January 23, 2026 • Nawia

Direct search is always worthwhile in recruitment – even when there are plenty of skilled professionals available.

Recruitment is not about the number of applications, but about timely encounters. Like marketing, recruitment has also shifted from a wait-and-see approach to active, information-driven action – towards smartbound thinking.

There is more diverse content available to us now than ever before. Search results, news feeds, and algorithms are exploding as communication floods every channel we use. In this environment, good content alone is not enough to capture our attention.

The same transformation that has changed marketing is also underway in recruitment. The previous idea of waiting for leads has given way to smartbound marketing. This means data, precise targeting, and a smart combination of inbound and outbound methods. Marketing must be active, multi-channel, and precisely timed in order to reach the right person at the right moment with the right message.

Inbound marketing could be compared to job advertising. In this case, the employer, or seller, places their ad in various channels and hopes that the right person will find the ad and actively engage in the application process.

Active waiting for success

Customers often make purchasing decisions in networks, avoid various forms, and close their ears to messages targeted at them. They want to handle a large part of the purchasing process anonymously and effortlessly. They don't even want to be exposed to advertisements, or their content goes unnoticed. Only customers who are actively shopping may notice an advertisement or be motivated by it.

In the current labor market situation, where there are plenty of highly skilled professionals available, it is tempting to rely solely on advertising when recruiting. Advertisements can be created in-house and easily placed in relatively inexpensive advertising channels. The idea is that by actively waiting, the right talent will appear.

However, competition for attention is fierce, including in recruitment advertising. Decisions regarding interesting jobs are not necessarily generated by active applicants through job advertisements. Algorithms and various platforms favor and, on the other hand, filter visibility. In the search for job ads, part of the success of the process is therefore left to chance.

Even in a strong market for skilled professionals, it may well be that the person best suited for an open position is not looking for work and will never see the job advertisement. Similarly, someone who is currently unemployed may overlook the ad in the flood of content, or they may not take action even if they do come across a suitable ad. Is this a risk worth taking?

Towards multi-channel recruitment

When smartbound thinking is applied to recruitment, the following occurs:

conduct background research on the size of the target market, the organizational field, and the characteristics of suitable individuals
identify the right target group and the right experts for the open position
utilize information about the skills market in the overall planning of recruitment
Suitable experts are approached through multiple channels with carefully targeted messages and informative, appealing content.
make the recruitment process as easy and smooth as possible for candidates
Recruitment advertising and other visibility can support the process in parallel.

A labor market with plenty of skilled workers available can easily create a false impression of ease. People think that a good candidate can be found quickly. In reality, the opposite is often true: there are many applicants, but few who are genuinely suitable for the job.

The essence of recruitment is not the number of applications, but identifying the right talent and separating them from the crowd. This requires actively targeting the target group through multiple channels, selecting the most promising candidates for the process – not just those who happen to be the most active applicants at the moment.

Direct search – a concrete way to ensure success

Direct search as a recruitment method is not some kind of expensive mystique, but rather systematic work carried out by experts. It involves identifying the right target groups, having the courage and skill to proactively approach talented individuals, and being able to have meaningful discussions about the actual requirements of the position with a sufficiently large group of applicants. It also requires perseverance: researching and contacting the target group for as long as necessary to successfully complete the recruitment process.

As in marketing, those who do not wait but take an active role will succeed in recruitment. Recruitment based on the Smartbound approach saves time, money, and risks: every week wasted by managers and HR staff and every hour tied up in the process costs money and means that something else important is left undone. The costs of misrecruitment are considerable compared to the investment made in direct search.

Direct search should be seen as a modern recruitment method that can be used in a wide range of roles. When the right expert is in the right place at the right time, direct search pays for itself many times over.