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Struggling with Behavioural Questions in Interviews?
They are the most common and also the toughest for many candidates.
This free E-book shows you how to answer them with confidence.
They are the most common and also the toughest for many candidates.
This free E-book shows you how to answer them with confidence.
Career Reshaped Episode 31: Before You Go to Recruitment Agencies Know This - Iona Colville
Ever felt like choosing a recruitment partner is a shot in the dark? Like, how do you tell who actually delivers on their glossy brochure promises?
You’re not imagining it!
In this episode of Career Reshaped, Natasha sits down with a talent-acquisition veteran from one of the industry’s top-ranked agencies to uncover what really matters when you’re about to hand over your hiring mandate.
From demanding hard numbers on fill rates and time-to-fill to probing for in-depth market-insight reports and salary-benchmark guides, our guest reveals the questions founders and hiring managers should never skip. You’ll learn why an agency’s dedication to candidate experience—measured by satisfaction scores consistently above 90%—can make or break your next hire, and how a robust operations team actually keeps roles closing quickly.
The conversation also dives into post-placement support: why regular check-ins after that offer’s signed are non-negotiable, how cultural fit and tenure metrics save you from repeat searches, and what hidden “non-negotiables” agencies often gloss over until it’s too late.
If you’ve ever felt burned by an agency that under-delivered—or you’re gearing up to partner with a firm that’ll move the needle—this episode hands you the insider playbook you’ve been missing.
🎧 Tune in now to learn the real rules of recruitment partnerships—and hire smarter.
Podcast Transcript:
Discussion Overview
Ask about their expertise in your industry—are they true specialists? Then go deeper: What’s their fill rate? Time to shortlist? Do they share market insights or salary guides? Check how active they are on LinkedIn, whether they use feedback platforms like Recruiter Insider, and what their satisfaction scores are from both clients and candidates. A good agency should be able to back up their claims with real numbers and reviews.
Because how recruiters treat people still defines outcomes. One guest shared a poor experience where a recruiter failed to prep them for Excel testing, then belittled them afterward. In contrast, good recruiters guide candidates, prep them well, and treat them with respect. It’s not just about placing people—it’s about how they’re supported through the process.
Some agencies only care about quick wins and revenue targets—how many roles they can fill fast. But real success comes from placing candidates who are aligned with the company and stay long term. That only happens when the recruitment process is intentional, respectful, and centered on human connection—not just sales numbers.
They don’t just deliver resumes—they bring insight, operational support, transparency, and consistent follow-up. They create a candidate experience that builds trust, so by the time someone reaches the employer’s desk, they’re engaged and aligned. The best agencies even provide post-placement check-ins to ensure long-term success.
Because skills can be learned, but alignment with a company’s energy and values determines if someone will thrive and stay. If a recruiter understands both the role and the workplace, they’ll prioritize people who “click” with the team—not just tick boxes.
They’re not always required, but they still help in the right context. When well-written, a cover letter can explain a candidate’s story or career shift, helping them stand out—especially when the resume alone doesn’t capture the full picture.
Hiring works best when it’s both fast and clear. A streamlined, honest process sets the tone for employment. Agencies that stay in touch, keep candidates informed, and guide them through onboarding build better employer-employee matches. It’s about setting the right energy from day one.
Recruiters can only help if you meet them halfway. Being responsive, open about your skills, and communicative about your needs makes it easier for agencies to match you with the right roles. Silence or hesitation often means missed opportunities.
| Time | Transcript |
|---|---|
| 00:05 | looking at it from the client's perspective. So, this is all as a |
| 00:08 | candidate, but with a client. So, what should founders or hiring managers look |
| 00:13 | for when choosing a recruitment agency to partner with? I think there's |
| 00:16 | probably like a long list of things that you should be looking out for and |
| 00:20 | whether you do or not, that's your choice. I think recruiters knowledge on |
| 00:24 | the market like are they a specialist in their field? Do they say they are? you |
| 00:28 | know, are they industry specialists? Um, I think as well like asking if it's a |
| 00:34 | brand new relationship, like we've got everything ready to go, so we we we can |
| 00:38 | answer these questions. I don't know about other agencies, but what's your |
| 00:41 | stats? What's your success rates? That includes your fill rate, um, your time |
| 00:46 | to fill, how of like how many days would it take you to short list? asking all |
| 00:50 | these questions and then kind of looking at like how active they are in general |
| 00:54 | in the market like do they provide market insight reports are they doing |
| 00:58 | salary guides do they have I mean we've got a dedicated operations team um |
| 01:03 | within our organization you know a lot of recruitment agencies might not have |
| 01:07 | the privilege of the resources that we have and we obviously spend um you know |
| 01:12 | a lot of time and and it's so much value for us to have that but it's like what |
| 01:16 | are they what do they look like on LinkedIn like are there reviews use um |
| 01:20 | we use a recruiter insider platform which is essentially like a benchmark um |
| 01:27 | that we we actually have KPIs on it um internally where every sort of client |
| 01:32 | that we've worked with um and candidates that we work with they are sent a survey |
| 01:37 | at the end and then um our KPI is that everyone um has to get a score above |
| 01:43 | 90%. It's amazing honestly cuz I've worked with some recruiters from like |
| 01:48 | the candidate point of view and I've had just some really like I had a really |
| 01:53 | negative experience with one recruiter shredding apart the experience like I've |
| 01:57 | got a master's degree and oh well that's that's nothing that's just paper you |
| 02:01 | know I was like okay like way to push someone down. Um and then when she put |
| 02:06 | forward she's like they'll be doing testing. I'm like okay can you tell me |
| 02:09 | what it is? She's like oh no it's no big deal. So, not really prepped properly. |
| 02:14 | So, then when I got to the testing, it's all on Excel and I'm actually not really |
| 02:19 | good at Excel. So, like I wish I knew cuz then I really would have practiced |
| 02:24 | it. And so then when I didn't do so well, she berated me like, "Oh, so |
| 02:30 | embarrassing." I was like, "Oh my goodness." Yeah. Like this is not, you |
| 02:34 | know, as opposed to ask me how you excel things. I would have said straight up |
| 02:38 | like I'm not good at it. like I don't enjoy Excel and you know so yeah it was |
| 02:44 | just a really horrible experience. Yeah. And yeah, you hear |
| 02:50 | these things all the time like we've um we've won um through this platform |
| 02:56 | number one agency for candidate experience for five years in a row. And |
| 03:01 | that's like that's absolutely incredible to us. And that is literally and I'm and |
| 03:05 | I'm saying that like the majority of our consultants are scoring like 98 99% |
| 03:11 | candidate satisfaction from these surveys. And it's like a long list of |
| 03:15 | questions that candidates fill out after they've gone through an entire process |
| 03:18 | with us. Now, if you know anything about recruitment, that is pretty much unheard |
| 03:22 | of. But that's the standard that we hold and we genuinely we don't just say we're |
| 03:27 | a human first recruitment agency. We actually want to act in it. And that's |
| 03:31 | why we actually don't need them, but that's why we KPI that everyone has to |
| 03:35 | get a score above 90 90%. Because that keeps that standard up really high. Um, |
| 03:40 | and it's Yeah. But because it's embedded in our training, it's not everyone does |
| 03:44 | it without thinking. So it's not actually that hard to be nice. But also |
| 03:50 | consistently, sorry, I was going to say consistently getting those high scores |
| 03:54 | would also make you feel better as well. So like make your team feel better and |
| 03:59 | make them want to work better and do more and help because it's the, you |
| 04:05 | know, the kudos that you get and you're like, well, I did that. like no one |
| 04:09 | helped me get a score above nan or nani. They love it, you know, they they love |
| 04:13 | it and they report on it to us every week and it's always with smiles. And |
| 04:17 | the thing is what it also allows is this great experience for our clients because |
| 04:22 | by the time that candidate reaches you because we've got such a thorough |
| 04:25 | vetting process and then because we put so much time and care into them but when |
| 04:29 | that CV lands on the client's desk they're already like completely invested |
| 04:33 | in the role that leads to um you know good tenure and then we have like you |
| 04:39 | know really regular check-ins like postplacement check-ins um where we |
| 04:43 | check in on the first day after the first week after the first month all the |
| 04:46 | way up to the 6 month mark. I think what a lot of companies also forget is that |
| 04:51 | the relationship starts during that recruitment process and whatever that |
| 04:56 | process looks like almost sets the tone y for that whole employment. So if the |
| 05:03 | process isn't great and then just say the um induction isn't great, the tone |
| 05:08 | it's the energy is set and it does flow through throughout the employment and |
| 05:15 | usually these people they don't stay for very long. They're not committed in the |
| 05:18 | heart. They just accepted the role because they need the money or whatnot |
| 05:21 | but they're not really committed and I think that when a agency really focuses |
| 05:27 | on the people they're going to put the right people forward. So the client, |
| 05:32 | they're going to have a positive relationship and a connection |
| 05:35 | immediately because they can trust you now. They know that you're going to put |
| 05:39 | the right people there. They can get excited by that person as well. And I |
| 05:44 | think that makes a big difference in just as an agency moving forward in just |
| 05:49 | B2B. It that reputation gets built. And you know it's interesting cuz like I |
| 05:54 | worked also for recruitment agency and I I also had KPIs but those KPIs were how |
| 06:00 | many positions can I fill the dollar mark and once and as a team if we got X |
| 06:07 | dollars like you know sold like sold like sales of then we get rewarded. |
| 06:15 | Yeah. But if we don't meet it but like so it's not about the connection or the |
| 06:20 | relationships it's about how many positions we can put forward. So then |
| 06:26 | yeah then you get that pressure of well maybe I should push this candidate a |
| 06:30 | little bit even if I know they're not exactly the right fit. Just tell them oh |
| 06:34 | they're fine and like no there's nothing really wrong with them and to find out |
| 06:39 | that there's something really wrong and they're not a good fit at all. It's um |
| 06:45 | look we obviously have certain standards around everything like you know at the |
| 06:49 | end of the day we want people to be placing as as many roles as possible but |
| 06:53 | I think fundamentally you need to get like the the actual foundations correct |
| 06:57 | of what you're actually doing because otherwise it just starts to get |
| 07:01 | desperate and I'll probably speak about it further down but it's like the then |
| 07:04 | the quality and the standard set as an industry in recruitment it's yeah it |
| 07:09 | just it can vary so much from agency to agency. It really just depends like if |
| 07:14 | you are looking to work with a new agency, you kind of need to do your |
| 07:16 | research and you need to understand like what you're going in for because um yeah |
| 07:21 | they you know some agencies might have lower rates but what at what cost does |
| 07:25 | does that um that process come at? That is so true. is, you know, you get what |
| 07:30 | you pay for and it's sometimes when things are really affordable and then I |
| 07:35 | think why why is this so low and I mean sometimes things are great, they're |
| 07:40 | cheap and they're great and you know and then and if it say it's a product and it |
| 07:44 | does break quickly then like oh well I didn't spend much money on it but when |
| 07:48 | it's something like your career when it's that you want to be going with an |
| 07:54 | agency that prize themselves and ranks themselves well which means that they |
| 07:58 | have a good percentage, commission percentage, because then they know that |
| 08:03 | they're worth it because their work relates to that. Before we get into the |
| 08:07 | nitty-gritty of this topic, we just wanted to check in and say that if you |
| 08:11 | believe that you need some assistance and that we could help you, reach out to |
| 08:15 | us today. Check out our website, join our newsletter. We'd love to be in |
| 08:19 | touch. We wanted to quickly mention that subscribing to the podcast is the best |
| 08:24 | way to support the show and ensure you never miss an episode. It's super easy. |
| 08:30 | Just click the subscribe button whenever you're listening. Thanks for tuning in. |
| 08:35 | Longterm it pays off cuz like if you're a candidate and you're investing in your |
| 08:39 | career, you got to think about what that investment will result into. So let's |
| 08:44 | just say even like a resume, right? getting a good resume or interview |
| 08:48 | coaching, whatever it may be, that's going to result into this X job that's |
| 08:53 | going to pay you this much money. Well, then you'll pay off that that investment |
| 08:58 | within a month. Within your first paycheck, you would have paid it off and |
| 09:02 | moving forward, you got years of this career. And the same goes to companies. |
| 09:07 | So it costs a lot of money to hire someone and train them, invest in them |
| 09:14 | only to lose them and start again. So you want to get it right. So and a lot |
| 09:19 | of companies also might be a bit nervous to get it right. So having a good |
| 09:23 | recruiter who understands people, they can feel a bit more comfortable |
| 09:29 | like they have that discussion with someone who they can trust. What do you |
| 09:33 | think? What do you think of this candidate? And then you could put |
| 09:36 | forward your your perspective from the human side because I find a lot of |
| 09:40 | managers, let's just say we we're doing with engineering. They understand |
| 09:44 | engineering. They understand what makes a good engineer. But that's not enough. |
| 09:48 | You don't need just the skills. You need that cultural fit. You need that |
| 09:51 | attitude. Can you work with this person long term and you bring in that |
| 09:55 | perspective? you can see that while others may not be able to see that it's |
| 10:00 | that um emotional intelligence that a good recruiter should have. So it works |
| 10:06 | kind of both ways investment that a candidate has even a candidate investing |
| 10:11 | in building the relationship with you and |
| 10:15 | um understanding what you can offer them and investing their time to talk to you |
| 10:20 | and go to those two interviews. find a lot of people don't like going to |
| 10:24 | multiple interviews. Um they're like one or two why do I have to go to seven and |
| 10:29 | it's a process and it goes both ways as well. You get to understand the role |
| 10:33 | better as well. You can make that decision if you want to work there too |
| 10:39 | just as important. So I think that the role that the recruiter plays in in |
| 10:44 | a job search is is honestly it's quite critical at times. Um there's so many |
| 10:49 | people that like you say a if an organization puts up a job advert and |
| 10:53 | you know gets applications they're only looking at their experience. We're |
| 10:58 | looking at everything and um you know we can tell if we're working with a company |
| 11:02 | closely we can tell um from meeting a candidate we're doing that part for you. |
| 11:06 | We can tell if it's a culture fit or not. Um and so we can advocate for that |
| 11:11 | person and be like they're by the way on paper they might not be the shiniest you |
| 11:15 | know tool in the box but actually we've met them and we know that you as an |
| 11:20 | individual and as a company will love them so why don't you meet with them and |
| 11:24 | it's just you can't get that from just applying directly for roles yourself. |
| 11:28 | Wish you could I wish you could send a little memo hey I can do the job I mean |
| 11:31 | you can do cover letters and things but um do you know what I hate to say it but |
| 11:35 | like I don't think many people read cover letters so 50. Yeah, we we speak |
| 11:41 | to a lot of people and then and other recruiters as well and they they say |
| 11:46 | some do, some don't. Um so they usually do if they wanted to know more |
| 11:50 | information. So if they feel like there's a few maybe achievements missing |
| 11:54 | out, let's check their cover letter and then usually they then go to link. I |
| 11:58 | guess from us we just pick up the phone so quickly and we we kind of get their |
| 12:02 | cover letter over the phone. Yeah, fair enough. I always say for candidate to |
| 12:07 | put in a cover letter because as I said it is 50/50. They will read it or they |
| 12:12 | won't read it. It's one or the other. But it's better to have one and them not |
| 12:17 | read it than not have one and they're looking for it. Having a like a base |
| 12:22 | cover letter template and just editing you by personalizing it. you don't have |
| 12:26 | to invest as much time on the cover letter in my opinion as you would in |
| 12:30 | making sure that your resume aligns to the job or you're presenting the right |
| 12:34 | information in the resume. I know I've read some cover letters I was like oo |
| 12:39 | this person sounds great and then look at the resume and the resume is so bad I |
| 12:43 | don't call them. So it's not it's still the resume that that gets you to pick up |
| 12:48 | that phone. But the cover letter is a nice addition especially if it's a |
| 12:52 | career change. You have a chance to sort of explain your thoughts and goals in |
| 12:58 | that cover letter come from this but I'm moving into that. You know you can |
| 13:02 | elaborate a shiny a good LinkedIn as well. Well, I at this stage I think a |
| 13:09 | LinkedIn's probably even better than a resume and cover letter, but yeah, for |
| 13:13 | sure. People still using that because I always tell my clients that your res |
| 13:17 | your LinkedIn needs to be your resume on steroids. You can't put everything into |
| 13:23 | your resume. That's why you add more information on LinkedIn cuz usually from |
| 13:27 | the resume, if they want to know more, they go to LinkedIn. So you have to give |
| 13:31 | them more because they want to know more to your story and they're looking for |
| 13:36 | more information. So if your LinkedIn is not doing that then they're left with |
| 13:41 | itching their head like oh you know and yeah maybe they'll call but if they're |
| 13:46 | not completely convinced and they've got a lot of other applicants I think a |
| 13:51 | recruiter may still make that phone call but if it was direct with the company |
| 13:55 | maybe not cuz they're like no I'm not convinced next person. What is a common |
| 14:00 | mistake that job seekers make when they're first contacted by a recruiter? |
| 14:04 | I would say not responding quick enough. Like agencies move quickly. So if you're |
| 14:10 | approached about a role and you don't reply for, you know, 2 days, the chances |
| 14:13 | are you probably lost that opportunity. If you're interested in a role and you |
| 14:17 | genuinely are, but you're a bit lax and you don't send your CV for a few days, |
| 14:22 | again, you'll probably miss out on that opportunity. you know, we turn around |
| 14:25 | PEM roles within 3 days and that's from brief to submission and then on temp |
| 14:30 | roles we fill them within the day. It goes both ways of course again like part |
| 14:34 | of being a good recruiter is being really um transparent about timelines |
| 14:38 | and actually properly communicating to candidates. I'm going to be shortlisting |
| 14:41 | for this on Thursday. We'll need your CV by Wednesday evening um so we can format |
| 14:46 | it and whatnot. But I think it's really like the biggest mistake is like if |
| 14:50 | you're interested but you're just not moving quickly like that would be an |
| 14:54 | issue. And I think a common mistake as well would be like it's totally okay to |
| 14:59 | let us know that you've already applied for the role directly. Please do. You |
| 15:03 | know, it's embarrassing for us if we ask you um you know, have you already |
| 15:07 | applied for this directly and you know, you're you're not honest about that |
| 15:10 | because then you know, we send your CV to the client and they say, you know, |
| 15:14 | we've already seen this CV. So, please let us know about that. That's okay. Um |
| 15:18 | I think a lack of transparency is probably always going to be the biggest |
| 15:22 | mistake that a candidate Yeah. Well, this is again something, you know, we |
| 15:28 | tell our clients is that it's good to have even if you're not looking, we |
| 15:32 | could be head-h hunted, right? So, it's good to have an updated resume at all |
| 15:38 | times. So, even like once a year, you can just go and update, refresh it |
| 15:42 | because when someone does approach you, they are looking to fill that quickly. |
| 15:46 | They're not going to wait for you to go and take a couple weeks update. You take |
| 15:50 | your time. But when I have say friends or client, anyone that comes up and |
| 15:55 | says, "Oh, I've been head hunted now. I need a resume." They've never been told |
| 16:00 | you've got until Thursday to give us their resume. So, they're so relaxed. |
| 16:05 | And I tell them that you you need a bit more urgency. You probably need to have |
| 16:09 | it done like yesterday. So, and that is all. And another thing is is why I tell |
| 16:14 | people you need a job search daily. And that includes things like checking your |
| 16:19 | inbox and you know networking all that because things move so quickly that it's |
| 16:25 | here today gone tomorrow and that's the reality of it. Some people might not be |
| 16:30 | in a rush and take their time. That's great you know but sometimes job |
| 16:34 | searching is like a full-time job in itself. Absolutely. And you have to be |
| 16:38 | available 100%. Yeah. It's a hard one. But it's worth the investment though. |
| 16:45 | the time you're investing time and it's worth that investment if you are serious |
| 16:49 | about finding new opportunities or Yeah. And it shows your commitment like if |
| 16:54 | you're going to move quickly then it's going to instill confidence in your |
| 16:57 | recruiter that you actually want the job. Um we've had so many strange um |
| 17:02 | experiences where the candidates's been really lax and we communication's been |
| 17:07 | slow and and coming back to us about an interview and what times they can do has |
| 17:11 | been slow and then it turns out that they like really did want the role and |
| 17:16 | but the whole time you're just thinking oh I you know I don't think they they |
| 17:20 | want it like I've not got confidence and then if you're not instilling that |
| 17:24 | confidence then your recruiter will very easily go and look for other people in |
| 17:28 | the meantime. Well, that also not just makes you think they don't want it. |
| 17:32 | Yeah. Makes you think what are you going to be like in the job? You're giving |
| 17:36 | yourself but it's not even that like it's actually you're potentially giving |
| 17:39 | yourself more competition for this position because your recruiter will |
| 17:42 | look for more people to represent as well. You know, we always shortlist but |
| 17:47 | if we've shortlisted um you know three people and two people move to interview |
| 17:52 | but one of them we're not too sure about because they're not showing commitment. |
| 17:55 | We don't just want one person there. So then we look for more. Um, so really if |
| 17:59 | you aren't showing that commitment to the process, then the chances are you're |
| 18:03 | just giving yourself more competition. Very good points and I hope people |
| 18:07 | listening out there understand that you know you don't have to be aggressive or |
| 18:12 | nervous, but just be active. Just be responsive. It's fine. Like if we ask |
| 18:17 | you a question, you know, people are busy at their work days, try and come |
| 18:20 | back to us that day. Um, or let us know. Look, we all know a huge percentage of |
| 18:25 | the population are accessible to their phones regularly. So, if you can't send |
| 18:30 | a text or um give someone a call back over your lunch break, then that's going |
| 18:34 | to be don't play hard to get. This is not dating. It's not going to work for |
| 18:39 | us. I think one of the biggest things is |
| 18:42 | coming across as desperate. A lot of uh people are worried that that's how |
| 18:48 | they're going to show themselves. Um, and I've even spoken to someone who once |
| 18:54 | told me that they called a recruiter and the recruiter |
| 18:58 | told them off and said, "Geez, you look desperate. Like, it's not a good look." |
| 19:03 | And in a professional environment, if I ever heard anybody in our office saying |
| 19:10 | that to a candidate, I would have the shock of my life. Yeah. Like, |
| 19:16 | that just blows my mind. |
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