If I stripped everything back and ignored the branding, the content, the claims and the noise, this is the question I’d ask:
Are they actually good at getting people jobs?
Because when you remove the fluff, recruitment comes down to one thing. Outcomes.
And the clearest outcome of all is this: people placed, in the right roles, with the right businesses.
Access Is the Real Value
Candidates don’t engage with recruiters for motivational posts or market commentary. That stuff has its place, but it’s not the reason they pick up the phone.
What candidates really want is access.
Access to interviews.
Access to opportunities they wouldn’t see themselves.
Access to hiring managers who are genuinely open to them.
Access to jobs.
Everything else just fills in the gaps around that.
In the last three years, we’ve placed hundreds and hundreds of people. And if we’re being honest, that’s the metric that matters most. Not impressions. Not engagement. Not how clever the messaging sounds.
Placements.
Good Recruitment Is a Flywheel
When recruitment is done properly, it compounds.
Place good people and a few things start to happen naturally:
- Place good people and they recommend you.
- Place good people and clients come back.
- Place good people and those people go on to hire good people themselves.
- Place good people, they get promoted, replace themselves, and hire more.
- Place good people and they become your candidates again later in their career.
That’s not luck. That’s trust built over time.
You don’t need to force growth when your work creates its own momentum.
The Real Skill Is Matching, Not Marketing
The hardest part of recruitment isn’t finding CVs. It’s judgement.
Knowing when someone is technically strong but culturally wrong.
Knowing when a role looks good on paper but won’t deliver in reality.
Knowing when to slow a process down instead of rushing to close.
The magic happens when great people are placed into the right opportunities, not just any opportunity.
That’s where retention comes from. That’s where reputations are built. And that’s where long-term value lives.
No sales strategy can compensate for bad matching.
No LinkedIn post can undo a poor placement.
Consistency Beats Cleverness
There’s a temptation in recruitment to overcomplicate things. To constantly chase the next tactic, tool or trend.
But the best recruiters we know all have one thing in common: they’re consistently good at the basics.
They listen properly.
They ask better questions.
They challenge when something doesn’t stack up.
They don’t oversell.
They don’t disappear once the offer is signed.
They treat every placement like it matters, because it does.
That consistency compounds far more than any clever campaign.
Brand Is Built on Delivery
Yes, we’re building a brand.
Yes, we enjoy sharing perspectives, starting conversations, and growing a business we’re proud of.
That part is fun.
But none of it works if the foundations aren’t solid.
Brand without delivery is fragile.
Visibility without substance fades quickly.
The reason people trust you isn’t what you say about yourselves. It’s what happens when someone puts their career, or their team, in your hands.
What I’d Actually Look For
So if I was genuinely trying to find the best recruiters, I wouldn’t start with their content.
I’d ask:
- Who have they placed?
- Where are those people now?
- Do clients come back?
- Do candidates stay in touch?
- Do their placements turn into hiring managers?
Because that tells you everything you need to know.
Recruitment doesn’t need to be loud to be effective.
It needs to be accurate.
Final Thought
There’s nothing wrong with building a brand. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the process. But the work still matters more than the noise around it.
At its core, recruitment is simple. Not easy, but simple.
Be good at your job.
Place good people.
Do it consistently.
Everything else takes care of itself.
