Anyone can send you a CV. Fewer will tell you not to hire someone.
A permanent appointment in a care service shapes the experience of the people you support for years. We would rather present three candidates we can stand behind than twelve we cannot.
The cost of the wrong hire is never the fee. It is the handover, the retraining, the effect on a team that has already absorbed a vacancy, and the people who have to get used to somebody new all over again.
Eight stages, and none of them are "post the advert and hope".
- Before advertising
Understanding the post, not just the job title
We ask what the role genuinely involves, what the team is like, who it reports to, why it is open and what has been tried already. A vacancy that has been open for months usually has a reason, and it is rarely the advert.
- The brief
Agreeing what "right" looks like
Which requirements are genuinely essential and which are preferences that have quietly become essential. Separating the two is often the difference between a shortlist and another empty month.
- Sourcing
Advertising and approaching, not just waiting
Advertising where care and nursing professionals actually look, plus direct approaches to people who are not applying for anything but would consider the right role.
- Screening
Speaking to people properly
A real conversation about experience, motivation, the practicalities of the role and what they are actually looking for. Someone who wants a different job will not stay in this one.
- Shortlist
A few genuine candidates, with our honest view
Including reservations. If someone is strong but has a gap, or excellent but might want more money than the post pays, you hear it before the interview rather than after the offer.
- Checks
Verification, not assumption
Identity, right to work, employment history, references and — where the role requires it — professional registration confirmed as current and unrestricted directly with the register.
- Offer and start
Staying involved through notice
The period between offer and start date is where placements fall apart. We keep in contact with the candidate through it and tell you promptly if something changes.
- After they start
Checking in, because the placement is not the point
We follow up with both sides in the first weeks. Someone still in post and happy a year later is the only outcome that matters.
Posts we recruit for.
Across residential, nursing, supported living, learning disability, autism, mental health and community services in Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
- Support Workers and Healthcare Assistants
- Senior Support Workers and Team Leaders
- Deputy and Registered Managers
- Registered Nurses: RGN, RMN, RNLD
- Care Coordinators and Schedulers
- Recruitment and compliance administrators
Recruitment works better as a two-way job.
- An honest brief
- Including the difficult parts of the role. We would rather place someone who knew what they were walking into.
- A realistic salary
- If the market has moved past what the post pays, we will say so. It is more useful than a shortlist of people who will decline.
- Prompt feedback
- Good candidates in care and nursing are rarely available for long. A week of silence loses people.
- A decent interview experience
- Candidates judge you by it, and they talk to each other. A shambolic process costs you more than a fee.
Four things we will not do.
Recruitment has a reputation, and it was earned. Here is what we avoid.
- Send volume to look busy
- A long shortlist is usually a sign that nobody read the brief.
- Talk up a candidate we have doubts about
- You will hear our reservations as well as our recommendation.
- Send you a CV without the candidate knowing
- Every candidate is told which employer their details are going to, and agrees, before you see them. It means fewer speculative CVs in your inbox and no awkward conversations about who approached whom.
- Pretend a role is fillable when it is not
- If the salary, location or requirements make the search unrealistic, we will tell you at the start rather than after two months.
Fees, terms and the awkward questions.
How do you charge?
A fee on placement, agreed in writing before we begin, based on the role and the salary. No fee is payable if nobody is placed.
What you get in writing before any work starts: the fee and how it is calculated, when it becomes payable, the rebate or replacement terms if the person leaves within a stated period, and what happens if you hire someone we introduced for a different role. You should never be surprised by an invoice.
What happens if the person leaves quickly?
We agree rebate terms in writing at the start, so both of us know where we stand before there is a problem. The specifics depend on the role and the circumstances.
We would rather get the hire right than rely on a rebate clause, which is why we spend time on the brief.
Do you work exclusively?
We do not require it. Exclusivity sometimes helps us invest more in a difficult search, and we will discuss it where it genuinely makes sense, but we will not make it a condition of helping you.
Can you fill a manager-level post?
We recruit senior and management roles in care services. These searches take longer, need a properly defined brief, and depend on whether the right person is open to moving at that moment. We will give you a realistic view of the market before you commit to a process.
What if you cannot fill the role?
We will tell you, and we will tell you why — salary, location, shift pattern, requirements, or simply that nobody suitable is looking right now. Sometimes the useful outcome of a search is knowing that the post needs to change.
We will not string a vacancy along to keep it on our books.
Can you cover the post while you recruit?
Often, yes. A consistent temporary worker while a permanent search runs stops your team running short for months. See how staffing works, or mention it when we discuss the role.
Tell us about the post.
A short conversation is usually enough for us to tell you whether we can genuinely help, and what a realistic timescale looks like.