In short
Judge a technical recruitment partner on the briefing conversation, not the pitch. The ones worth instructing ask about the system before the salary, tell you where your brief is unrealistic, explain how they will find people rather than promising a database, and put their commercial terms — including what happens if the hire leaves — in writing before any search starts.
Key facts
- Best single test
- Do they push back on the brief?
- Second test
- Can they explain your problem back to you?
- Red flag
- CVs within hours of a first conversation
- Non-negotiable
- Written terms before the search begins
The briefing call tells you almost everything
A recruiter who understands technical hiring will spend most of a first call on the system, the team and the constraints — what you are building, what is hard about it, who this person works with and what they will own.
A recruiter who does not will move quickly to salary, notice period and how many CVs you would like. That call takes fifteen minutes and predicts the quality of everything that follows.
Ten questions to ask before instructing
- How would you describe this role back to me in your own words?
- What in this brief do you think is unrealistic for the market or the budget?
- How will you find these people, specifically, for this role?
- What will you tell a strong candidate about us that would make them take the call?
- Who actually does the work — the person in this meeting, or someone else?
- How many roles like this are you working on right now?
- What does your process look like from brief to offer, week by week?
- How do you handle a candidate who withdraws late, and how do you keep us informed?
- What are your commercial terms, in writing, including what happens if the hire leaves?
- What would make you decline this assignment?
Signals worth weighing
None of these is decisive alone; the pattern is what matters.
| Area | Encouraging | Concerning |
|---|---|---|
| Briefing | Asks about architecture, team and trade-offs | Asks only for salary and a job spec |
| Honesty | Tells you what the brief will struggle to attract | Agrees with everything |
| Sourcing | Describes a concrete approach for this role | Refers vaguely to a database of candidates |
| Candidate experience | Explains how candidates are briefed and updated | Cannot describe it |
| Commercials | Written terms, clear leaver treatment, VAT position stated | Verbal terms, or terms only after a CV is sent |
| Focus | Works a small number of roles properly | Volume, with no view on which roles fit |
A sensible selection process
1. Brief two or three, properly
Give each the same context and the same time. Comparing a thorough briefing with a rushed one tells you nothing.
2. Read the pushback
Note who challenged the brief and whether the challenge was correct. This is the strongest available signal of market knowledge.
3. Compare commercials on the four axes
Total, timing, leaver treatment and day-one commitment — not headline percentage.
4. Agree the process in writing
Interview stages, feedback turnaround, who is the single point of contact and how often you will hear from them.
5. Review after the first two candidates
If the first submissions miss the brief, that is a briefing problem to fix immediately, not a reason to wait six weeks.
Common questions
- Should we use more than one recruiter for the same role?
- Sometimes, but it changes the behaviour you get: speed goes up and briefing depth usually goes down. For a hard technical role, one properly briefed partner tends to beat three racing each other.
- Does specialist sector knowledge really matter?
- For genuinely complex systems it matters, because the recruiter has to hold a technical conversation credibly with candidates who have options. Test it in the briefing call rather than taking the website's word for it.
- What should be agreed in writing before a search starts?
- The fee basis and percentage, invoicing and payment terms, VAT position, what happens if the hire leaves, and the process and points of contact. If any of those are still verbal, the search has started too early.
Sources
Where a fact in this guide comes from a document you can check yourself, it is listed here. We do not cite market statistics or benchmark data we have not published.
Talk it through
A short, direct conversation about the role, the market and whether the SUS model fits what you are trying to do.
Arrange a conversationAny percentages or figures shown in this article are illustrative examples used to explain the model. They are not quoted rates, market benchmarks or salary data.