A brokerage advertises a specialist role and gets plenty of CVs, but almost nobody makes the shortlist. Is the talent scarce, or has the company made the job too difficult to match? Those problems look the same in an inbox but call for different fixes.

In its 14 September 2026 release, the Statistical Service of Cyprus put the overall vacancy rate at 2.6% in Q2, down from 2.8% in Q1. Over the same quarters, vacancies in financial and insurance activities rose from 225 to 398. Those figures describe a broad sector, not the supply of Forex dealers, payments specialists or compliance officers. In the UK, CIPD’s September 2026 resourcing survey found that 52% of organisations reported stronger competition for well-qualified talent over the previous year. Use these figures as context; use evidence from your own search to decide what to change.

Find where suitable candidates stop progressing

After ten working days, look at inbound applicants and directly sourced candidates separately. For inbound, compare how many applicants meet the essential criteria with how many applied. For outreach, compare how many qualified people agree to speak with how many you approached. Then check whether qualified candidates are getting recruiter screens and hiring-manager interviews, and how long they wait between steps.

If direct outreach produces good conversations but the advert produces few qualified applicants, test the advert or its distribution before widening the role. If qualified people take the initial call but repeatedly decline for the same reason, investigate that objection. Record counts alongside rates: three declines from four conversations are worth asking about, not enough to declare a market-wide pattern.

Separate essential experience from familiar CV signals

Ask the hiring manager to describe two decisions the new hire must make in the first 90 days. For a CFD dealing role, that might mean recognising a liquidity issue during a volatile session and escalating it appropriately. For a payments role, it might mean tracing a settlement discrepancy across a processor, bank and ledger. Use those tasks to decide what candidates must have done before.

Have Compliance confirm any role-specific certification, approval or experience requirements for the hiring entity. Keep those requirements intact. Then challenge preferences such as a specific platform, previous job title or exact employer type. If someone from a payment service provider can demonstrate the settlement controls you need, ask what they would have to learn about your brokerage before ruling them out.

Check the package before widening the search

Agree what the recruiter can say on the first call about base pay, variable pay, office location, shift coverage and flexibility. For a senior hire, clarify decision authority and available support as well. A Head of Payments role with no authority over provider selection is a different proposition from one with a team and a budget, even if the title is identical.

Compare like with like when checking the package: responsibility, location, working hours and guaranteed versus variable pay. If qualified prospects consistently cite the office requirement, test whether the team can change it without compromising coverage. If the requirement is fixed, keep it explicit and source accordingly. If pay is the recurring barrier, either revisit the budget or narrow the remit; broadening outreach alone leaves the underlying mismatch in place.

Test one change and set a decision date

Pick the strongest signal, name an owner and agree what you will review after another ten working days. A Limassol investment firm with many compliance applications but few suitable candidates might keep pay and location unchanged and rewrite the brief around two essential monitoring responsibilities. It can then compare the number of applicants who meet those requirements and reach interview, while noting any change in sourcing channels or application volume.

If qualified candidates are already available but waiting for interviews, fix the handover instead. Reserve hiring-manager slots, agree a feedback deadline and track days from recruiter screen to interview. If the search remains thin after a credible market test, decide explicitly whether to expand the geography, adjust the role or develop someone internally under appropriate supervision.

Conclusion

Before reposting a hard-to-fill vacancy, review the brief, the package and the point where qualified candidates stop progressing. That gives the hiring team a specific change to test and a better basis for deciding when the search really does need to widen.

Discuss your next hire with FXCareer

FXCareer supports Forex, CFD, FinTech, payments and investment firms hiring for C-suite & executive leadership, as well as specialist roles in compliance and AML, dealing, payments, finance, risk, technology, operations and legal. Contact FXCareer to discuss the remit and sourcing options for a difficult search.

Sources

Statistical Service of Cyprus, Job Vacancies for Q2 2026 · 14 September 2026.

CIPD, Resourcing and Talent Planning Report 2026 · 22 September 2026. UK employer research.