The Same Candidates Every Search

Every search turns up the same names, and they’ve already heard from every other recruiter.

The short answer: When everyone searches the same database the same way, everyone finds the same people. The ones who aren’t on LinkedIn, or don’t use its keywords, never show up.

Why it matters

A candidate who hears from ten recruiters a week compares you with the other nine.

Your client is paying for access they could get from anyone with a LinkedIn seat.

And the best candidate for the role may be someone a LinkedIn search would never surface.

What’s usually behind it

Most recruiters search one place, LinkedIn, with the standard title and the obvious skills.

Every other recruiter on the role does the same, so every search returns the same well-labeled profiles.

People who did exactly this work under another title, or barely keep a profile, stay invisible. Many of them can be found elsewhere: GitHub, publications, company sites, other databases.

If you search where everyone searches, you find who everyone finds.

Signs this is what’s happening

  • Candidates tell you they’ve already heard about the role from someone else.
  • You recognize most of the names in a new search.
  • Your pipeline comes from the same few companies every time.
  • The client has already seen your candidates from another agency.
  • The client’s best hires came from places you never searched.

What you’re feeling

What’s causing it

See what’s really going on, and your options for fixing it for good.

Candidate Sourcing

Other possible causes

  • Everyone is messaging them. You found the right people, but so did everyone else, and your message is one of many.
  • The market really is small. For some roles, everyone qualified is already known.
  • The client uses several agencies. Other recruiters are working the same search at the same time.

Something else going on?

If this doesn’t sound like your search, tell us what’s happening. A real person reads every one.