How do recruiters work four days a week and still bill more than their colleagues?

At the end of this long weekend (apologies to those who had to work yesterday!), I’m reminded of some of the most productive recruiters I’ve known. These people only work four days a week, yet still bill more than many of their full-time colleagues because of how they spend their time. Following their example is a great way to improve results:

Focus on result generating activity
No unqualified jobs, or time-wasting candidates, these recruiters are ruthless about what they spend their time on. They don’t kid themselves, and they don’t kid their clients or

So your contractor wants to know their charge rate?

Two questions consultants prefer not to hear from their contractors:

1) ‘How much are you charging the client?’
Usually asked after you’ve hammered the phones to find a suitable role; persuaded your client to conduct an interview; and overcome objections to solicit an offer. (You weren’t expecting a ‘thanks’ now, were you?!)

Before you spontaneously combust with indignation, remember that the majority of people asking this question are doing so for one of the following reasons:

Naivety – perhaps this is the first time the person has contracted, or a well-meaning friend has told them that recruitment companies take ‘their’ money. They think that if there was no

Good Manners - a Magnet for Good Business

Having recently been on the receiving end of some truly terrible customer service, the subject of professional courtesy is on my mind. It seems that some organisations see extending common courtesy as a waste of precious time, unnecessary after the customer has been snared; others mistake it with subservience and weakness.


In my experience extending common courtesy not only helps to oil the wheels of everyone’s working day, it makes us money. It encourages engagement, loyalty and generates the kind of PR that money can’t buy.


Want an example? One of the highest invoices of my 15 years recruiting came from placing a

Top Tips for New Recruiters

Whether you’re a graduate fresh out of Uni, or an experienced person making a career change, your first few months in recruitment are likely to be fairly challenging. The following tips will help you through.

 1. Stick with it!
Many new recruiters harbour serious doubts about their choice of career during their first year but this doesn’t necessarily mean recruitment isn’t for you. In fact, some psychologists would argue that it’s perfectly natural to harbour these doubts.
To paraphrase, their theories suggest there are four stages to learning:

Self-publishing - the first things I learnt.

Two weeks ago I published my first book – Offered and Accepted: A Recruiter’s Guide to Sales. I’m still feeling nervously excited. After all, when you write a book that’s aimed at your profession, you’re putting yourself out there to be judged. Fortunately, I’ve done my homework and am confident that the book is a good one. I wouldn’t be admitting I wrote it otherwise!

I wrote the book for two reasons. Firstly, I believe there’s a genuine gap in the market for a sales book aimed at recruiters and secondly, I’d always wanted to. For those of you that have great ideas for books of your own, here are a few things I’ve learnt along the way.