Tag: Candidate Identification

Client: Large Integrated Healthcare Network

Client Challenge

After COVID-19, a major healthcare network faced a severe RN shortage and lacked an internal sourcing function. They needed to quickly find passive candidates and boost their talent pipeline for generalist RN roles across hospitals, rehab centers, home healthcare, and doctor’s offices.

The internal recruitment team had never worked with talent research before. Relying solely on two pre-budgeted resume databases and lacking an outreach strategy, the team was at a disadvantage.

Key Obstacles

• Severe post-COVID RN shortage
• No internal sourcing capability
• Inexperience team with working with sourcers
• Limited to two pre-budgeted resume databases
• No candidate outreach strategy
• Urgent need to rebuild RN talent pipeline across care settings

Our Approach

DoubleStar embedded a dedicated sourcing consultant into the nurse recruitment team. The initial goal was research—delivering qualified resumes to recruiters. We worked closely with the team to prioritize locations and identify high-need areas.

This project also required a mindset shift. While TA leadership supported sourcing, most recruiters had never used it. We helped them see the value of sourcing passive candidates who wouldn’t apply on their own..

Phase One: Building the Foundation

• Initial 3-month pilot extended to 7 months
• Over 2,000 RN resumes collected
• Although a significant pipeline was created, limited tools hindered the development of an even more robust pipeline
• With only cold leads, recruiter follow-through hindered outreach and results
• 22 hires made from the research pipeline

Phase Two: Optimizing the Process

• Added new sourcing platforms to expand reach
• Our consultant began warm outreach, handing off engaged leads, this was a shift from passive delivery to proactive engagement
• 39 additional hires were made

Phase 3: Scaling the Model

• Sourcing support expanded across departments and roles
• Additional researcher added to handle demand
• Intake process standardized with a request form for 30+ recruiters
• An additional 262 hires made (and counting) through the research pipeline

Results

This partnership helped the client build a scalable, modern sourcing function from the ground up. What started as a stopgap effort to support RN hiring turned into a long-term sourcing model embedded within the talent acquisition function.

Highlights:

• 24,000+ prospective candidates identified
• 300+ hires made through research
• 50+ sourcing requests completed in 2025 alone
• Continued buy-in and engagement from new TA stakeholders

Key Takeaway

Introducing sourcing into an organization unfamiliar with thefunction takes more than just process—it takes patience,education, and partnership. By embedding a researcher intothe recruiting workflow and gradually expandingcapabilities, DoubleStar helped this client evolve fromreactive hiring to proactive talent engagement.

Client Challenge

A growing specialty pharmaceutical company needed to hire three Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) and an Associate Director of Pharmacovigilance (PV) – but strict requirements and limited internal resources stalled their progress.

Key obstacles:

• 8+ years of MSL experience required, this did not match with an individual contributor role
• Rigid city-specific location demands
• Compensation not aligned with market rates
• Incomplete job descriptions

After months searching on their own, they turned to DoubleStar for support, engaging one of our expert talent researchers.

Our Solution

We started with stakeholder interviews to clarify expectations and flag potential misalignments. A two-phase research project followed, focused on identifying qualified candidates and delivering market intelligence to inform hiring decisions.

Phase One: Feasibility Assessment

Outreach:

• Contacted 165 MSLs whose profiles met the initial qualifications
• Contacted 73 PV candidates whose profiles met the initial qualifications

Insights:

• 8+ years of experience was rare; most MSLs had moved into senior roles
• Job specs limited candidate pool
• Salary expectations exceeded the client’s budget

We presented data weekly and analyzed the client’s existing MSL team to help adjust expectations.

Phase Two: Expanded Search

With a more flexible MSL profile, we widened the search.

Outreach:

• 900 additional MSLs (total: 1,065 initially qualified prospects)
• 25 additional PV candidates (total: 98 initially qualified prospects)

Final Results:

• Over 10,000 MSL profiles were reviewed
• 1,065 MSL profiles delivered for future hiring needs
• 73 MSLs expressed interest with résumés
• 70% of interested MSLs were outside the client’s salary range
• 22 PV prospects submitted résumés

Outcome & Impact

With this market research and real-time prospect feedback, the client was able to gain key insights to help them move forward:

• A customized database of qualified candidates
• Clear visibility into candidate availability and compensation
• Data-backed rationale to refine their hiring strategy

Conclusion

This engagement highlighted the power of data-driven talent research. With market-aligned intelligence and targeted outreach, DoubleStar was able to:

• Provide transparency into a hard-to-define talent market
• Influence and improve hiring strategy in real time
• Equip the client with the resources to build a more scalable and sustainable recruiting process

While filling the roles proved complex, the client walked away with a deeper understanding of the market — and the right tools to approach it more effectively.

When your company is in rapid growth mode, it is an exciting time. However, it can also present significant challenges like quickly expanding staff to meet business needs. You need an expert, like the DoubleStar team, that can identify qualified candidates to interview, hire, and onboard, that will flex as you continue to grow.

Client Challenge

DoubleStar was engaged by a company in an emerging industry to lead recruiting. Because most of the hiring managers worked in the field and there was no talent acquisition team in place, they needed a partner who could provide soup-to-nuts recruiting services. Our team was tasked with research, qualifying, engagement, and screening initiatives. This partnership accelerated the company’s growth and ability to support their customers. 

Our Solution

DoubleStar approached this as both a recruiting and educational partnership. Each client is unique, and it is vital for clients to educate our team on their specific needs. In exchange, we educate them on the market, best practices, and how we will achieve their goals. 

The DoubleStar team began recruiting for multiple positions which included a mix of management level and individual contributors. We staffed the project with consultants that held expertise in research, recruiting, and project management. There were many factors that proved to be challenging from the start:

• Potential candidates worked in the field. Finding, engaging, and qualifying them took more time.
• Mutual availability between the candidates and hiring managers to conduct interviews was sparse.
• Speed and efficiency were critical – as the client began new projects, they needed workers on sites or risked losing contracts.
• Candidates were required to have specialized skill sets and certifications. We quickly found out there is no national standard for these certifications – requirements vary state to state.

Our experts were successfully able to navigate these hurdles and deliver results by developing an extensive candidate funnel. With the success of the initial engagement, we became a trusted partner and expanded the project to fulfill continued growth. We are proud of this relationship and that we were viewed as essential to the success of their organization. 

Business Impacts

DoubleStar’s unique service-based pricing structure historically delivers clients 40%-60% savings versus firms with traditional transaction-based pricing methods. With the current state of the economy, we understand how vital it is to efficiently maximize your budget. Whether it is a high-volume project like this recent example or a group of specialty positions you need filled, we can deliver the right candidates at an affordable cost. 

Talent acquisition is critical for every organization but for an early growth company, it can make or break them. To achieve business goals and continue development of their team, this life sciences company could not settle for anything less than top candidates. While it is an arduous task to hire just one position in today’s environment, hiring for multiple positions requires an expert business partner like DoubleStar.

Client Challenge

DoubleStar was contacted in early 2022 by a life sciences company developing a cutting edge, first-to-market therapy. The company did not have a formal talent acquisition function and given its small staff, most were working in labs daily. This left little time to find and assess potential hires. They needed a partner to research, source, engage, and screen prospective candidates with the end goal of delivering a qualified and interested pool of individuals to the hiring managers. Given that this company’s product is like no other currently in market, it required very specific science-based talent. Although our recruiters have extensive life sciences experience, the advanced nature of the client’s needs required them to quickly educate themselves on very technical profiles to be able to identify the right candidates.

Our Solution

Throughout the discovery process, we learned that the client had previously utilized recruitment firms that were unable to consistently meet their hiring needs. Our team of experts identified the hardships this client had faced and educated them about how DoubleStar’s approach would deliver on their needs, and how, together, their goals could be achieved. DoubleStar staffed the project with a team of researchers, recruiters, and a project leader. This team immediately faced headwinds as they began the candidate search. The positions:

• Required very niche scientific backgrounds.
• Entailed working on site (on the heels of the pandemic).
• Had little exposure. Positions had previously been posted only on the company’s website where there was low awareness of the roles and the organization.
• Had skill requirements that changed frequently to meet the demands of a young company where business needs were evolving.

To overcome these challenges, the team focused on a heavy research campaign to penetrate the limited talent pool. We knew it would take time to identify and engage the right candidates, so as we do with every project, we emphasized transparent communication with our client and provided education on delivering a quality candidate experience. As the client began to see results from our efforts, we were able to gain their trust in our methods; and they felt confident we would deliver the right talent. Through this approach, the initial positions were filled and DoubleStar was tasked with hiring for more roles.

Business Impacts

Over the course of the project, the team had many successful hires. This has been viewed as a tremendous accomplishment by both DoubleStar and the client, especially given the very specific nature of these positions. Our team’s commitment to delivering only the highest quality of candidates led to them sourcing thousands of individuals for these roles. In addition to providing the client with valuable knowledge, which they can use for future recruitment efforts, our service-based pricing method yielded significant cost savings. Our service-based cost structure continually delivers 40%-60% savings compared to firms with traditional transaction-based pricing methods. In this specific example, we were able to deliver savings of 50%.