Why Most Recruitment Processes Fail (And What to Do Instead)

I've seen the same pattern dozens of times. A company needs to hire. They engage a recruiter or an agency. Two months later, zero hires, 50 rejected CVs, and a frustrated hiring manager.

The problem isn't finding candidates

There are candidates out there. The problem is that most recruitment processes have no structure. No clear scorecard. No defined decision framework. No feedback loop. The recruiter is operating blind.

What actually works

Here's what I do differently:

Start with the brief, not the search. I spend more time on the intake than most recruiters spend on the entire mandate. If the job description is wrong, every hour of sourcing is wasted.

Build a scorecard before you see a single CV. What does "good" look like for this role? What are the non-negotiables? What are the nice-to-haves? If the hiring manager can't answer these questions, we're not ready to start.

Present 2-3 candidates, not 15. If I need to send you 15 profiles, something is wrong with the brief. My job is to do the filtering, not yours.

Weekly feedback loops. Every week, we review what's working and what's not. If the market is telling us something, we adjust. Recruitment is iteration, not prayer.

The result

28 days average time to hire. 93% offer acceptance rate. Because by the time we make an offer, both sides know exactly what they're getting into.