Jonathon Walmsley

What are some of the challenges UK agency recruiters face when moving into US market? 1. Broad approach and not a true specialist. Must be ultra niche, focus on growth areas and build pools of specialist talent. Get your GTM right. 2. Avoiding IR: Most US companies have an established internal rec team so need to partner with IR rather than going around them - agencies can help fill the 2-10% of roles prospects may be struggling with 3. Undervaluing your service: Based on above the perceived value is higher leading to Perm fees of around 25% and contract margin over 35%. Often increased appetite for retainers and projects. 4. Treating the US like it is one location: America is actually 50 states and compares more to Europe in size. Have an area of focus. 5. Underestimating the importance of compliance: US can be a legal minefield so clients want to be sure you are 100% compliant - prove it. There are so many more so what have you experienced?

49

35 Comments

When experiencing rapid growth, the business case for RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) is almost a dumb-not-to proposition: on-demand recruiters joining as an extension of your team on short notice, flexibility to scale up/down and turn on/off as hiring fluctuates, that's cost-effective compared to agencies, access to technology, etc, to name a few. During periods of uncertainty, like we have today, the use cases for RPO tend to revolve more around flexibility. Many Talent Acquisition Departments had to go through layoffs over the past 2 years and are running very lean. Here are some scenarios that we've been supporting customers with during this time period: - Adding temporary support during Q1 hiring budgets being set and an initial hiring frenzy - Adding fractional support (20hrs/week) for a handful of extra roles - Recruiting team is strong in one area but the team needs support in another area. (IE strong operations recruiters but influx of technical hiring needs) - Unplanned Recruiter turnover: Recruiter quits, fired, etc - Planned Maternity/Paternity Leave - Not wanting to add fixed overhead/full-time recruiters due to build-up/layoff cycles of the past 4 years and find a partner to keep things augmented - Larger organizations needing an external 'floater' team to be allocated as back-up to various departments, worksite locations, or even countries. These are some of the ways dynamic TA/HR Leaders are getting work done including leveraging a unique partner. 2025 is looking brighter, no doubt, but there are many risks to our market that are leaving business leaders in a position that prioritizes flexibility and needing to look at unique ways to operate their TA function. #rpo #chiefpeopleofficer #talentacquisition #chro

89

1 Comment

I’m currently supporting an organisation on a contingent basis, and their internal team mentioned that another agency is sending 10-15 CVs a week across just 3 roles. For transparency - DanOps has sent 7 CVs total across those same roles. At first glance, it looked like the other agency was “working harder”… but when you break it down, this is where being a true market specialist pays off. Principal Cloud Engineer - DanOps → 2 CVs → 100% 1st stage, 1 straight to final (no 2nd needed), 1 offer, 1 placement - Other agency → Sent 28 CVs (they had the role 5 weeks earlier), only 3 first stages, 1 second, 0 finals Head of SRE - DanOps → 2 CVs within 12 hours of receiving the brief → 100% requested for interview - Other agency → 16 CVs over 6 weeks, just 2 first stage requests Senior SRE - DanOps → 3 CVs → 100% 1st stage success - Other agency → 42 CVs in 5 weeks, 15 interviews booked… all dropped after failing to back up their CVs in interview On the surface, it looked like they were “smashing it” with volume. But volume isn’t value, it’s just noise. Worse still, they even sent CVs without speaking to the candidate about the role… which should honestly be outlawed in recruitment. When you live and breathe your market, quality isn’t a target - it's a standard. ✅ Quality of introduction ✅ Time saved on irrelevant interviews ✅ ££ saved in wasted process and feedback cycles That's why DanOps doesn’t do busy work. Don’t be fooled by fake busy.

27

2 Comments

#TalentAttraction, #HR, #Recruitment, #IRD, #IRD25 ☀️  The Sun is Out in the UK, and it is International Recruiters Day ❤️ While things are moving fast, have the fundamentals of recruitment changed? Today I am getting more AI/Automated calls from Sales and Recruiters daily, and I am seeing more elements of AI sprinkled across technology and solutions. I am all for automation and optimisation, embracing AI to assist, help with daily tasks, but I am not convinced of the recent calls that seem more Automated than true AI. Several years ago, in some cases, I likened buying HR tech to a stakeholder that had purchased ice cream for the whole company, a 99 with a flake, only to discover half were lactose intolerant and the other half allergic to nuts. Today, AI is transforming the workplace, and some great leaps of efficiency are being made, which I am loving, but are we perhaps still over-engineering recruitment? With the AI Ice cream van outside our window offering your favourite solution now with AI sprinkles and AI sauce, are we potentially there again, adding layer after layer and missing the point? Knowing what good looks like, the fundamentals of what a great candidate experience is, how onboarding should be, and what clear job descriptions should contain, etc, remain key and a key skill of recruiters/TA professionals and hr. AI can and is shaping the future; it is and can help us be more efficient, but our human skills, knowledge, and understanding are still essential. Let’s blend those skills, use that knowledge before we rush out to buy all the flavours that some sprinkles of AI offer, before it leaves a bittersweet taste in our mouths, and potentially sours the relationships with the current and future candidates/applicants/employees we are there to help and support. The human difference matters. Enjoy the sun if it is shining ☀️ and Happy International Recruiters Day *Disclaimer The image was created by AI 🤖 😎

56

18 Comments

A candidate told me they had the strangest interview recently, a complete waste of time, where they asked what the timescales for the hire was (reasonable question) and the hiring manager said: "Well I'm not sure what I'm looking for yet, and I've got a few things to sort out before I get sign off and bring someone on..." Decisive hiring managers who know what they're looking for, they're ready to go and they operate with pace & urgency when they find it are winning right now. If you're looking to hire top talent right now, you can't afford to: - Waste time making comparisons: You should not need to meet 10-20 people to make a decision on the right one. - Sprinkle in 'additional' steps: You don't need to cut corners but don't throw more 'steps' in. If someone isn't right, cut them loose. If someone is right, make it happen. - Not be ready to make the hire: Do not find the perfect candidate and then get caught up in the bureaucracy of getting it 'signed' off. It's almost impossible to keep someone engaged when they realize you've not got your ducks in a row.

15

1 Comment

As a UK recruitment group, we naturally focus on domestic trends - Brexit impacts, skills shortages, regional variations. But LinkedIn's State of the Labor Market report regularly offers a global lens that puts our challenges into deeper context. What can we see on the July 2025 report? The UK stands out - and not in a good way. While most European markets saw their hiring slowdowns moderate in H1 2025, we bucked the trend. Our hiring decline actually accelerated to -5% (Jan-Jun) vs just -1% in H2 2024. France, Germany, and the Netherlands all saw their pace of decline ease significantly. What strikes me most when reading the latest report is how interconnected global labour markets have become. Mexico's struggles reflect US trade policy changes. Germany continues wrestling with skilled labour shortages and energy shock aftereffects. Even emerging markets like India show 19% more applicants per role. Three key takeaways for UK recruitment according to this report include: ➡️ The global "stabilisation" everyone's talking about? We're missing it. While markets worldwide are finding their footing, UK hiring momentum continues deteriorating. ➡️ Competition dynamics vary wildly by geography. Where we're seeing candidate shortages in certain sectors, other markets are drowning in applications. ➡️ Industry divergence is stark everywhere - not just here. Utilities are down sharply globally (renewable energy particularly hit), while hospitality shows pockets of growth. In terms of the bigger picture, growth projections remain sluggish across major economies, resembling late-cycle patterns rather than expansion phases. With interest rates staying restrictive in the US through 2025 and ongoing trade uncertainties, workforce confidence remains subdued globally. For UK recruiters, this reinforces the need to think beyond our borders - understanding these global macro forces is crucial for advising clients and anticipating how international trends will impact domestic hiring patterns. What are you seeing in your markets? Are we experiencing this differently regionally? #ukrecruitment #globaltalent #workforceinsights #linkedin #recuitmentleaders #businessleaders #labourmarket #jobmarket

16

2 Comments

"We use a PSL" 🥱 Many companies rely on a Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for hiring, this can seriously hurt your chances of securing top talent in niche areas! Here’s why: 🔍 Niche roles require specialist knowledge. Generalist recruiters on your PSL may not have access to the right network—or even fully understand the role. 💡 Speed matters. The best candidates in specialised markets don’t stay on the market long. By the time your PSL catches up, top talent is gone. 📉 You limit innovation. New, agile, and highly-specialised agencies aren’t on your PSL—but they often have the most relevant connections. 🤝 True partnerships > compliance. Hiring managers need flexibility to engage with recruiters who truly get the market, not just the ones on an approved list. Bottom line: If you're hiring for niche or hard-to-fill roles, it might be time to rethink the PSL-first approach. The cost of missing the right hire can far outweigh the comfort of sticking to the list. #Hiring #Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #NicheRoles #PSL #HiringStrategy #FutureOfWork

16

4 Comments