Stop trying to take from your direct competition around the corner unless you want to pay a lot more. Its probably being run by your ex-senior consultant anyway who has probably been less than complimentary about you.

Remember every director thinks their company is the best in the world and a decent recruiter will probably accumulated around 5 or 6 options in your area within a day or two.

Move quickly. Three stages over 4 weeks? Too long.

When at interview try to engage the recruiter on a personal level rather than just grilling them on their billing history/client base for an hour.

I once had a director of a firm who had been around a while and referred to me in the interview as “you people”. That business went under 2 years ago.

Be honest about the role, salary, earning potential and condition of the business. Is your company really that different or is it same job different wallpaper? Either way, don’t lie.

Stop reading CV’s and start to interview from other sectors of recruitment. There are some superstars out there in the wrong sector working for the wrong manager.

Stop avoiding recruiters who have had a few jobs early in their career. That was their learning period.

Drop the niche/perceived specialist against high street snobbery that we all know goes on.

During the interview, set-out what the targets will be and communicate your expectations in the first 6 months.

Quit looking for grads only.

Stop looking for big billers only. I would rather have an office full of steady 120k billers over a couple of 300k+ types. These 10k per month people will develop over time, so give them that time.

Try to have a system that promotes teamwork, collaboration and cross-selling. If it’s every man for himself in your agency, good luck with that.

If you are a smaller firm, say fewer than 50 staff, people have to want to work for you, not your company. They need to believe in you and your ability to help them achieve. Let it become personal.

Never underestimate the impact a negative ‘churn and burn’ reputation can have on your ability to hire experienced recruiters. The best ones will check past employees on LinkedIn.

Just because you have been in recruitment a while does not always mean you know how to interview. Interviewing for a client, for the most part, is different to interviewing for your own staff so get some training if you think you or your managers may need it.

It is a huge time investment so, if you can, hire an internal recruiter who is a proactive recruiter not process driven who spends all day advertising.