You have a difficult engineering vacancy. The first agency has not solved it, so you call a second. Then a third. More agencies should mean a wider net, should it not?
Sometimes it broadens the search. But for a narrow specialist role, I have seen it do the opposite: the same candidates approached repeatedly, mixed messages and nobody quite sure who is taking responsibility.
Let me start with the uncomfortable bit. Recruiters are businesses. Like your business, we have to decide where our time is most likely to produce a result. Pretending that has no effect on the search does nobody any favours.
What a recruiter is weighing up
When I assess a role, I want to understand whether I know the market, whether the requirement is realistic, how much work the search may take and whether the commercial arrangement supports that work.
There is another factor for me: future business. I want a relationship in which the client trusts me to solve the problem and comes back next time. The relationship matters beyond one invoice.
If the brief keeps moving, decisions disappear or the work is repeatedly duplicated, that affects the judgement. A recruiter may put more time into another assignment. That is not an excuse for going silent; it is a reason to be honest about what each side is committing to.
The agencies may be fishing in the same water
The pool for a specialist appointment is constrained by the skills, sector, location and working arrangements you need. Adding another agency does not automatically add another population of engineers.
Different specialists can have different reach. But if each is working from much the same brief, in much the same area, there is a fair chance they will speak to some of the same people.
I have compared it to Star Wars: the first recruiter starts sensing another agency in the Force. Less mystical in practice. A candidate says, “Yes, somebody has already spoken to me about that job.”
After a few of those conversations, the recruiter starts asking how much useful new ground they can cover. If the arrangement rewards being first with a CV rather than a properly qualified introduction, the incentives can push the work in the wrong direction.
That is a risk in the way the search is organised. It is not proof that every recruiter will cut corners, or that using more than one agency must fail.
Candidates notice the confusion
The employer may see several agencies working enthusiastically. The candidate can have a rather different view.
One candidate told me: “I’m sorry Mark, I can’t apply for that role. Four agencies have approached me already. It looks a bit of a mess, to be honest.”
Another asked whether they were still on hold after spotting an eighth agency advertising the job. By then, their interest had moved on.
Those conversations stay with you. The candidate is trying to work out whether the company can make a decision, whether they have already been considered and whether another conversation is worth their time.
Repeated approaches are not the same as sustained engagement. If different recruiters describe the role differently, the business can also lose control of what the candidate thinks is on offer.
Contingency is a fee model, not an agency count
This distinction matters. In a contingency arrangement, the recruitment fee is generally dependent on a successful placement under the agreed terms. It does not, by itself, mean that several agencies are instructed.
You can work exclusively with one agency on a contingency basis. A retained search has a different payment arrangement, with fees agreed for the assignment or stages of it. The amount, timing and deliverables need agreeing; there is no universal one-third rule that every search follows.
Exclusivity and payment model should be discussed separately. Neither arrangement guarantees that the right person will be found.
There can also be a sensible case for several suppliers: distinct specialisms, clearly divided requirements or a properly coordinated larger campaign. That is different from repeatedly sending one difficult permanent vacancy to another agency and hoping somebody wins the race.
My preference: one accountable search for a specialist role
For a niche engineering or technical sales appointment, my preference is to start with one suitable agency and a proper conversation beyond the job specification.
What must the person achieve? Which experience is essential? What can the company teach? Where could relevant people come from, including allied sectors? And what does the business offer that makes the conversation worth having?
Agree the activity and review points. Who is doing the mapping and approaches? How will candidate interest be checked before an introduction? When will the business give feedback? Who can authorise changes to the brief?
Be clear about fees, existing introductions, direct applications and how duplication will be handled. If more than one supplier is involved, tell them. Do not leave recruiters and candidates to discover the arrangement through each other.
Then judge the work against the agreement. Giving one agency ownership should give you more useful accountability, not less.
If the search is already tangled, reset it honestly
Do not just add another agency. Work out what has happened first.
List who is instructed, which candidates have been introduced, who is still being considered and what feedback is outstanding. Check the agreed terms before pausing or ending instructions; changing the search does not automatically remove obligations arising from earlier introductions.
Tell agencies clearly if you are pausing new activity or changing how the search will run. Do not tell them the vacancy is closed if you are still recruiting for it. Candidates already in process need a clear update too.
Keep those who have done useful work in the discussion. You may need a better brief, quicker decisions, a different specialist or a clearly defined exclusive search. The right answer is not necessarily to throw everybody out and start again.
The important thing is to stop the confusion, understand the gaps and agree who will do what next.
Start with the pre-job creation checklist if the requirement itself needs work, then use the guide to working with recruitment agencies to agree the relationship. The applications and interviews guide covers the feedback and decision-making work the business still needs to do.
More activity is not always more progress
I want the work I do to result in the right appointment and a client who trusts me next time. That takes information, feedback and enough space to carry out the search properly.
If several recruiters are circling the same candidates while your vacancy stays open, stop and ask what the extra activity is achieving.
You may not need another agency. You may need to decide how the agencies you already have are supposed to help.
Use the Employer Recruitment Pack to organise the brief and decisions. If the search is already tangled and you want to discuss a more focused approach, email me or call 0121 661 6578.