Finding Obscure But Insanely Talented Designers

Obscure, meaning “not discovered or known about” or more literally “over-covered” is a good way to describe some of the best passive, high-end candidates who will most likely never respond to an online job posting.

While of course there are superstars who receive awards and attention by the industry…we are really referring to the next up and coming designer on a trajectory to becoming head designer or creative director. Globalization is adding another level of obscuration. Top designers can hail from well-respected fashion houses in Europe, or from Asia or just about anywhere else on the planet these days.

Unless you proactively search for them – “un-cover” them -- they won’t make it into your search process. Which means you will not have the opportunity to evaluate them to see if they will be the best fit for your organization. In this case, your organization will not reap the rewards of having the most talented team in a hyper-competitive world, which can ultimately put the future of the company at risk.

How do you find them? You can try job postings but the likelihood of getting a resume from one of these individuals is low, probably no more than one in five. Besides not looking, many of these candidates are happily employed and shy away from the risk of posting their resume and have the word somehow get out that they are looking.

Another best practice is to enlist the services of others to support you. Search firms with their own connections who are willing to put in the time and effort to locate, interest and curate candidates for a relatively low fee are a great way to ensure that you get the best flow of talent to fill your crucial design positions.

Finding and placing the candidate from anywhere on the globe who best fits the needs of our clients and will make a huge positive impact is our passion. We make sure to review all criteria, including aesthetic fit, so you receive a handful of highly qualified candidates to add to your internally sourced candidates. You end up getting a better candidate pool at no risk, low cost, faster and without tying up your internal resources. We hope you will let us know how we can support your next senior level search.