A few months ago, we sat down with a Head of Engineering at a fast-growing product business who was struggling to hire a senior engineer. He'd worked with three agencies over a period of six months and was still not getting the right talent through. By this point, the vacancy had cost the business two quarters of productivity, and the internal team was burnt out from picking up the slack.
By applying a more thorough search process, we had an offer accepted within four weeks.
This scenario isn't unique, and it isn't really about that one role. It's about recognising when the complexity of a hire calls for a different approach, regardless of seniority.
Here's how it works.
Most recruitment agencies operate on a volume model. In our experience, a typical consultant carries somewhere between 8 and 12 roles at once, with an average fill rate sitting around 20–25%.
Under a no-win, no-fee arrangement, the economics naturally favour roles that can be filled more quickly. And for plenty of positions, this model works well. There are great recruiters doing great work within it.
But when a search gets harder – a niche skill set, a tough location, a tight budget – the time and resources needed to properly explore the market can be difficult to justify within that model.
Whereas executive search is typically reserved for SLT, ELT and board-level appointments, where the cost of getting it wrong is severe enough that a more in-depth process is worth paying for.
The search typically covers the entire addressable market to identify the people who genuinely fit, whether or not they're looking for a move.
The assumption many businesses make is that this level of rigor is something only the most senior roles deserve. We don't think that's true.
The client I mentioned earlier wasn't trying to fill a board seat. But the role required technical skills that were scarce, and getting the right person was critical to the company's growth. Strip away the title, and that's exactly the kind of hiring challenge that a search process was built to solve.
A different approach
Having seen these challenges first-hand, we knew there was room to do things differently. So when we started Sentient, we deliberately chose to work at a lower volume, focusing on a small number of roles at any one time.
By taking on fewer searches, we can invest significantly more time in each one, properly understand the challenge and take accountability for delivering the right outcome.
Rather than simply taking a brief and heading to market, we work closely with our clients to understand the business, challenge assumptions where needed and agree on what a successful hire actually looks like.
From there, we build a search strategy around the problem we're trying to solve. Sometimes that means looking beyond the obvious talent pools, exploring adjacent industries or identifying people whose experience might not immediately jump out on a CV.
It's a different way of working, and one that requires a genuine partnership with the client. It's also allowed us to deliver on some genuinely challenging hires, and over the last two years, our fill rate stands at 100%.
Knowing when to do things differently
Whether it's a Principal Engineer, a niche Data Specialist or a Technical Leader, the same principles apply.
Not every role needs a full search process. But when a position is business-critical, the talent pool is limited or traditional recruitment hasn't delivered, it's worth questioning whether the approach needs to change.
The question isn't simply how senior the role is. It's whether the process you're running is actually going to solve the problem.
Purple squirrels can be found. Sometimes it just takes a little more work to find them..
