Articles From the Team

Why using more than one recruitment agency is the worst move you can make

Making the decision to leave your current firm is never the easiest decision you will make, having recently made the decision myself, I have experienced the recruitment process first hand. My biggest tip? Stick with one agency throughout the process. It’s a common misconception that the more agencies you send your CV out too, the more opportunities you will hear about therefore increasing your chance of finding the right role. However, the harsh reality is that most recruitment agencies are working on similar if not the same opportunities. In the current market there are numerous recruitment agencies that are competing with one another which means that the more recruitment agencies you involve, the higher the level of competition to find you a job.

So what’s wrong with agencies competing?

There are a number of issues that can arise from using multiple agencies. The first is that the finer detail of what you desire from your next job starts to get lost amongst the firms competing and you begin to hear about roles that may not even be in line with the dream job you had pictured from the start. One day you’re looking for a corporate role at a Top 20 UK Law firm in Leeds and the next you’re having discussions about a corporate finance role in Weston-super-Mere. All in all it can become a huge inconvenience throughout your job role.

Another issue that can arise from using multiple agencies is duplicate submission. Whether it’s giving two firms permission to send your CV to the same role by accident or whether one firm has taken it upon themselves to submit the CV without your permission. Having your CV submitted to the same firm twice is never a good impression. Duplicate submissions indicate that you are looking at more one opportunity to your potential employer which ultimately may lead to your application being viewed in a negative way. The final and most important issue in my opinion is timing. Applying to multiple agencies can usually result in a number of different interviews spread across a number of weeks. Ultimately this drags out the recruitment process and causes unnecessary stress. Using one consultant allows you to have your interviews at a time that makes sense to all parties. Using more than one consultant could mean preparing for a final interview and a first stage telephone call one after another and may therefore scupper your chances in either interview.

My advice?

Find a recruitment consultant you can trust and stick with that consultant. Tell that consultant exactly what it is that you are looking for in as much detail as possible. Knowing that you are working with one agent who knows what your next move looks like is extremely beneficial. The recruitment process will run a lot more efficiently and will help make this difficult decision a lot less stressful.