From our perspective, AI is having both positive and negative impacts on tech jobs. On the one hand, it’s helping people save a lot of time with automating tasks and it’s actually creating more jobs as a lot of companies are building their own AI products. On the other hand, as AI progresses more it could certainly replace parts of people’s jobs. We haven’t directly seen this yet, but we’ve seen the beginning of it. At the moment, we’re seeing companies looking for people who have experience building AI products, so that in itself is having an impact; people who have this experience will be more likely to secure a role than someone who doesn’t (obviously only if the role requires it). So, more tech jobs are requiring AI experience. With this being said, we think that AI will change roles rather than outrightly replacing them. AI will evolve continuously, and with that will come the requirement for people who have the skills to keep building it. AI isn’t sentient (yet!), so it’s not going to replace things, but more so aid them.

Recruitment agencies get paid from the company who they are working with to help fill a role. Before work begins, the recruitment agency agrees on what the price will be (usually a percentage of the gross annual salary). It’s important to know that recruitment agencies do not take away from the salary on offer - it’s a separate budget entirely. Sometimes people think that if you work with a recruiter, they get a cut from your salary as payment, but this isn’t the case at all. There are salary bands approved and a separate budget for recruitment services.

Yes! Some agencies may charge for additional services, like editing your CV or doing interview prep sessions, but that’s entirely agency-specific. Working with a recruiter while looking for a new job is free. You will not, and should not, be charged for this.

They should! Agency recruiters should tell you if your CV is hard to digest, doesn’t provide enough information, or anything else that is relevant to you making an application. Don’t expect the recruiter to edit it for you, as you are the person who knows your experience the best so any CV edits should be from you, but they should offer you guidance. When it comes to interview prep, it’s highly unlikely the recruiter will be able to tell you exactly what is coming up in every interview, but they will be able to advise you on roughly what to expect and how to best prepare. For example, they could tell you that it’s a technical interview, or a portfolio review, and advise you on the best way to prepare for an interview like that. It’s a good idea to listen to the advice that the recruiter offers here, as recruiters work closely with their clients so may be able to offer you some insight as to what is important for them in particular (some clients might want you to talk about one case study in a lot of depth, another may like to go through two, so knowing that ahead of time is very useful for managing your time)

Of course you can, but we’d highly advise if you do this to keep track of every role you apply to with each agency. The reason for this is because there is often more than one agency working on the same role for a company. Applying for the same position through multiple agencies (or directly) will not increase your chances of getting it, if anything it can have a negative impact. Clients notice things like this, they could say X person has applied to this position directly and through two different agencies. To them, it gives an impression that you are either applying to so many positions you can’t keep track (more on that in a moment), or that if you don’t get an interview through one avenue you won’t take no for an answer and will keep applying. It’s absolutely fine to apply to a lot of roles, but we highly recommend keeping track of this. Use a spreadsheet, note the date, the position and the avenue in which you applied. We completely understand that when you really need a job, logic dictates that the more you apply to the better your chances are. That in itself isn’t incorrect, but when you make an application (directly or through an agency) your email address will go onto the company's system. If you continuously apply for the same position, companies may not see it as eagerness but rather disorganisaiton. This also applies when going through agencies - if you’ve applied to a role with one agency, telling another agency that you haven’t applied won’t increase your chances of interview (unless the agency didn’t actually send your CV, but that’s a separate conversation) Something to keep in mind!

This is highly dependent on how you apply, and some other factors. If you apply directly on a company website, you may not hear back if there has been a large amount of applications. Companies do try to get back to everyone, but it’s not always possible if there are 10 open roles and over 100 applications to each one. If you are working with a recruitment agency you are more likely to hear back if you are not a match, as recruiters do not send a thousand CVs, and they will also follow up directly with the company to ask for specific feedback. It’s worth noting though, that some companies have a policy where they do not offer feedback on unsuccessful applications in the early stages of interview processes. This isn’t personal, and it is very much due to hiring managers not having the time to give detailed feedback on every CV and every interview while also continuing with other interviews and doing their job. Recruiters will always try though, and it’s rare enough that we wouldn’t get some kind of feedback.

There are a few reasons! We would never say that working with an agency will replace an in-house team, but working with an agency can be of great assistance. If you’re a small company, you may not have the need (or budget) to hire a full-time inhouse recruiter, but you need to hire great talent. In situations like this, it makes sense to work with an agency who knows the market, can recommend great people and who wants you to hire good people. Yes this comes at a cost, but it also saves you a lot of time. Recruitment itself isn’t just sending lots of CVs and hoping for the best (despite what some people may say!), but is about understanding your needs as a company, understanding the skills you need, and literally searching for that. Agencies will also screen every person to make sure that any person’s experience is in line with what you need. From there, you will be sent a small number of CVs (rather than having to filter through potentially a couple of hundred) from people who know the market inside and out. You will also have assistance throughout the interview process itself, get advice on what the market looks like, salaries, what is important to people considering a new position, and continuous feedback. The best part? You don’t pay a cent unless you hire someone. Even at that, you will have a period of time where if things don’t work out for whatever reason, the agency is still there and will work with you to find another person at no extra cost. It doesn’t stop there, though. Even larger companies can benefit from working with agencies too! Sometimes, even with an internal recruitment team, there may be such a large number of hires to do, or a new project, and the team doesn’t have the bandwidth. While it does have a cost to work with an agency, it can help you stay on track for hiring and hitting your timelines. Recruitment agencies aren’t necessarily the bad guys a lot of people may think, you just need to find one who you are comfortable working with!

It all starts with a conversation. We can only find what you tell us you need, so by sharing as much information about you as a company, your plans, the position you need to hire for and the skills you need, this helps us to start painting a picture. Once we have the requirements down, we would always look to our network first. It’s highly likely we will know of a few people immediately who would align with what you need (and you align with what they are looking for). We have conversations, and if all goes well you’ve got your first applicants. But let’s say we don’t know of someone in our network, or if you want to hire someone remotely from another country. That’s fine! Our process here is to firstly understand the job itself, and look at people with the skillset. From there, we will narrow things down (by technology usually), and after reviewing profiles of people we think would align with the position, we’ll reach out to them and see if it’s something they would be interested in. This sounds easier than it is though. We might reach out to 100 people, and 20 people might respond and be open to speaking. Of those 20, there may only be 10 who are interested in reading the job description and hearing more details. Of those 10, after proper conversations, maybe only 5 of them actually have everything you need in terms of experience. Of those five, you might hire 1 person. So, we find qualified technical candidates by; knowing the market in depth, understanding salaries and benefits expectations, understanding tech itself and what skills are most in demand (which will influence the competition you may be up against as a company), understanding what people actually want in a new position, approaching people directly and having frequent conversations. It’s not a linear process, everything happens in tandem with each other, so it’s more of a continuous and iterative process.

If you’re a jobseeker, you might start by applying to a position we have advertised, or maybe you reach out to us directly looking for some guidance. We’ll always start with a conversation! We want to understand what you’ve done, what you want to do, things you’re interested in and things you’re not interested in. The way we like to work is by understanding you. Not every job or company will be the perfect fit for you, but the more we know the more we can do. Sometimes we may not have the perfect job available, but by having a conversation with you we will be able to get back in touch when it comes along. Not just that, though. We’ll also help you position yourself well in the market. If we think you are being paid too little we’ll tell you, or if we think that your current salary (or expected salary) is a bit higher than what we’re seeing in the market, we’ll tell you that too. Not to try push you down, but to be honest with you in terms of what is out there. When you apply for a position through us, we will give you all of the information we have. That means salary, benefits, work location (onsite/ hybrid/ remote), what you’ll be working on, our experience with the company, their hiring process and anything else that is relevant. If we don’t know the answer to something, we will ask! We will be with you throughout the entire interview process. We’ll make sure you’re all set up and prepared, and will ask how it went and how you’re feeling about it to make sure it’s right for you. You won’t have to go it alone, and we’ll be there if any issues come up. If you’re a client, we will also start with a conversation! Similarly, we want to get to know you. Who you are, what you’ve done, what you want to do, and what you need to get there. The more you tell us the better we can do for you! We will also be honest with you in terms of what’s happening in the market. If the salaries and benefits you are offering are in line with the market, below or above, we’ll be honest. We will tell you what is realistic in terms of what you want and what you’re offering, and based on what you tell us about your requirements, we will work to get you just that. We will also be with you throughout the whole process, offering advice and feedback at each stage. Whether you are working with us as a job seeker or a client, our goal is to get you to where you want to be. It’s not all about money (as many will assume that recruiters just care about commission), but it’s about doing our job well too. That’s why we’re here. If we helped someone get a job that wasn’t right for them, or helped a company hire someone completely unsuited to their needs, that’s not something to write home about, is it? We’ll make mistakes, as we haven’t been replaced by AI yet, but we’ll work hard to not make the same mistake twice.

This depends on a lot of factors! We could fill a role in two weeks, or it could take six. Sometimes it takes longer! Ultimately it comes down to communication, interview availability (on both the client and job seeker side), willingness to move forward and the right fit on both sides. There are times when a new position becomes available, and we know the perfect person. The client wants to fill the position as soon as they can, and will offer as much flexibility as they can to make interviews happen. The perfect person we have in mind will also be incredibly keen on the opportunity and will also offer as much flexibility as possible to make interviews happen. This is when stars align, but often it’s a bit different. Sometimes hiring managers have a calendar full of meetings, and sometimes they don’t have a massive amount of availability. Sometimes the candidate will have the same, so how quickly we can fill a position isn’t necessarily a definite timeframe each time. It will depend on the skillset, the salary, benefits, work location (some people may only be open to remote or hybrid, for example), as well as the time that the hiring team has to get through each interview, consult with each other and make a decision.