This could be for many reasons such as the salary being too low, a badly written job description or advert. Are you using an internal job title (that doesn’t mean anything to the outside world)? Bad Google or Glassdoor reviews could be another reason. Or perhaps you are just looking for a Unicorn and you need to relax the criteria. Either way, the answer to this is not to engage even more recruiters. If it is a particularly tricky role to fill, you may want to engage one recruiter either on an exclusive or retained basis.

Most good candidates will be in one or more recruitment processes for other opportunities so it may just be a simple case that they have a better offer on the table (whether it be a higher salary, a counteroffer from current employer or a location/logistical issue). For starters, review the salary you are offering. If you are working with a recruiter, they will be able to advise you.

Are they looking for perfection / ticks in all the boxes? Very rarely does the perfect candidate exist. It is then just a case of what the hiring manager(s) can live without and then consider someone’s ability to learn and provide some official training/mentoring/shadowing. Potentially offer a candidate a lower starting salary with a view to increasing it when they have passed probation.

This is a real bugbear of ours! This is usually because a candidate is not keeping track of applications and/or the recruiter not revealing where they are sending the candidate’s CV to (and the candidate then not asking). It could be that you are using too many recruiters? Either way, a recruiter should not be sending you any CVs without obtaining written consent from the candidate. Another reason could be that the candidate has applied directly but doesn’t realise it’s the same role.

First of all, you should refer to the T & Cs the recruiter sent to you prior to interviewing any candidate to check any rebate you are entitled to. Sometimes the recruiter will offer to re-recruit the role for free, so they don’t lose any revenue.

Check the representation clause in the recruiters T & Cs (assuming you have received them). If you have signed or agreed to the T & Cs via e-mail, you are bound by them and will have to pay the invoice if the candidate is within the representation period. If the candidate is outside the representation period, then you are off the hook!

It is usually 6 months, but some recruiters will stipulate 12. You can always negotiate this but do so before signing on the dotted line and definitely before interviewing anyone.

Basically, the higher the risk of not placing someone, the higher the fee. For example, if you are using a number of recruiters, the chances of any one recruiter placing someone is lower = higher %. Conversely, the higher the chances of recruiting someone, the lower the percentage. It is worth bearing in mind that if working on a contingency recruitment fee model, a recruiter is working for free up until they place someone. If you then end up offering an internal candidate, cancelling the role or putting the role on hold, the recruiter has done all that work for nothing! It is because of this that more and more recruiters are moving away from the contingency model as it’s not sustainable.

Top question is always around career progression. Unless, of course, the candidate has experienced enough career progression and this isn’t their main motivator. These days a more common question is around % of remote vs hybrid vs officed based working there is. They usually like to know who they will be working with, what an average day looks like and what projects they will be working on. They will also be interested to know what it’s like to work for your company and what the culture is.

Usually, they will not ask about salary but they may like to know about the benefits package and next steps and timescales in the recruitment process.