Specialist recruitment consultancy vs general and what is the difference?

Specialist recruitment consultancy vs general

When it comes to finding the right recruitment solution, many organisations struggle to decide between taking up a contract with a specialist recruiter and a generalist. But just what are the differences between the two, and is one better than the other?

Generalist recruitment consultants

These agencies are typically the largest and most well-known brands within the recruitment industry. This is because they are a ‘one size fits all’ solution who will usually accept contracts for just about any type of job in any industry.

Specialist recruitment consultants

Conversely specialist recruiters focus on a more select range of industries or job types. At Hunter Selection we are the UK’s leading recruitment service that specialises in the Engineering, Manufacturing, Service and Technology sectors.

With a network of offices across the country we know local and sector specific pitfalls and challenges, what candidates will and won’t do and we know how to attract those ‘hard to reach’ candidates. Industry insiders know our brand and chose to only work with us because our sponsorship of sector and local events gives us unrivalled candidate access. Plus, we constantly complete training and digest industry news, it’s what makes us specialists in the field.

Which is better?

There are a great many successful generalist recruitment agencies operating within the UK, and they certainly have their uses. Their colossal talent pools allow them to quickly fill vacancies in less-specialised roles. However, this jack of all trades master of none approach means they often fall short of client’s expectations particularly when recruiting for roles which require more complex proficiencies from candidates.

Three reasons why you might want to use a specialist recruiter:

1. They understand the brief better

At Hunter Selection we know better than anyone that certain roles require very particular skillsets, and we actually understand what those skillsets are. Where generalist recruiters get Java and JavaScript confused our expertise means we know exactly what to look for in a candidate.

This means we won’t waste your time inundating your inbox with applicants who aren’t suitable for the role, instead we’ll only introduce candidates who tick all the right boxes.

2. They have access to expert talent pools

We spoke earlier about the advantage of generalist recruiters’ large talent pools. While this is true, specialist recruitment consultants typically have more readily available access to niche talent pools. This enables them to contact candidates for technical roles far more efficiently and get those all-important interviews in the diary.

We feel at Hunter Selection this gives us a huge advantage over generalists attempting to compete in our particular service pillars.

3. Better able to advise you

Specialists are experts when it comes to the recruitment of individuals for certain industries. At Hunter Selection all our consultants have a thorough working knowledge of the sectors they recruit for, this tied with the fact that they spend their days working through CVs and speaking to candidates around the world, makes them better able to provide consultancy services to our clients. This puts us in a superior position to advise clients on things like benefits, pay grades and other employee expectations to help them find not just the right person for the job, but the best person for the job.

Find out more

If you operate within the Engineering, Manufacturing, Service or Technology sectors and are looking for a recruitment partner to help you fill one, or multiple roles, why not get in touch? We’d be happy to further discuss if going down the specialist recruitment route is the right solution for you.