Hiring specialists when the job title doesn't describe the job

Specialist recruitment is the part of hiring where a bigger applicant pool stops helping. When you need someone who has solved one particular kind of problem, a thousand applicants who've solved nearby ones just slow you down. What you need is a brief sharp enough that the right person recognises themselves in it.

This section covers the work that happens before and during a specialist search. That includes writing role briefs with real deliverables, separating essential skills from preferred ones and deciding when targeted headhunting beats a job ad. We also look at referrals, how to assess expertise you can't check yourself and how executive search firms structure their work and fees.

Everything here is written for both sides of the table. Employers and hiring managers will find practical ways to define roles. Recruiters will find ways to push back on vague briefs. Specialists will learn what a well-run search should feel like from the candidate's chair, and what to question when it doesn't.

We don't promise placements, invent candidate profiles or publish salary figures we can't source. Where hiring rules depend on the country, we say so.