Why recruiters lose searches they should win

A recruiter does everything right. Sources well, screens properly, presents a strong shortlist. And still loses the candidate to a company that moved faster with a worse process.

This isn't a reflection on the recruiter's judgment. It's a reflection of timing they don't control. By the time a hiring manager finally loops back after two weeks of internal scheduling, the candidate has already signed somewhere else.

The recruiter did the hard part. The client lost it in the gap between "yes" and "offer."

The firms winning searches right now aren't necessarily the ones with the deepest networks. They're the ones plugged into companies that are already moving with urgency, not companies that need to be convinced urgency matters.

That's a sourcing problem of a different kind — not finding candidates, but finding clients who are actually ready to move at the speed a strong candidate requires.

Which is where the real leverage sits: fewer, better-matched searches with companies already inside a hiring window, instead of a wider funnel of clients who aren't.

— Aaron Pottinger connects vetted technical recruiters with companies hiring fast enough to actually close.