving business where priorities could change quickly. The Digital Project Manager needed to be comfortable managing demanding stakeholders, bringing structure without creating unnecessary process and working across several different personalities and disciplines.
Those things are difficult to identify from a CV alone.
There was also a limitation in the previous recruitment model. With several recruiters working on the same vacancy, there was naturally pressure to find and introduce candidates quickly.
The client decided that this time they wanted to go deeper.
The solution
We moved the search onto our Partner service.
Instead of competing with several agencies to make the first introduction, we took responsibility for managing the recruitment campaign properly.
That gave us the confidence to commit more time and resource to the search.
We went back through the brief in detail, spending more time understanding the business, the team, the previous hires and the reasons they had not worked out.
From there, our approach included:
- A full search across our existing network and the wider active and passive market
- More detailed candidate conversations around motivation, working style and long-term career plans
- A much deeper exploration of how candidates had handled similar environments and challenges previously
- Regular market feedback to the client as the search developed
- Adjusting elements of the brief when the market showed us where expectations could be refined
- Presenting a deliberately small shortlist of people we genuinely felt could succeed
The goal was not to send more CVs.
It was to give the client fewer, better reasons to interview.
What happened next
As the search developed, one thing became clear.
Some candidates who appeared strongest initially had worked within much more structured environments than the client could realistically offer. Others had excellent project management experience but were less comfortable with the level of client interaction involved.
Those conversations allowed us to rule people out before taking up the client's interview time.
The eventual shortlist was small, but every candidate had been selected for a clear reason.
One candidate stood out in particular. They had the project management experience required, but equally importantly, their motivations, communication style and previous working environments aligned closely with what we had learned about the client.
Because we had spent more time with both sides, there were very few surprises by the time interviews began.
The client made the hire.
The result
The successful candidate settled quickly into the team and is thriving in the role.
More importantly, the business finally had confidence that it had solved the original hiring problem rather than simply filling the vacancy again.
The difference was not access to some hidden pool of perfect candidates.
It was having the time and commitment to search properly, qualify more deeply, listen to the market and understand what long-term fit actually meant for that particular business.
That is where our Partner approach works best.
It allows us to move beyond CV matching and properly understand the people, culture and environment behind the vacancy.
Had a difficult search, or simply want to get it right first time? We are always happy to talk through the different recruitment options and recommend the approach that makes most sense for your individual hire.
