Good candidates don’t just want a paycheck—they want to belong.

Finding elite talent in private lending is no easy feat. The candidate pool is small, dispersed, and not often actively job-seeking. To secure the right person for your team, you need a compelling answer to one crucial question: Why should a top-tier professional choose your company?

If your best pitch is a better paycheck, you’re already losing. The highest-performing candidates don’t just chase money. They want career growth, work-life balance, stability, and—most importantly—an authentic cultural fit.

What You Say vs. How They Feel

A strong employer value proposition isn’t what you say; it’s what candidates experience. An example is a top five national credit union that has an incredibly strong identity. The company doesn’t just know who they are; they embody it. Their mission is clear: to serve current, past, and family members of military personnel. This call to serve isn’t just a tagline—it runs through the entire organization. Employees who work there aren’t just earning a paycheck; they’re on a mission. Service isn’t a corporate buzzword—it’s at the core of everything each employee does.

The company’s sense of purpose shapes their hiring strategy. They never have to “sell” candidates on their culture because candidates feel it from the first interaction. Unlike companies that simply claim to value service, this credit union lives it. Candidates join the team because they want to be part of something bigger than themselves: a team that gives back rather than one that simply maximizes profit. Employees who don’t embrace this mission don’t last.

The company’s hiring process goes beyond résumés and technical qualifications. During interviews, they ask about past roles, volunteer work, community involvement, and moments of service. They want to understand not only what a candidate has done, but who they are. In this organization, success isn’t just about hitting numbers—it’s about taking care of their members and staying true to their mission.

Compare the company in this example to companies that struggle to articulate their culture. If you have to explain the culture in interviews, it’s not strong enough. Candidates should feel it through how leadership conveys the vision, how employees talk about their work, and how the hiring process is structured.

Your culture doesn’t need to be glamorous or aspirational. If your company thrives on disruption, show candidates how you’re shaking up the market. If you’re grinding hard to gain market share, be up-front about that energy—some candidates want to be in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment where they can outwork the competition. If you’re a tight-knit, family-owned business that values loyalty and tradition, emphasize the stability and long-term commitment you offer employees. If you’re a cutting-edge tech startup that rewards innovation and risk-taking, highlight how employees are encouraged to experiment, fail fast, and push boundaries. If your firm is built on a mission of service, make sure every aspect of your hiring process reflects that, because the best employees are looking for a purpose, not just a job.

Whether your culture is about speed, creativity, stability, collaboration, or service, the key is to be unapologetically clear about who you are. The right candidates will be drawn to your authenticity, and the wrong ones will filter themselves out—saving you time, energy, and costly hiring mistakes.

Stuck in Your Bubble?

If you’re only searching within private lending’s small talent pool, you’re restricting your options and likely missing out on exceptional candidates. Although some roles demand deep industry expertise, many—especially in finance, marketing, legal, sales, operations, and credit—can be filled by professionals from adjacent industries with transferable skills.

One national private lender needed a credit executive with experience in DSCR and SFR products. The problem? The number of executives who had led large underwriting teams and had formal experience in business-purpose lending was limited. Instead of waiting indefinitely for the perfect BPL candidate, the lender broadened its search to include professionals from the non-QM sector, where there was considerable product overlap.

Suddenly, the lender had multiple strong contenders rather than just one. And guess what? They didn’t hire the BPL candidate. Instead, they chose a non-QM credit executive who was a much stronger cultural fit. The BPL candidate had all the technical qualifications, but the right hire was the one who aligned with the company’s leadership and long-term vision.

This principle applies across departments. Don’t get stuck in an industry-specific mindset. Look for professionals who can quickly adapt to your business. The broader your search, the more choices you have. And in hiring, choice reigns supreme. You don’t want to hire the only available candidate—you want to hire the best candidate.

To do that, start by identifying the core competencies the role truly requires. Instead of focusing on industry experience, ask: What are this role’s key responsibilities and challenges? What skills are essential, and which can be taught? What traits do our top performers share?

Consider industries with overlapping skill sets, ones in which professionals face similar challenges, use comparable technologies, or work in parallel business models. Evaluate how quickly a candidate can adapt to industry-specific nuances. Talk to your current team to pinpoint gaps a fresh perspective could fill.

Most important, separate must-have competencies from “nice-to-haves” to avoid disqualifying exceptional talent over non-critical industry knowledge. By shifting your focus from where a candidate has worked to what they can do, you expand your talent pool and position your company to hire stronger, more innovative professionals.

Refusing Remote Work Handcuffs Growth

Location plays a critical role in recruitment, especially in niche industries like private lending. Many top candidates are deeply rooted in their communities due to family commitments, lifestyle preferences, or even cost-of-living issues. No offer, no matter how enticing, will convince these people to relocate.

Still, many companies stubbornly insist on a 100% in-office policy, drastically limiting their talent pool. One lender’s corporate headquarters was in a city that once enjoyed a strong talent base. The bank needed a CFO; however, within a 50-mile radius, there wasn’t a single qualified candidate with experience at a lender of their size.

Initially, the bank was adamant about hiring someone local, including pursuing candidates who could potentially commute. But none were truly qualified. Eventually, the bank opened the search to include remote candidates and hired a CFO who lived across the country—someone who was not only a perfect fit but also brought in key team members remotely.

As the bank embraced remote hiring, it expanded its executive team with an industry-recognized CIO, head of compliance, and director of capital markets. The results? In a tough economic climate, the bank grew originations from $2.5 billion to more than $4 billion in a single year. The parent company’s leadership took notice, praising the quality of their executive hires. These remote leaders, in turn, recruited top talent faster, strengthening the company’s competitive edge.

This is today’s reality. If you cling to outdated in-office mandates, you’re shutting yourself off from the best talent. Hybrid models, remote work, and even flexible commuting arrangements let you hire the best person for the job—not just the closest one.

The data backs this up. A staggering 98% of workers want remote work options. Companies that embrace flexibility don’t just hire faster; they attract high-caliber talent that would otherwise be out of reach.

The Best Candidates Aren’t Looking

The best candidates in private lending are often not actively job-hunting. According to LinkedIn, 70% of the global workforce consists of passive talent—professionals who aren’t searching for a job but are open to new opportunities if approached correctly.

When companies post job openings, they primarily attract active candidates; in other words, those looking for their next role, often as a result of layoffs or job dissatisfaction. Great candidates can exist in this pool, but the timing has to be perfect.

But what about high performers who aren’t scrolling job boards? They’re the ones making real impact elsewhere. Some executive search firms specialize in identifying and engaging these passive candidates, reaching out with personalized, one-to-one messaging that speaks directly to their needs, showcasing opportunities they may not have potentially considered otherwise.

Companies relying solely on applications from job postings end up sifting through hundreds of irrelevant resumes, with only a handful of qualified applicants. By targeting passive candidates, you can gain access to a wider, stronger talent pool.

The numbers prove their value. Research shows passive candidates are 17% less likely to require skill development than active job seekers. They come in ready to make an impact!

Is Your Hiring Process Pushing Top Talent Away?

Hiring delays kill deals. When too many stakeholders are involved—dragging out interviews and adding unnecessary steps—top candidates lose interest or accept other offers.

Even major corporations get this wrong. Google, for example, once had a hiring process that stretched over months, requiring candidates to go through more than 12 interviews. They assumed more interviews meant better hiring decisions. But when they analyzed five years of data, they found something surprising: Four interviews with four interviewers predicted a hire’s success with 86% accuracy. Adding more interviews barely moved the needle. Google slashed its hiring timeline, saving thousands of hours—and improving the candidate’s experience.

Yet many private lenders still cling to slow, bloated hiring processes. One company required candidates to spend an entire day in back-to-back interviews, meeting with seven or more people (many of whom weren’t even in the candidate’s direct reporting line). By the time video interviews were added, candidates had met with 10 to 15 people.

The result? Candidates walked away exhausted, frustrated, and often unsure of what the role even entailed.

Companies that streamline their hiring process by limiting interviews to key decision-makers and making every conversation count win the best talent.

Vacancy-Only Hiring Limits Your Growth

Hiring doesn’t end when a candidate accepts the offer. Rather, it is an ongoing process of relationship-building and talent management. Stay connected with high performers, even those you don’t hire. They could be your next key hire when the right role opens up.

In private lending, your people are your competitive advantage. Define a compelling value proposition, embrace flexibility, expand your search, engage passive talent, and streamline your hiring process. The cost of hiring an amateur is far greater than investing in a professional.

Be smart. Be strategic. And win.