We are in a talent-short market, the UK is at 75% capacity of full employment, the highest it’s been since records began. You are struggling with your normal avenues to find the right person you need for your role, so you decide to talk to a recruiter.

Who do you call, how many do you go to, do you talk to every recruiter, get the job out there, spread it around, get the recruiters all vying against each other, and get a better service that way and more candidates, right? SO, SO WRONG! Let me tell you why.

You want to be seen to be an employer of choice and get talent to come to work for you. In order to do that you have to become “desirable” to the candidate.
It’s like dating, you put your best foot forward, you look good, you show who you are, you know what you want, the timescale you want it in, how you are paying for it and throw your hat into the ring… come and find me/us!

If you go to a plethora of agencies several things will happen, you’ll have them all going after the same talent pool – I’ve already told you the market is small, this does more than frustrate your recruiter, it pisses the candidates off! They think you are desperate. Believe me, you want to be seen as cool, experienced, level-headed, ahead of your competition, not desperate.
The agencies, when they realise they are all working against each other, will put your vacancy to the bottom of their roles they are searching for. Truly! What’s the point wasting time, talking to candidates that have been spoken to three times already, running a race to nowhere with no finish line in sight?

So do yourself a favour, build a relationship with a recruiter you like, you trust, gives good advice even if it’s not what you want to hear. Stop wasting your time having five recruiters sending you five CVs then all trying to call you about those CVs. Most likely as they are in a race, the candidates won’t have been qualified as they want to get that candidate in front of you before the other four do. They don’t do their job properly as you are backing them into a corner and it’s a PR nightmare for you.

A relationship with a great recruiter is a good thing to have, they can phone you when they have just interviewed someone you don’t even know you want yet but is so perfect for you and your company and fits your ethos that they let you know about them first. In this day and age when talent is so hard to come by that’s what you need, to be ahead of the game.