A client recently asked me to help with a treasury search.
Due to internal sensitivities, they asked whether I could start to approach candidates without telling them…
- the company…
- the target salary…
- or where the role was based
And they still wanted people to be interested.
See the problem?
So I turned it around and asked:
“If a recruiter approached YOU with that little information, would you immediately email your CV to them or would you hang up the phone?”
The answer was obvious.
To their credit, when I put it like that, he immediately understood.
Yes, there were legitimate reasons why they needed to be careful about what information was released, as it was a sensitive situation internally. I get that.
But sometimes clients create recruitment processes that make complete sense from inside the company, without considering what they feel like from the candidate’s side.
Hiring managers forget that sometimes.
They experience the recruitment process from one side. They know why the role is confidential. They know the salary, the team, the company, and why someone would want the job.
But the candidate knows none of that.
And treasury makes situations like these particularly difficult because it’s a fairly small world.
People talk. People know who’s moving. They meet each other at conferences and events.
If I approached an experienced Treasurer and gave away a vague clue about a confidential role, there’s a reasonable chance they could work out who I’m talking about anyway.
So there needs to be a balance.
Of course you protect genuinely sensitive information.
But you also need to give someone enough of a reason to actually have the conversation.
And that’s the bit I sometimes have to push back on.
Confidential doesn’t have to mean completely mysterious.
If I can’t tell someone the company name yet, what can I tell them?
Can I explain why the role exists?
The size of the treasury team?
The problems they’ll be solving?
The broad salary range?
In short, I need to be able to explain to them why I think it’s worth 20 minutes of their time.
Because it’s a lot to ask someone to consider leaving a job they might be perfectly happy in.
And if they’re a good senior treasury professional, they’re probably not sitting at home desperately waiting for a recruiter to phone them!
So before deciding what you’re unwilling to tell candidates, put yourself on the receiving end of the phone call….
If the proposition wouldn’t be enough to get you interested, don’t be surprised when it isn’t enough for them either.
Best regards,
Mike
