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Overview

Speculative placement (or reverse recruitment) is when you have a strong candidate and proactively search for suitable opportunities, then pitch the candidate directly to companies — even if they have not specifically requested recruitment help. This guide covers how to use Recruitier to execute this strategy effectively by combining candidate profiling with company intelligence.

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Why Speculative Placement Works

Speculative placement is one of the most profitable recruitment strategies because:
  • You control the process — No competition from other recruiters since the company did not post with an agency
  • Higher margins — Companies are often willing to pay premium fees for candidates brought to them proactively, especially in competitive talent markets
  • Faster placements — You skip the briefing and candidate sourcing phases entirely
  • Stronger relationships — Companies appreciate recruiters who bring solutions, not just invoices. A well-matched speculative candidate demonstrates your market knowledge.
  • First-mover advantage — You reach companies before they even realize they need to post a role externally
Recruitier is purpose-built for this approach, combining detailed candidate profiling with real-time company hiring intelligence.

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The Complete Workflow

1

Identify Your Best Candidates

Start with candidates who are:
  • Highly skilled and in-demand in the current market
  • Actively looking or open to new opportunities
  • Flexible on location or open to remote work
  • In roles with high market demand (engineering, sales, healthcare, finance, etc.)
Upload their CV or import from LinkedIn if you have not already. Ensure their skills are confirmed (this is critical — skills carry 45% weight in matching) and location/salary preferences are set accurately.
The ideal speculative candidate has a rare or high-demand skill set that companies struggle to find through normal channels. Think: specialized engineers, experienced product managers, senior finance professionals, or healthcare specialists.
2

Run AI Job Matching

Use the AI matching feature from the candidate’s detail page. The 5-stage pipeline will:
  1. Analyze the candidate’s complete profile and preferences
  2. Generate optimized search parameters from their skill set
  3. Search across thousands of Dutch companies and job listings
  4. Filter by the candidate’s location, salary, and type preferences
  5. Score each match by relevance using the weighted formula
Focus on matches where:
  • The match score is 80%+ (strong skill alignment)
  • The company is actively posting similar roles (validates current demand)
  • The job was posted recently (indicates active, unfilled need)
Smart searches cost 10 credits, plus 10 credits per page of results. Use the free internal job search first to check what is already in the database before running a new smart search.
3

Research Target Companies

For each promising match, navigate to the company detail page to evaluate:
  • Hiring trend: Is the company ramping up hiring? An upward trend validates strong demand for talent.
  • Number of similar roles: Multiple openings for the same type of role suggest urgency and potential openness to external help.
  • Company size: Larger companies (100+ employees) often have dedicated recruitment budgets and are accustomed to working with agencies.
  • Industry: Ensure the company aligns with your candidate’s career goals and your area of specialization.
  • Decision makers: Check who the relevant contacts are before crafting your pitch.
Companies posting multiple similar roles are your best targets for speculative placement. This pattern suggests they are struggling to fill positions through their own channels, have budget allocated for hiring, and may welcome external help. These companies are often receptive to a well-presented speculative candidate.
4

Prepare Your Pitch

Create a compelling pitch that includes:
  • The candidate’s value proposition — What makes them exceptional in the current market? Highlight rare skills, notable achievements, or unique experience.
  • Relevance to the company — Why this candidate is perfect for their open roles or their team’s needs, based on the hiring data you found.
  • Market context — Why this type of talent is scarce and hard to find. Use your knowledge of the Dutch market to add credibility.
  • Your terms — A clear, straightforward fee structure so the company knows what to expect.
Use Recruitier’s Pitch Deck feature to create a reusable template that you can customize per company. Attach it to your outreach flow so the AI references your selling points when generating messages.
5

Execute Multi-Channel Outreach

Create an outreach flow targeting the hiring decision maker:
  1. Email introduction (Day 0) — Brief, personalized email referencing their specific job postings and introducing the candidate (without revealing their identity). AI message generation costs 1 credit.
  2. LinkedIn connection (Day 2-3) — Connect with the hiring manager or HR lead with a brief note referencing your email.
  3. Follow-up email (Day 5-7) — If no response, follow up with additional candidate highlights or a relevant market insight.
  4. Phone call (Day 10) — If email and LinkedIn do not get a response, try a direct phone call using the contact info discovered by Recruitier.
Never share the candidate’s full identity in initial outreach. Use descriptions like “a senior Python developer with 8 years of experience in fintech” to protect both the candidate’s privacy and your fee agreement. Only reveal the candidate’s name after establishing terms with the company.
6

Track and Convert

Use the client pipeline to track each company you have pitched to:
Pipeline StatusMeaning
ProspectIdentified as a target, pitch being prepared
ContactedInitial outreach sent, waiting for response
MeetingResponded positively, meeting or call scheduled
WonCompany agreed to terms, candidate interview being arranged
LostNot interested or timing is wrong
Update the activity timeline with every interaction. When a company expresses interest, transition to your standard placement process (candidate introduction, interview coordination, offer negotiation, placement).

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Best Practices

  1. Quality over quantity — A few well-matched speculative pitches outperform dozens of generic ones. The specificity of your pitch is what makes it compelling.
  2. Lead with the candidate — Companies respond to specific talent, not generic recruitment pitches. “I have a senior cloud architect with AWS and GCP expertise” beats “We provide IT recruitment services.”
  3. Time your outreach — Pitch when the company is actively hiring (use hiring trend data). A company in a hiring ramp-up is far more receptive than one in a freeze.
  4. Protect candidate identity — Never reveal names until you have a fee agreement in place. This protects both the candidate and your commission.
  5. Follow up persistently — Decision makers are busy; 3-4 touchpoints is standard before getting a response. Most responses come from the 2nd or 3rd message.
  6. Track your conversion rate — Use the pipeline to measure which industries, company sizes, and pitch approaches convert best. Refine your strategy based on data.
  7. Combine channels — Email + LinkedIn together have higher response rates than either alone.