Why You Might Be Thinking About MPCs All Wrong

"What's your MPC approach?"
A client asked me that last week.

My answer?

It depends.

MPC, or Most Placeable Candidate, strategies can work.
I used them constantly back in my Aerotek days.
We’d bring a sharp, hyper-specific candidate to a hiring manager and let that candidate open the door.

But back then, it wasn’t a crowded play.
Now?
Every hiring manager is getting flooded with MPC messages.
And the tactic that once built curiosity now builds skepticism.

Here’s the reality today:
-Is this candidate even real?
-Are they exclusive?
-Is this just a recycled script with a copy-pasted profile?

Managers are tired. They’ve seen it all.
And when your outreach starts sounding like everyone else’s, the candidate isn't what gets questioned, you are.

That’s the danger of overplaying the MPC hand.
Even more dangerous? Believing the candidate is your value.

I see recruiters now overthink their entire MPC process:
-How specific should I get?
-What niche do I target?
-Should I invent a fictional profile to run a play?

Wrong questions.
Because in a market that’s skeptical, what builds trust is not a pitch, it’s presence.

So here’s what I told my client instead.

You’ve been in your niche for years.
You’ve sat on the calls, heard the gaps, watched the offers stall, seen the internal processes break down.
You understand your hiring managers better than they understand themselves.

You are the MPC.

Not in the egotistical way.
In the way that reminds them this is a partnership.
That you’re the one they should trust to go find the actual Most Placeable Candidate, whether that person is in your ATS today or not.

Because when a company has been burned by five different agencies in the last year, you think they’re going to respond to another vague résumé?

Or are they going to respond to the recruiter who:
-Speaks their language
-Spots the problems they’ve been avoiding
-Already sounds like they’re on the internal team

That’s who wins the meeting.
That’s who earns the req.
That’s who sets the terms.

And that’s what happened here.

My client stopped trying to force a candidate into every message.
Instead, he showed up with insight, questions, credibility.
He positioned himself as the partner who could go find the solution, not just pitch one.

A few thoughtful DMs.
A couple of voice notes that sounded like a human, not a script.
And now?
He’s booked more quality meetings with decision-makers, the ones excited to work with him.

Not with the mythical unicorn candidate he was trying to engineer.

So if you’re struggling with your MPC play right now, ask yourself:

Are you building trust in you as the partner?
Or are you hiding behind a profile, hoping it’s good enough?

Because in this market, recruiters who build authority win.

Not because of their candidate.

But because of their clarity.

Happy hunting.