Recruitment is treasure hunting.🏴‍☠️

And coining the term 'Trumpian Recruitment' .

Recruitment, dear readers, is astonishingly similar to a fundamental misconception I encounter so often at companies that I could easily fill out a bingo card with it. You know the type: managers who say, “We invested tons of money but found no one.”

As if people are readymade gold bars you simply pull from the ground using brute force.

Why? Easy: recruitment isn't mining. You can't just park a massive excavator on the labor market, pump in a load of diesel, and expect the right people to jump into your bucket. That's wishful thinking comparable to believing "more police officers automatically make society safer." This ‘drill baby drill’ mentality could be coined ‘Trumpian Recruitment’. and it does not work.

Recruitment and employer branding are much more akin to treasure hunting. Subtle, occasionally frustrating, but every now and then you stumble across something you'd thought was long lost. It’s a bit like finding your grandmother's jewelry hidden in the back of an old dresser in the attic: minimal cost, immeasurable value.

The fallacy lies in the deterministic belief held by many companies. They reason: we'll invest ‘X amount of money’ and get ‘Y amount of talent’ in return. As if talent management were a carnival booth where you’re 5 year old is guaranteed a prize if the kid just fishes out enough plastic ducks.

The reality is not deterministic, it’s probabilistic: You invest strategically and modestly, craft compelling stories, build your reputation, and occasionally, almost by accident, you strike gold. Not because you had a bigger bulldozer, but because you knew where to look and kept your eyes open. And that’s precisely where fame comes into play.

You don’t build a strong reputation through brute force; you build it by subtly and consistently sharing stories that resonate. When you're famous, you no longer need heavy machinery; the talent walks right in. People come to you with ideas, offers, requests for internships, or job opportunities. That one LinkedIn post that goes viral or that unexpected chat at the coffee machine becomes even more powerful when your name is already out there.

This is particularly great news for small companies without massive recruitment budgets. Smaller companies can stand out precisely by treasure hunting smartly and strategically. With, for example, an exceptional internship program; unique and striking, that subtly and consistently communicates their story. This is how you uncover gems who would typically pass by your front door.

Recruitment, therefore, is fundamentally a game of chances and surprises. Humility and attentiveness will always triumph over arrogance and heavy machinery.

Companies that continue to believe large-scale operations guarantee returns end up like old mining towns in America: empty, abandoned, and visited only by the occasional tourist photographing the remains of what was once a glorious dream.

So, if you're smart, don’t mine, go treasure hunting instead. Take a small shovel, go for a walk, turn over a stone here and there, and see what treasures you find.