Talent hacking is basically growth hacking applied to recruiting.
You don't need a bigger team. You need a better process. One that scales.
This isn't about ping pong tables, culture decks, or spending €20K on a careers site no one visits. It's about building a system where talent flows in, gets filtered fast, and the best people stick around.
What I've Learned
Most companies build hiring like it's still 2005. Post and pray. Add a bunch of copy-paste filters. Hope someone decent shows up. The thing is, talent is already out there. They're just not in your funnel.
Instead of building a perfect job ad and spending weeks on interviews, think experiments.
Real-World Examples
1. The CTA Test
One test I've run: Change the CTA from "Apply here" to "Want to solve this problem?" and drop a 2-minute async task right there. Boom—cut unqualified applicants by half. No automation, no AI buzzwords. Just relevance.
2. Landing Page Variations
We also built landing pages for each role with slight variations:
- One focusing on purpose
- One on tech stack
- One on career progression
Same job. Different hooks. You quickly learn what people care about.
3. Self-Assessment Hack
Another one: Early-stage companies waste hours talking to wrong-fit candidates. We prompted applicants to rank themselves on key skills and confidence. Not a scientific assessment, but you can spot inflated confidence or people who know what they don't. Both are useful signals.
The Core Principle
Talent hacking is not about getting more people. It's about iterating your way to the right ones.
And yes, you can absolutely run your hiring funnel like a growth funnel. Metrics and all.
Key Metrics to Track
- % of people who visit your job page
- % who take action
- % who finish your first task
- % you want to interview
Track that. Then improve that.
The Truth About Talent Problems
Most talent problems are just marketing problems in disguise.
You don't need a talent team. You need someone who knows how to build funnels.
So next time you're stuck with a role, don't "start hiring"—start testing.