Why Contingent Recruitment Isn’t Working
Some call it contingent recruitment; some call it no win no fee recruitment. I call it CV horse trading…
This is where the client engages with multiple recruiters to fill a role. The one who lands the successful CV/Candidate gets the fee. It’s a transactional model that focuses on speed over quality.
Here’s why it’s one of the biggest challenges preventing companies from attracting the best talent in the Food Manufacturing Sector:
- When multiple agencies work on the same brief, each is less likely to win the fee, so they invest less time and money, weakening the process and focusing only on the same active job seekers, which is just 30% of the talent pool.
- A fast-paced process restricts candidate attraction to brief phone calls that focus only on experience, responsibilities, and qualifications. While these are important, there is little to no assessment of cultural fit or behaviours, and no structured competency interview. As a result, candidates fail to align with the company’s culture and values, leading to low employee retention.
- Like a house with multiple “for sale” signs, roles handled by many recruiters appear less attractive and candidates are more likely to engage with opportunities that feel more exclusive.
- The rush to submit CVs reduces the time recruiters have to communicate the Employee Value Proposition and highlight the company’s benefits and opportunities. As a result, candidates often lack buy in, leading to higher rates of no-shows, dropouts, and counter-offers.
- This recruitment method increases costs by creating an inefficient process, delivering poor candidate fit, and forcing teams to interview a higher volume of candidates. No-shows and counter-offers escalate costs and disrupt the recruitment process.
All of the above challenges will become more severe with the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, where it’s more important than ever to ensure you get a good fit candidate within your business.
We don’t operate a contingent recruitment model. We tried it a few years ago and moved away from it quickly as it doesn’t allow enough time to focus on quality, and with the no win no fee model, you can’t justify investing in the process when there’s no guaranteed return.
We work in partnership with our client as the sole recruiter.
Because we are the only ones in the chain we:
- Dedicate time and resource to the brief
- Engage with passive employees (those not actively searching for a job)
- Complement the passive search with a targeted advertising campaign
Candidates on this journey are more committed and sustainable in the roles. This only scratches the surface of our recruitment process. To see how it works in practice, visit our permanent process page.
Denis O’Driscoll
MD
