Real Answers from Real Dallas Recruiters is back, and this week Sarah Brown takes on two questions from opposite sides of the hiring desk. A candidate wrote in worn out after applying to dozens of roles online with nothing to show for it. A Dallas employer asked whether to promote someone already on the team or look outside to land the strongest hire. Sarah answers both with the directness she is known for, grounded in 13 years of staffing and close to 7,000 interviews.
Sarah is an Executive Recruiter and Division Leader at G.A. Rogers and Associates and PrideStaff Financial in North Dallas. Before recruiting, she spent nearly a decade in accounting, which gives her a clear read on both the candidate’s chair and the hiring manager’s. She places accounting, finance, and executive talent across Las Colinas, Richardson, Addison, Irving, and Plano, and she has seen what separates the people who get hired from the people who keep waiting.
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn.
I’ve Applied to Dozens of Jobs Online and Still Can’t Get Interviews. What Am I Doing Wrong?
If your whole job search is submitting applications and waiting, you are blending in with hundreds of other people doing the same thing for the same role. The candidates getting interviews in Dallas right now are building relationships before they need a role, growing a presence on LinkedIn, connecting with recruiters early, and finding ways to reach the people who make hiring decisions. Online applications have a place in your search. They work best as one piece of a wider plan.
Sarah does not soften it:
“Your job search takes strategy. It cannot just be a click of a button and hope that someone contacts you, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants who are also doing that.”
The numbers explain why the application-only approach stalls. A 2025 analysis by the recruiting platform Ashby reviewed more than 38 million applications across 93,000 jobs from 2021 through 2024. Inbound applications, the ones candidates submit through a posting, made up roughly 94 percent of all applications, yet their odds of turning into an offer fell to about two in every thousand by the end of that window. Referred candidates told a different story, reaching the interview stage around 40 percent of the time. When you apply cold, you are one of thousands. When someone inside the company vouches for you, you start much closer to the conversation.
Sarah points to the people who are making moves in this market:
“The ones who stand out, who are currently making moves in this market, are building relationships prior to needing a new role. They’re networking and building a personal brand on LinkedIn. They’re creating relationships with recruiters prior to needing a new position, and they’re finding ways of getting in front of decision makers.”
A few ways to widen your search:
- Build relationships before you need them. Reach out to people in your field to talk shop or grab coffee, well before you actually need something from them, so you are a familiar name when a role opens.
- Treat LinkedIn as more than a resume. Post about your work, comment on what others in Dallas accounting and finance are sharing, and let hiring managers see how you think.
- Connect with recruiters early. A recruiter who already knows your goals can put you forward the moment something fits, rather than scrambling to introduce yourself when you urgently need a role.
- Get in front of decision makers. Attend local networking events, ask a current contact to introduce you to someone on their team, and look for creative ways to make a human connection.
Dallas makes this easier than most markets. Accounting and finance professionals can plug into active groups like the Dallas chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants, the local TXCPA society, and the Dallas Association for Financial Professionals, both in person and online. One genuine conversation at an event in Las Colinas or Uptown can do more for your search than another hundred submitted applications.
Sarah sums it up this way:
“The best conversations, the best referrals, the best connections, those are all going to lead you to your next position.”
Should I Promote From Within or Hire Externally to Get the Best Talent?
When a qualified internal candidate exists, look inside your company first. Promoting from within strengthens your culture, improves retention, and signals to your team that growth is possible where they already are. If the right person is not on your team, then an external search becomes the right call. The order is what matters: weigh your internal options before you open the role to the outside.
Sarah knows this runs against what some recruiters will tell you:
“My answer is not going to be probably what you would hear from other recruiters. If there is a qualified internal candidate, I believe you should always promote from within first.”
Her reasoning holds up against the research. People perform better when they can see a future where they already work, and promoting from within rewards that loyalty in a way the whole team can see. Work by Wharton management professor Matthew Bidwell, published in Administrative Science Quarterly, found that external hires are paid roughly 18 to 20 percent more than employees promoted into comparable roles, receive lower performance reviews during their first two years, and leave at higher rates. LinkedIn data points the same direction, showing that employees at companies with strong internal mobility stay around 60 percent longer than those at companies with little of it.
As Sarah puts it, promoting from within strengthens culture and retention because “people will perform better if they see a future with your company.”
None of this means forcing a poor fit into an open seat. Sarah is clear about the exception: “Now if the right person doesn’t exist internally, then that is a totally different discussion. But we first always want to look inside your walls before you go out into the market.”
When you need a skill set your team does not have, or you are building toward something new, an outside hire can be exactly right. For those searches, especially leadership and specialized finance roles across Plano, Richardson, and Las Colinas, a recruiter who knows the Dallas market can find direct hire candidates who are not even looking yet.
Key Takeaways
For Job Seekers
- Applications alone rarely move the needle. Build relationships before you need them.
- Use LinkedIn and local networking to reach decision makers directly.
- Connect with a recruiter early so someone is advocating for you when the right role opens.
For Hiring Managers
- Look at qualified internal candidates before opening an external search.
- Promoting from within supports retention and shows your team a path forward.
- When no internal fit exists, bring in a recruiter who knows where to find passive talent in Dallas.
Ready to Talk?
Whether you are searching for your next accounting or finance role or deciding how to fill an opening on your team, Sarah and the team at G.A. Rogers and Associates and PrideStaff Financial can help. Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn or reach out to PrideStaff Dallas to start the conversation.
Video Transcripts
Candidate Question: I keep applying and getting nowhere. What am I missing?
“This question came from a candidate: I am applying and applying and applying and getting nowhere. So if your current strategy to identify a new position is based off of just submitting applications and hoping that someone contacts you, you’re missing a large piece of the puzzle. Your job search takes strategy. It cannot just be a click of a button and hope that someone contacts you, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants who are also doing that, and you are not going to differentiate yourself in any way.
So the ones that stand out, who are currently making moves in this market, are building relationships prior to needing a new role. They’re networking and building a personal brand on LinkedIn. They’re creating relationships with recruiters prior to needing a new position, and they’re finding ways of getting in front of decision makers, whether that’s going to networking events or asking someone for an opportunity to grab lunch with someone who works within their team. Basically, it’s getting creative in order to create a human connection. Applying online is part of the strategy, but it’s absolutely not the entire strategy.
So the best conversations, the best referrals, the best connections, those are all going to lead you to your next position. What do you think? Do you agree?”
Client Question: Should you promote from within or source externally?
“This question comes from a client: should you promote from within, or is it wise to source externally to ensure that the best talent is selected? My answer is not going to be probably what you would hear from other recruiters. If there is a qualified internal candidate, I believe you should always promote from within first. That strengthens your company culture. It improves retention. It shows employees that there’s opportunity for growth. People will perform better if they see a future with your company.
Now, if the right person doesn’t exist internally, then that is a totally different discussion. But we first always want to look inside your walls before you go out into the market. Do you agree?”