A junior consultant’s view on a market that is optimised for speed, has forgotten about people, and is now paying the price.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The order is quick and cheap, but how’s the aftertaste?
I’m not going to open with a statistic I found on Google.
I’m a junior consultant. I started in London, fell into this industry by accident, and have spent the past few years watching a market that should be about people, become increasingly about process and AI.
Companies push for cheaper, faster and higher volumes. Most agencies respond by becoming CV pushers: flooding inboxes, moving on, never following up. Recently I was told:
“Replacing someone every two years doesn’t feel expensive initially. Run the numbers and it changes the conversation entirely.”
Recruitment fees may look large on an invoice, but they are small against the real cost of a bad hire: lost productivity, onboarding drag, team disruption, a toll on morale, and inevitably another placement fee months later. Hiring cheap is not a strategy, it’s a cost long-term.
A NUANCE WORTH MAKING
Internal Talent Acquisition is good but is it always adequate?
Internal Talent Acquisition teams are vital. I’m not here to argue against them. But there are three things they structurally cannot offer:
- Confidentiality. Especially for executive searches.
- Impartiality. An internal recruiter represents the company. Their job, consciously or not, is to sell the role. An external consultant’s job is to tell you honestly whether the fit is right, even when the answer is uncomfortable.
- A guarantee. When an external consultant’s fee is tied to the longevity of a placement, the incentive changes. We don’t win by filling a role. We win by filling it well.
The strongest outcomes I’ve seen come from TAs working with Recruitment Consultants, not from one replacing the other.
A DIFFERENT SCOREBOARD
Are we measuring the wrong things?
The recruitment industry has spent years measuring time-to-fill, number of CVs sent, and ratios of interviews to offers. Here’s what should be on the dashboard:
- Placement longevity at 12, 24 and 36 months
- Client satisfaction with the consultants at 3, 6 and 12 months
- Cost-per-hire vs. cost of turnover
These questions shift the entire conversation from transaction to relationship.
WHAT ACTUALLY SEPARATES US
CV pushers fill inboxes. Consultants understand people & dialogue with clients
Most candidates are not natural self-promoters. Writing a CV, selling yourself in an interview, navigating the signals of a new environment : none of this comes instinctively.
Most job descriptions won’t tell you what the team is actually like, what the first six months will really feel like, or what kind of person has historically thrived or failed in the role.
An AI or keyword match cannot tell you that. A consultant who has sat with the hiring manager, understood the culture, and spent real time with the candidate can!
My mentors, both in London and here at Finders, taught me that this industry rewards the extra mile. The call you take or make after hours, the follow-up nobody asked for, the honest conversation that costs you a fee but earns you trust is not a soft skill. It’s what the whole job is about.
Maybe it’s time to go back to basics. Meet teams in person. Use technology as a tool, not a replacement for judgement.
THE BIGGER QUESTION
If we keep telling people that humans are the backup plan, what happens next?
If we keep moving in the direction where humans are only there to validate what the machine already decided, wouldn’t we eventually become “redundant”.
We are not the backup plan. We are the plan.
For centuries, progress was not built by algorithms. It was built by people who were proud of their work, resilient through difficulties and convinced that the long game was worth playing.
The best placements, the ones I’m proud of, aren’t the fastest, they’re the ones still working, still growing, still adding value. That’s the metric I was taught to chase.
WHAT IS A RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT IN 2026 & BEYOND?
Standards, ethics, and the courage to do it right.
My mentors taught me by leading the way. I learned the ethics, standards and pride of being a Recruitment Consultant by following people who commit to their work and, therefore, respect those who do too.
Having been shown that there is another way, to lead by innovation, take the time to do things right the first time, I learned to take accountability when needed instead of systematically blaming an imperfect world.
We provide a service. I have been of service and shall be of service as a proud human and Recruitment Consultant.
Are you hiring cheap, fast and volume based? If not, how have you made the change?
I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts.