How We Headhunted Two Chartered Accountants with Insurance Experience for a Tier-2 City

Short answer: A large financial services firm had just started an insurance broking business and needed two finance and compliance managers: chartered accountants with insurance experience. Almost all such people work in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru or Hyderabad and do not want to move to a tier-2 city. We built a list of 25 to 30 target companies and approached only people working away from their home city. Both openings were filled in under 30 days, at almost the budget agreed at the start.

The Brief

• Two finance and compliance managers for a new insurance broking business.
• Chartered accountants with insurance experience.
• The client asked for at least 7 to 8 years’ experience and had no salary range in mind.
• The job was in a tier-2 city.

Why a Job Advert Would Not Work

• The people are elsewhere. Insurers and insurance brokers sit mostly in tier-1 cities. Almost no one with this profile lives in a tier-2 city.
• They do not want to move. Of the people open to a new job, 95 to 97% wanted to stay in their city. They valued the corporate culture of Mumbai, Delhi or Noida.
• The budget did not fit the brief. People with 7 to 8 years’ experience were already earning almost double what the role offered.

What We Did

1. Target companies. We listed insurers and insurance brokers in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the states where people were most likely to move. That came to 25 to 30 companies.
2. Salary range. The client had no range, so we mapped the market and suggested about ₹18 lakh.
3. Changed the brief, with the client. Seven to eight years did not fit the budget, so we agreed on three years after qualification as the minimum.
4. Changed who we approached. Instead of everyone at those companies, we approached only people working away from their home city: someone from Jaipur working in Mumbai, or from Ahmedabad working in Bengaluru. They had already left home once for work and were paying big-city rent to stay there, so for the right role they were open to moving to any city.

The Result

Two finance and compliance managers hired in under 30 days, at almost the budget agreed with the client. Both came from the insurance industry the client was aiming at.

What It Shows

An advert on LinkedIn or Indeed reaches people who are looking and willing to move. Here almost no one was both. The hire came from knowing which companies to look in, and which people inside them would say yes. That is the difference between headhunting and a job-board agency.

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