Case Study Snapshot
Client: | Growing Non-Bank Lender |
Industry: | Financial Services and Lending |
Location: | Melbourne |
Recruitment Challenge: | Multiple credit vacancies unfilled after 6+ months on the market |
Roles Recruited: | Credit Officers through to Senior Credit Managers |
Outcome: | 4 placements within 3 weeks |
Recruitment Strategy: | Market mapping, LinkedIn outreach, referrals, recruitment marketing and talent pooling |
The Hiring Challenge
A growing non-bank lender engaged Kaizen Recruitment to support a significant hiring initiative across its Credit function in Melbourne.
This was a ‘’volume search’’ assignment which presented several challenges - positions needed to be filled across multiple levels, ranging from Credit Officers through to Senior Credit Managers. Despite being in the market for more than six months with other recruitment providers, the campaign had generated limited traction, key vacancies remained unfilled, and hiring momentum had stalled. This was further compounded by off-limits constraints, which prevented us from approaching certain direct competitors that represented key sources of relevant talent.
Like many organisations operating within the lending sector, securing experienced credit professionals was critical, but talent availability remained limited. With business growth continuing and workloads increasing, the organisation needed to secure high-quality talent quickly without compromising hiring standards.
Our Recruitment Approach
Given the volume and complexity of vacancies, we approached the assignment as a recruitment campaign rather than a collection of individual roles.
Two consultants were dedicated to the project, allowing for greater market coverage and specialisation across different levels of seniority. Throughout the campaign, we worked closely together, sharing market intelligence, candidate insights and feedback to ensure a consistent strategy and quality of service.
Before commencing the search, we invested significant time with hiring managers to develop a detailed understanding of:
Technical credit requirements
Team structure and reporting lines
Risk appetite and lending environment
Cultural and behavioural fit
Essential versus desirable experience
This enabled us to challenge assumptions around candidate profiles and identify opportunities to consider professionals with transferable skills from adjacent lending environments.
To maximise market coverage, we implemented a multi-channel recruitment strategy designed to attract experienced credit professionals that combined traditional recruitment methods with proactive market mapping, including:
Marketing campaign with several posts across SEEK, LinkedIn and Kaizen’s website
Direct outreach to active and passive candidates through LinkedIn Recruiter
Searches across our existing candidate network and database
Referral campaigns targeting senior leaders and industry contacts
Market mapping across Australia
We also broadened the search beyond traditional candidate pools by identifying professionals with transferable skills from related lending environments. This included candidates from private lenders, smaller banking institutions, and client-facing lending professionals seeking to transition into non-bank lending credit roles.
Recruitment Campaign Results
Within three weeks, Kaizen Recruitment delivered:
16 qualified credit professionals shortlisted
8 first-round interviews arranged
4 successful hires across the Credit function
Multiple vacancies filled after more than six months of unsuccessful market activity
Most notably, these outcomes were achieved without changes to salary levels, job scope or market conditions. The difference was not the availability of talent, but the approach taken to identifying, engaging, and assessing it.
What Made the Difference?
Strong Role Qualification
Successful hiring processes begin long before the first candidate is contacted.
We began with detailed briefing sessions involving key stakeholders and hiring managers, spending time understanding the technical requirements, team dynamics and long-term objectives of each role.
This allowed us to challenge assumptions, share market insights, and distinguish between essential requirements and skills that could be developed or transferred from adjacent sectors.
Broader Market Coverage
Rather than limiting the search to a narrow group of direct competitors, we expanded the talent pool across multiple lending sectors and geographic markets.
This provided access to candidates who may not have traditionally been considered, but who possessed the technical capability, commercial judgment and behavioural attributes required to succeed.
Partnership and Communication
Regular communication throughout the campaign ensured hiring decisions were informed by real-time market feedback.
Candidate insights, market trends and search data were continuously shared with stakeholders, allowing the process to evolve as new information emerged while maintaining momentum from shortlisting through to offer stage.
Strong Feedback Culture
A key contributor to the success of the project was the commitment from stakeholders to provide timely and constructive feedback.
This helped maintain candidate engagement, minimise delays and support faster decision-making.
In a competitive hiring market, responsive hiring teams are often the difference between securing preferred candidates and losing them to competing opportunities.
Key Takeaway
This project reinforced a lesson we continue to see across the lending and financial services market:
"Successful recruitment is rarely driven by sourcing alone."
The strongest hiring outcomes are achieved when organisations combine clear role qualification, realistic market alignment, engaged stakeholders, and a structured recruitment process that enables informed decisions.
By creating the right conditions from the outset, a campaign that had remained dormant for more than six months was transformed into four successful appointments within three weeks.
Candidate Testimonial
‘’It has been a pleasure working with Thomas and Sean. They have been very supportive throughout the process. They were incredibly professional, responsive and genuinely supportive from start to finish, which made what could have been a stressful experience feel so much easier. They spent time to guide me, answer my questions, and keep me updated every step of the way. Their dedication and encouragement gave me a lot of confidence, and I'm truly grateful for everything they've done. Highly recommended!’’
Stephanie, Candidate (Credit Manager)
