"Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing for something."

- Wilson Mizner

On the surface, Internet-based candidate sourcing looks like a good way to reduce hiring costs. But when it comes to marketing recruitment, it normally leads to a much longer recruitment process and, all too often, lost revenue due to neglected business opportunities.

Permit me to illustrate with a scenario that I witnessed recently. Four months ago, a vice president of marketing at a medium-sized CPG company called me to initiate an interesting search that involved some pretty narrow requirements. The marketing director job in question required strong track records in both customer marketing (with an emphasis on intimate familiarity with Wal-Mart) and cutting-edge new product development. In his experience and mine, this is a rare combination to find.

At the end of our discussion, he urged me to call a particular recruiter within his company, get a search contract approved, and get going on the search right away.

However, when I contacted the recruiter, the response I got from them was basically this: We have a few candidates in the loop that have come our way through our website and ads, and we’re expecting more. We'll be interviewing them before we do anything else.

Four months later, they are still pursuing this approach – even after two declined offers from Internet-sourced candidates. The hiring manager is miserable.

Why does Internet sourcing usually fail when it comes to recruiting top marketing talent? Well, for one thing, every company and marketing recruiter with an Internet connection has potential access to the same actively job-searching candidates. While you may access a few online resumes that appear to show the kind of experiences you want - remember that you’re dealing with candidates who are aggressively job hunting. If they are strong players, they have a number of companies chasing them down. This greatly increases the odds that they will put off any final decisions – or simply decide against you and your company.

Based on nine years of careful observation, I can tell you one thing for sure: Getting a big pay out from “the Internet slot machine” is not likely. If you’re dealing with a challenging, time-sensitive hire then employing a traditional, highly targeted search process is the way to go. Why gamble when you can employ a proven approach?

Lahey Consulting is a specialized search firm. We recruit and place brand management and marketing professionals (from associate brand manager to executive level) within consumer products companies throughout the United States. Lahey Consulting, LLC P.O. Box 395 Delmar, NY 12054-0395 www.laheyconsulting.com info@laheyconsulting.com Voice: 518-439-4285 Fax: 518-439-5795 Copyright © 2006 Lahey Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. (However, you may reproduce this article if you include this copyright information and our web site address: www.laheyconsulting.com)