The Talent Acquisition Funnel
Hire like you market — recruiting is a funnel, not a favor.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Hormozi reframes hiring as a talent acquisition funnel identical in mechanics to a client acquisition funnel. The job title functions as a headline that determines who even sees the role, so it must be researched using real job descriptions and salary sites. Candidate nurture has two parts: indirect (what shows up when a candidate searches your company online) and direct (how you communicate with them). She insists top talent has unlimited opportunities and won't tolerate complicated tests or slow processes, so companies must proactively reach out and sell the opportunity the way they'd nurture a high-value lead.
Origin
Hormozi built and documented this in her '$100 Million Dollar Hiring Process' framework, applying customer-experience and marketing-funnel principles she'd mastered to the problem of recruiting.
Core principles
- 01A talent acquisition funnel works exactly like a client acquisition funnel.
- 02The job title is the headline that determines who applies.
- 03Top talent has unlimited options and won't tolerate friction.
- 04Nurture candidates the way you'd nurture a high-value lead.
How to run it
- 1
Nail the job title (the headline)
Research the correct title by Googling the top three tasks the role does, reading many real job descriptions, comparing across salary sites, and choosing the title that matches and is searchable by your target candidate.
Pro tip Check salary.com and payscale.com — 'senior' vs standard titles attract different experience levels.
Watch out The wrong title is the number one reason a role fails to recruit.
- 2
Control the indirect experience
Manage what candidates find when they search your company — Google reviews, client reviews, social, press — by proactively putting out content and controlling the narrative.
Watch out If you don't control the narrative, ex-employees and customers will control it for you.
- 3
Optimize the direct experience
Remove unnecessary tests and friction; proactively reach out, compliment, and communicate with candidates instead of expecting them to come to you.
Pro tip Apply customer-experience principles directly to candidate experience.
Watch out Smart candidates have five other equal-or-better offers and won't take your 30-point test.
In the wild
Hormozi posted a role as 'administrative assistant' and got applicants with only one year of experience. She changed the title to 'senior administrative assistant' and immediately started attracting candidates with five to six years of experience.
→ A single word change in the job title transformed the quality of the applicant pool.
Common mistakes
Overcomplicating the application with tests
Adding many tests and complicated steps to filter for smart people backfires, because top talent has unlimited opportunity and won't bother with your funnel.
Expecting candidates to come to you
Believing top talent should chase you reflects arrogance; nobody knows who you are, so you must proactively nurture and reach out.
Is it for you?
Best for
Small business owners and founders who struggle to attract quality candidates.
Not ideal for
Roles with a captive applicant pool where demand vastly exceeds supply.
From the transcript
“It's the exact same thing as a marketing funnel, as a client acquisition funnel. It's just a talent acquisition funnel”
“The the smart people have unlimited opportunity and don't give a fuck about your funnel and don't wanna take your 30 point test.”
From the episode
Leila Hormozi: $100,000,000 Leadership, How to Build High-Performance Teams People Never Want to Leave
Leila Hormozi