From the Ideal Profile to the Real Profile: When Hiring Needs Meet Market Reality

When a company launches a recruitment process, it usually starts with a very clear idea of the person it wants to hire. However, experience shows that the profile defined at the beginning of a search is not always the one who ultimately joins the organisation.
And that does not necessarily mean the process has failed.
In many cases, it means the market has provided valuable insights that help lead to a better hiring decision.

Are We Looking for the Person the Business Needs, or the Person We Imagine We Need?

After years of working in recruitment, there is one question I find myself asking more and more often:
Are we looking for the person the business needs, or the person we imagine we need?
Each requirement makes sense on its own: experience, technical knowledge, languages, industry background, location, or salary expectations.
The challenge arises when we put them all together.The fact that each requirement exists in the market does not mean there are enough professionals who meet all of them, are open to a career move, and fit within the proposed conditions.
And that is precisely where one of the most interesting parts of any search begins.

A Search Is Not Just About Finding Candidates

A recruitment process delivers much more than a hire.
It allows us to understand how the market behaves, what professionals expect, and which factors may be limiting a search.That is why, when a process stalls, my first reaction is not to look for more candidates. It is to understand what is happening in the market.
Sometimes, the turning point comes from a simple question:
What do we really need this person to achieve once they join the company?
Shifting the focus from CV requirements to actual business needs opens up new possibilities and allows us to assess profiles that were not initially being considered.

When Rethinking the Search Leads to Better Results

One search I particularly remember was for an international sales position where one of the key requirements was previous experience within a very specific industry.
After several weeks of analysing the market, it became clear that this requirement was significantly reducing the pool of viable candidates.
When we revisited the actual needs of the role, we reached a different conclusion: what truly mattered was the ability to develop business in complex international environments.
From that point on, we broadened the search to include professionals from other industries with comparable backgrounds and achievements.
The person who was ultimately hired did not meet the original requirement.
However, they did possess the capabilities needed to achieve the objectives of the role.
And ultimately, that was what the business really needed.

The Candidate Chooses Too

There is another question that should always be kept in mind:
Why should this professional choose our opportunity?
Especially when we are talking about specialised professionals who are already employed and do not necessarily need to change jobs.In these cases, understanding what may appeal to a candidate is just as important as evaluating their fit for the position.
Career decisions rarely depend on a single factor.
The role itself, leadership, growth opportunities, flexibility, company culture, and stability all influence the final decision.Because recruitment works both ways.
The company chooses the candidate.But the candidate also chooses the company.

Recruitment Is Also About Advising

I see recruitment as an advisory process.
It is not simply about presenting candidates. It is about bringing market insights, identifying constraints, and helping clients make realistic hiring decisions.
Sometimes that means validating the original approach.
Other times, it means recommending adjustments to requirements, conditions, or expectations.
These conversations are not always easy.
But they are often the ones that create the greatest value.

A Final Reflection

A successful search is not about finding the perfect candidate we imagined at the beginning.
It is about finding the best person for the real needs of the business, within the reality of the market.
And very often, that person turns out to be even better than we originally imagined.

Cande Krause
Talent & Business Operations Director