{"id":999881425,"date":"2015-06-25T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/?p=967741908"},"modified":"2015-06-25T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T20:28:00","slug":"the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates","title":{"rendered":"The Key to Researching Your Top Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

It takes a lot of time and effort to craft the perfect recruiting message, especially since top candidates are regularly bombarded with emails and social-networking notes from recruiters. Everybody knows that research into a candidate plays a big part in crafting the message\u2014but what kinds of research are most effective? Here are some tips:<\/p>\n

Research Their Current Employer<\/h3>\n

Where does the candidate work? Is their company in trouble, or is it ruling the industry? Do they offer a competitive salary and perks, or is word on the street that all employees there are underpaid? If the candidate is working for a company on the rise, with generous compensation, it may be difficult to persuade them to give serious consideration to a new job.<\/p>\n

Research How They\u2019ve Moved<\/h3>\n

Everybody\u2019s career follows a particular pattern. Is your candidate someone who\u2019s stayed in positions for years and years, only moving when their latest company goes out of business? Or do they jump frequently, obviously hungry for the next big opportunity? How they\u2019ve progressed through the market can give you good clues as to whether they\u2019ll be interested in what you\u2019re offering at that moment.<\/p>\n

Research Who They Know<\/h3>\n

If you have a mutual friend or colleague, it can give you an \u201cin\u201d toward starting the recruiting conversation.<\/p>\n

Research What They Want<\/h3>\n

Many candidates are very public about what they want, whether on social media or their personal blog. Take some time to dig into their wants and needs, and you might find some effective ways to tailor your message. You can also uncover the skills and programming languages they prefer, and the big projects they might be working on, as a possible conversation starter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It takes a lot of time and effort to craft the perfect recruiting message, especially since top candidates are regularly bombarded with emails and social-networking notes from recruiters. Everybody knows that research into a candidate plays a big part in crafting the message\u2014but what kinds of research are most effective? Here are some tips: Research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":967741908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2154],"class_list":["post-999881425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sourcing-candidates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Key to Researching Your Top Candidates - Dice Hiring<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It takes a lot of time and effort to craft the perfect recruiting message, especially since top candidates are regularly bombarded with emails and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Key to Researching Your Top Candidates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It takes a lot of time and effort to craft the perfect recruiting message, especially since top candidates are regularly bombarded with emails and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dice Hiring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-25T20:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_116202553-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\"},\"author\":{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Nick Kolakowski\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/authors\\\/nick-kolakowski\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/nkolakowski\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/nick-kolakowski-b405501\"]},\"headline\":\"The Key to Researching Your Top Candidates\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-25T20:28:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\"},\"wordCount\":295,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_116202553-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sourcing Candidates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/the-key-to-researching-your-top-candidates\",\"name\":\"The Key to Researching Your Top Candidates - 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