Back in olden times, I used to specialise in HR recruitment in the East of England.

I was a pretty good contingency recruiter, and over five years my fill rate went from around 40% to around 65% often on multi-agency vacancies.

At the time, I felt general HR knowledge*, speed and ability to win candidates over were what set me apart and why I had the edge over competitors.

But when I launched my business in 2011, I did a bit of retrospective analysis, and I noted that it was employer and vacancy insight that set me apart.

When I was able to consult better with those companies, my fill rate rose.

Insight which let me craft better adverts, write better emails, and talk to ideal candidate's aspirations - ideal candidates that had been clearly and realistically identified through consultation.

An approach I'd mirror with candidates, by understanding their capability and aspirations, analysing how that met the brief (and if they didn't that was fine too), and representing them truly and fairly, so that employers knew why they might interview them.

And because those consultations took time, they were often employers that needed to get the right hire, first time. So I'd either have exclusivity, or compete against one other good HR recruiter.

Gaining insight from context became one of the pillars of my business, and indeed, if I wasn't able to consult suitably the employer was likely to be someone I couldn't partner effectively.

It's true that for a few years after 2014, I tried to increase volume and work more transactionally; however while my revenue may have gone up, so too did stress and frustration. And equally my quality of service took a nose dive, mainly because it played to my weaknesses and not my strengths.

It took me 4 years to realise the trap I'd fallen into, and it was only in 2018 that I took time to work on my business, rather than in it.

Amazing how you can get caught in the inertia of bad habits.

Valuable experience however, in that it's made me laser focused on who and how I can best help, and the importance for me in working at low volume.

Work that both helps employers and their next employee, while aiming to leave the unsuccessful candidates with a better experience.

So, the priority is only to work with employers that enable me to do my work:

100% fill rate (except for economy-related cancellations) / 100% CV to interview ratio in 2023 / 4-year average retention - nice marketing stats, yet mainly they are a consequence of process.

And for me it's both more enjoyable and fulfilling, while having the potential to make a genuine impact.

What can be better than that?