Talk it through with Aurelius
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Aurelius · Work & Leadership
Knowledge + Guidance

Why do we only post jobs and never go find the people we need?

You and your team say you 'source talent.' What you actually do is publish a listing and wait for strangers to arrive. That is not sourcing. That is fishing with a net and calling it hunting. Posting feels like work. It is easy, it is measurable, and you can point to the job board and say you did something today. Reaching out to one specific person you don't know yet is uncomfortable. They might ignore you. You might not be good at it yet. So the team quietly avoids that discomfort and calls the job post "our pipeline." You cannot control who applies. You can control who you contact. Choose one person on your team to own outreach this week. Have them name five real people and message them. Everything else — the tools, the templates, the strategy decks — is decoration until that happens.

◆ How this problem reads on the two dials
GuidanceKnowledge
More coaching
A little to learn
1:1 with AureliusWith others (a Pod)
Some one-to-one
Practise with peers
The team already knows what sourcing means in theory; the block is avoidance and lack of a habit, so most of the value is in coaching action, with a small dose of teaching what real outreach looks like.
How the two dials adapt to you →
What’s really going on

Posting a job and waiting is not sourcing. It is hoping. Sourcing means you choose a person, reach out, and start the conversation before they apply. You do not need a system first. You need to pick one person today and send them a message. That is the whole skill.

🔒 What you’ll build togetherUnlock by starting
A moveAssign one person to own outreach this week — not 'the team,' one name.
A moveBefore end of day, write down five real people you could contact — not criteria, not a persona, actual names.
A moveDraft one honest message and send it to all five before you edit it into something safer.
A movePut outreach on the calendar at the same time every week, same number of people, no skipping.
A moveIn your next team check-in, review who replied — not how many applications came in.
PractiseFive Names · a Pod of 4 · 30 min

What changes unlock by starting

  • You have a running list of real people you contacted, not just applicants who found you.
  • One person on the team owns outreach as a weekly habit, not a someday project.
  • You stop mistaking 'we posted the job' for 'we looked for someone.'
  • Your outreach messages get better fast, because you're finally writing enough of them to learn.

Related problems

One object, two jobs: a public answer to a real problem, and — the moment you start the chat — Aurelius’s live plan for your version of it.