Talent Acquisition today is sometimes like trying to create a perfect new recipe. You know what you want. You can see the final outcome in your mind. You crave it. A candidate with just the right blend of skills, leadership, determination, work ethic and the right personality for your company’s culture. But finding just the right mix that produces the end product you are seeking in today’s talent-starved market can be a frustrating, hair-pulling, and time-consuming process. So how can you find that perfect employee who fulfills the balance of all the ingredients you need?

Use your network

Dig into your social media profiles. This is the moment you have been building them for! Let your network know you have an open position and provide a link to the job description. Ask your contacts to share the job and refer any potential candidates they know.

Post to aggregated job boards

You don’t need to spend a lot of time posting to multiple job boards. Today’s job boards will do that for you. Choose well and your job will appear on dozens of sites. Job boards like Indeed, SimplyHired, CareerJet, and Zip Recruiter will give you broad coverage and cast a wide net. And who doesn’t just use Google these days to find what they’re after? Posting on these sites now allows your posting to be picked up by Google Jobs, further increasing your chances of reaching the right candidate.

Post the position to user groups and associations

Posting positions to specialty user groups for people with the skills you seek is another great way to attract candidates. Look for groups on LinkedIn that have common interests related to your industry. Think outside the box a little bit. If you find some LinkedIn profiles you like for the position, see what groups they belong to. Many industry associations will also have job boards you can advertise to. Take advantage of these niche locations to promote your job – find people in the nooks and crannies who will hit that sweet spot for your perfect candidate recipe.

Adjust your requirements

Perhaps you are going after that purple squirrel (or oddball soufflé), a mix that just doesn’t exist. If the recipe keeps failing, you may need to cut your losses and regroup. If you’ve been trying to fill a job for over 60 days and are not getting candidates that check all the boxes, the chances are, they don’t exist. It’s time to go back to the test kitchen to take another look at your ingredient list and why it’s not working — revise the job description. Talent today is highly specialized. Don’t try to cram together skills that don’t belong together. Also, make sure all your requirements are on the same level. Don’t expect advanced skills for one part of a job that is essentially an entry-level position otherwise. And don’t expect your top managers to also handle administrative tasks on a regular basis. You won’t find a perfectly aged filet mignon on your plate of steak and eggs at the corner diner!

Give a recruiter a try

Recruiters are worth their weight in gold (or saffron) when it comes to locating candidates with a difficult mix of requirements. They will comb through social media until they find people with just the right combination of skills. Save your time and let the experts do what they do best, source candidates all day every day. When you are looking for a candidate with a special blend of skills don’t hesitate to reach out early in the process. Jobs have a shelf life and if you wait 30 days before you bring in a recruiter, the job may become stale. If you follow these tips, you are sure to find the mix of everything you had in mind, and your recipe for finding the best candidate will be perfectly executed.