The Resilient Recruiter

She Sold Her Firm to Give Her Team a Bigger Ceiling, with Charlie Saffro

Every December, Charlie Saffro caught up with a friendly competitor at Hirewell to compare notes on the recruiting market. At the end of their 2024 call, after four difficult years, she said something almost as a joke: if you know anyone looking to buy a supply chain recruiting firm, let me know. About a week later, Hirewell's owner called her. Charlie founded CS Recruiting in 2010 and spent 15 years building a specialist logistics, supply chain and transportation firm. She had no exit plan. What changed was a prolonged downturn and two rounds of layoffs, the first in the company's history. Charlie explains why she rejected buyers who wanted her client book without her people, and what she was looking for instead. She also talks through the part most owners never hear about: almost 12 months of confidential negotiation, running the business while both her senior leaders were on leave, and what closing day actually looked like from the 8am signature to the 3pm welcome meeting. The second half of the conversation is about what happened next. Charlie walks through how her recruiters moved from a split desk into full desk work one account at a time, what that did for accountability and ownership, and why the best source of new business was already sitting in their database. If you are weighing an exit, or you want your recruiters to own more of the work, Charlie's experience is worth an hour of your time. In this episode: Why Charlie sold to protect her team rather than to cash out The three types of buyer she rejected and what disqualified each one What almost 12 months of confidential negotiation actually involves How she handled due diligence while two senior leaders were on leave What closing day looked like, hour by hour The advantages and disadvantages of full desk and split desk How recruiters can move into business development one account at a time Why past candidates may be your best source of new clients Episode highlights: [02:31] CS Recruiting joins Hirewell and Charlie's entire team comes with her [04:16] Fifteen years in business with no formal exit plan [12:07] The buyer conversations that failed Charlie's test [15:14] Keeping the deal secret while running the business [18:30] The offhand comment that led to a call one week later [21:19] Two senior leaders go on leave during the negotiation [26:41] Signing at 8am and telling the team at 10am [31:35] Moving recruiters toward full desk one account at a time [33:23] Full desk versus split desk and the accountability trade-off [39:14] Providing value on a retained search without a placement [42:14] Why past candidates can become your best source of business [49:33] Using recorded calls and AI feedback to coach recruiters Podcast Partners: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach and pipeline management in one workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox Free Resources: 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard: https://recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard About Charlie Saffro: Charlie Saffro founded CS Recruiting, a specialist recruitment firm serving logistics, supply chain and transportation. She started the company in 2010 and led it for 15 years before it joined Hirewell in December 2025. CS Recruiting now operates as a Hirewell company, giving its clients access to a broader nationwide recruiting team while retaining the specialist brand and team Charlie built. Connect with Charlie Saffro: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliesaffro CS Recruiting: https://www.cs-recruiting.com/ Hirewell: https://hirewell.com/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/markwhitby Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRecruitmentCoach/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recruitmentcoach/ Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://plinkhq.com/i/1489513354

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How to Bill Over $1 Million in Your First Year of Business, with Ross Cohen

Ross Cohen left his role as managing director at one of Florida's leading search firms to launch Brinc Search Partners with his business partner, Brett Nortman. They gave up an established brand, a built-out book of business and the steady flow that came with a larger firm. Ross also had a non-compete preventing him from approaching his former clients. Brinc launched in March 2025. In its first year, Ross and Brett billed over $1 million. They did it by getting scrappy. Although both had spent years specializing in financial services recruitment, Ross accepted searches ranging from executive assistants to engineers. These assignments kept revenue moving, helped Brink prove its value and opened the door to further work. Ross also explains why Brinc does not rely on traditional cold calls. Each search begins with people Ross and Brett already know in the market. They gather intelligence, ask for referrals and identify passive candidates who may never appear through job boards or LinkedIn searches. You'll also hear why they hired their first associate before the business felt ready, how face-to-face meetings fit into Brinc's hybrid schedule and how the team uses Recruiterflow, PIN and Claude to reduce administration and present candidates more effectively. What You'll Learn: How Ross and Brett billed over $1 million in Brinc's first year Why accepting searches outside their specialty helped create early momentum How Ross rebuilt his book of business without approaching former clients Why existing relationships outperform traditional cold calls How referral conversations uncover passive candidates Why Brinc hired its first associate earlier than planned How in-person meetings help the team assess cultural fit How Claude reduces administration and improves candidate presentation Episode Outline: [00:10] Billing over $1 million in the first year [05:16] Lessons Ross carried from equity research into executive search [17:22] Building candidate flow at StevenDouglas before launching Brinc [23:01] Leaving an established firm to launch Brinc [27:42] Rebuilding the business one phone call at a time [38:51] Hiring an associate before the firm felt ready [50:38] Replacing traditional cold calls with warm market conversations [59:40] Building Brinc's technology stack around Recruiterflow, PIN and Claude About Ross Cohen: Ross Cohen is the co-founder of Brinc Search Partners. He launched the firm with Brett Nortman in March 2025 after building a financial services recruitment practice at StevenDouglas. Ross began his career in equity research at Lazard before moving into recruitment with Solomon Page. He holds Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 securities licenses, an economics degree and a master's in international business from the University of Florida. He is based in South Florida. Connect with Ross: Ross on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-cohen-44658037/ Brinc Search Partners: www.brincsearch.com Podcast Partners: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach and pipeline management in one workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox Connect with Mark Whitby: Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: https://www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markwhitby Mark on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRecruitmentCoach/ Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recruitmentcoach/ Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://plinkhq.com/i/1489513354

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How to Bounce Back Stronger After Your Business Falls Apart, with Gemma Downing

What do you do when the recruitment business you've poured everything into starts to fall apart? Gemma Downing Mapp came back from holiday to find Mixxos £100,000 behind budget. Two months later, the company recorded its highest-billing month ever with roughly half the team. Gemma is co-founder and CEO of Mixxos Group, a boutique recruitment consultancy she built with her business partner, Chris. They grew the company from a team of two into a multimillion-pound firm, with the numbers moving in the right direction year after year. But the foundations had not kept pace. Gemma and Chris knew within the first few months that a senior operations hire was not working. They liked the person and wanted the appointment to succeed, so they continued trying for 18 months. During that time, leadership became misaligned, standards slipped and financial forecasts became unreliable. Gemma is open about the responsibility she and Chris carried for allowing the situation to continue. She explains why recruitment business owners delay difficult people decisions, what finally forced them to act and why the first thing she would fix is always the person leading the team. The turnaround involved restructuring the company, reducing headcount by 50% and redefining the founders' roles. Gemma became CEO, responsible for the people and culture. Chris became Commercial Director, focused on revenue and gross profit. They also brought in Sam to restore operational control. He introduced consistent one-to-ones, clearer financial reporting and a skills matrix, while helping the business prepare for a new technology rollout and launch a retained executive search desk. Throughout the restructure, approximately 99% of Mixxos clients stayed with the company. Gemma credits the relationships she and Chris had built and their determination to do what they said they would do. In this episode, you'll learn: How fast growth allowed problems to develop behind the scenes Why Gemma and Chris delayed a senior leadership decision for 18 months The danger of wanting success for an employee more than they want it themselves Why the leader between an owner and the team shapes everyone's standards How Gemma and Chris divided their roles around their strengths What Mixxos changed about hiring, onboarding and accountability How the company achieved its best month with half the headcount Why strong client relationships protected the business during the restructure Episode highlights: [05:58] Five years of growth and the foundations that failed to keep pace [09:57] Returning from holiday to a business, Gemma no longer wanted to be in [11:44] The cost of delaying a senior leadership decision for 18 months [22:00] Gemma becomes CEO and Chris becomes Commercial Director [28:29] Launching the retained executive search desk [31:04] Achieving the best billing month in company history with half the team [40:17] How Mixxos retained approximately 99% of its clients Podcast Partners: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach and pipeline management in one workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox About Gemma Downing Mapp: Gemma Downing Mapp is co-founder and CEO of Mixxos Group, a boutique recruitment consultancy based in Milton Keynes. She and her business partner, Chris, grew Mixxos from a team of two into a multimillion-pound firm working across permanent, temporary and retained executive search. The business now also delivers retained search assignments in EMEA and the United States. Connect with Gemma: Mixxos Group: https://mixxos.com/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Get your free 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/markwhitby Mark on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRecruitmentCoach/ Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recruitmentcoach/ Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://plinkhq.com/i/1489513354

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How to Grow Billings 33% in a Flat Market by Selling Without Selling, with Sachin Ruparelia

While much of the recruitment industry was flat last year, Sachin Ruparelia grew billings by 33% and kept hiring. Sachin is the Founder and Managing Director of Camino Partners and Camino Search. Over the last couple of years, his businesses have grown net fee income by 20% and then 33%, while scaling to around 37 people across London and Tampa. A big part of that growth has come from community-led business development. Instead of calling prospects to ask if they're hiring, Camino creates reasons for clients and prospects to want to speak with them. They run events, CFO dinners and networking sessions. They publish salary surveys and a 120-page Global Report for the private equity market. Sachin calls it "the art of selling without selling." In this conversation, Sachin explains how those events and insights turn into real recruitment opportunities, including the important step recruiters often miss: making the commercial ask after they've earned the conversation. You'll also hear how Sachin approaches the other side of scaling: people. He shares how to know when it's time for your next support hire, why an operations manager can be one of the smartest early hires for a growing firm, and his A's, B's and F's approach to hiring people who are better than you in the areas where you're weak. Sachin also speaks openly about growing up in a violent household and the two years of psychodynamic counseling that helped him understand how those experiences had shaped his behavior. He explains how that self-awareness made him a better husband, father, friend and leader, and why he now speaks openly about mental health in recruitment. In this episode, you'll learn: How Camino grew NFI by 20% and then 33% while scaling to around 37 people How community-led BD creates conversations without leading with a sales pitch Why Sachin runs one to two events a month and how he gets the right people into the room How a 120-page insight report creates multiple reasons to contact prospects How to turn events and content into actual recruitment opportunities When a growing recruitment firm should make its first operations hire How the A's, B's and F's test helps founders hire around their weaknesses Why is self-awareness becoming increasingly important as you build a larger team Episode Highlights [08:50] Setting up the business at 31 and appointing a chairman [09:33] The two years of therapy Sachin calls game changing [17:20] Two verticals, 37 people and 33% growth in a flat market [22:51] The first scaling lesson: hire people better than you [29:25] Community-led BD: the art of selling without selling [39:07] Insight-led BD and Camino's 120-page Global Report [52:55] The first operations hire for a scaling recruitment firm [54:50] The A's, B's and F's approach to hiring around your weaknesses Sachin Ruparelia Bio Sachin Ruparelia is the Founder and Managing Director of Camino Partners and Camino Search. He launched Camino Partners in 2012 with two former colleagues, initially specializing in accountancy and finance before expanding into "mission control" roles within recruitment businesses. Camino Search works within the private capital ecosystem, placing CFOs and other senior finance professionals, along with corporate development, M&A and origination talent, into private equity-backed technology-enabled and business services companies. The business operates from London and Tampa and has grown to around 37 people. Over the last two years, Camino's NFI grew first by 20% and then by 33%. Sachin's next plan, Mission 234, is to double headcount and triple NFI over four years. Connect with Sachin Sachin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachinruparelia/ Camino Partners: http://www.caminopartners.co.uk Camino Search: http://www.caminosearch.co.uk Sponsors This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach, and pipeline management in one workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox Connect with Mark Whitby Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/

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How to Build a $10M Recruitment Firm With Just 11 People, with Dave Fox

There's a belief in recruitment that scaling a firm means scaling headcount. Dave Fox has built a different model. His fully remote technology staffing firm, Focus GTS, generates more than $10 million in annual revenue with a team of just 11 people. Early on, Dave assumed he would need 80 to 100 people to build the business he wanted. He also thought a 360 model and broader market coverage would be the right path. Over time, he found a different way to grow: stay close to one specialist market, build a split-desk team of strong people, and make AI part of how the whole business works. Dave is the founder of Focus GTS, a Miami-based technology staffing firm that specializes in the Adobe Marketing Cloud ecosystem. He started in recruitment with the S3 Group, working his way from trainee consultant to manager and director before launching his own business eight years ago. In this conversation, Dave explains why he is done with the "chase game" of constantly pursuing new opportunities. His focus now is on becoming so useful and well-known in his market that clients and candidates come to him. That means creating free tools that solve real problems, publishing useful content, and using AI research agents to stay close to key customers. It also means giving every member of his 11-person team access to Claude and Claude Code, then creating a culture where people share what they are learning. Dave is not suggesting AI is a shortcut to success. He spends 50 to 60 hours a week learning and building with it. But he makes a strong case that agency owners need to rethink the old relationship between headcount, growth, and productivity. In this episode, you'll learn: Why Dave moved from a 360 model to a split-desk structure The assumption that made him think he needed 80 to 100 people Why a smaller, better-paid team can outperform a larger one How Focus GTS became known in the Adobe Marketing Cloud market How free tools and useful content can create inbound conversations How AI research agents help Dave's team stay close to top clients How to make AI a shared team habit rather than a founder-only project The mindset Dave believes agency owners need as AI changes the market Episode highlights: [02:49] Why Dave launched Focus GTS after walking away from a potential partnership [07:53] Building a fully remote technology staffing business [10:46] Why Focus GTS uses a split-desk model [18:18] The AI inflection point that changed Dave's view of growth [23:28] Building free tools for a specialist market [29:42] Using AI research agents on Focus GTS's top five clients [34:52] How to become a celebrity in your recruitment niche [45:25] How all 11 team members learn and use AI together Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, an AI-native ATS and CRM built for serious recruiting businesses. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow It is also brought to you by Juicebox, the modern AI platform for recruiting. Juicebox combines more than 30 datasets with AI models to support search, outreach, and pipeline management within a single workflow. Learn more: https://recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox Guest Bio: Dave Fox is the founder of Focus GTS, a fully remote technology staffing firm based in Miami. Focus GTS generates more than $10 million in annual revenue with a team of 11 and has been recognized on the Inc. 5000 list. Dave and his team specialize in the Adobe Marketing Cloud ecosystem and use AI across research, marketing, sales, website development, and client delivery. Connect with Dave Fox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davefoxceo/ Learn more about Focus GTS: https://www.focusgts.com/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Get your FREE 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Mark on Twitter: @MarkWhitby Mark on Facebook Mark on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

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How to Build Talent Pools on Autopilot With AI Agents, with David Paffenholz

David Paffenholz never worked as a recruiter. He studied economics at Harvard, led growth at Snap, and built a couple of consumer products with his co-founder, Ishan, before the two of them turned their attention to hiring. What they noticed was that most of the recruiting tech stack is built for candidates who are already in the funnel, while the harder and more valuable problem sits right at the top: finding the right people and getting them to reply. The platform they built, Juicebox, is now used by more than 5,000 customers, and around 40% of them run AI agents that source candidates autonomously for open roles. One agent per role. Each learns from your feedback, sources a set number of new candidates every day, and tells you when the talent pool needs a different approach. In this special sponsored episode, David walks Mark through what that looks like on a real desk. He covers the four-step outreach sequence Juicebox recommends, why generic AI-written emails hurt response rates and how to keep yours sounding like you, and how the platform searches and ranks candidates without a LinkedIn Recruiter seat. He also makes the case that recruiting will start to look more like executive search, with agents handling the research and sourcing while recruiters spend their time where they create the most value: building trust with candidates and clients. He also shares the honest version of building the company, including the two difficult years when it was just him and Ishan, before Juicebox found momentum. In this episode, you'll discover: How one AI agent per open role sources candidates every day The four-step outreach cadence Juicebox recommends, and why the fourth email waits Why generic AI-written emails hurt your response rate, and how to keep yours sounding like you How to search and rank candidates without relying on LinkedIn Recruiter When to add LinkedIn and phone steps to an automated sequence Why the future of recruiting may look more like executive search What helps recruiters and employers win the best talent The two difficult years before Juicebox found momentum Episode highlights: 01:22 Why David and his co-founder chose to build for recruitment 03:41 The top-of-funnel problem most recruiting tools ignore 10:27 The four-step email cadence that gets more replies 12:00 Why AI-written outreach often sounds generic 24:57 The recruiting org chart of the future 26:49 What one AI agent per role does each day 32:18 Why recruiting will increasingly resemble executive search 51:01 The difficult two years before the business found momentum Podcast Partner This special episode is sponsored by Juicebox, the AI recruiting platform that helps recruiters find and reach the right candidates. Book a demo: recruitmentcoach.com/juicebox About David Paffenholz David Paffenholz is the co-founder and CEO of Juicebox, an AI recruiting platform used by more than 5,000 customers to find and reach candidates. He studied economics at Harvard and led growth at Snap. He and his co-founder, Ishan, built several consumer products before founding Juicebox, which went through Y Combinator in 2022. Connect with Mark Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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7 Success Secrets of Elite Recruiters with Ben Mena,

What separates recruiters building momentum from those whose desks are quietly drifting? Benjamin Mena has recorded more than 300 episodes of The Elite Recruiter Podcast. Mark Whitby has done the same with The Resilient Recruiter. Between them, they have interviewed hundreds of high-performing recruiters and repeatedly seen the same success patterns. Ben begins this conversation with an honest admission. His recruiting revenue had been drifting. It was not collapsing, but his attention had become divided and the work he should have completed months earlier had not happened. That changed the conversation. Ben and Mark were not simply identifying what elite recruiters do. They were examining why proven fundamentals remain difficult to execute, even when you know exactly what they are. "The wealth in our industry is built on going day after day, doing the most boring basics." In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why successful recruiters plan the next day before the current one ends How rigorous qualification protects your time, energy and revenue Why hyper-specialization is common among the industry's top billers How engagement fees test whether a client is genuinely committed Why recruiters need to rebuild the sales skills weakened during easier markets How cornerstone clients create a more stable recruitment desk How LinkedIn, podcasts, newsletters and SEO can generate inbound opportunities Why long-term relationships become more valuable as AI changes recruitment Episode Highlights: [02:08] The revenue drift that made Ben delay this conversation [07:18] Defining success beyond recruitment billings [11:33] Why elite recruiters plan tomorrow before today ends [15:21] How rigorous qualification protects time and revenue [21:46] Becoming the go-to recruiter in a hyper-niche market [29:16] Rebuilding the sales skills weakened during easier markets [36:36] Building an inbound engine that compounds over time [46:05] How AI could widen the gap between recruiters About Benjamin Mena Benjamin Mena is the host of The Elite Recruiter Podcast and Managing Partner of Select Source Solutions, an executive search firm specializing in federal recruiting for government contractors. Ben has 20 years of recruiting experience across major defense contracts and complex federal programs. Through his podcast, recruiter community and virtual summits, he brings together top billers, firm owners and industry leaders to share what is working on the desk. Connect With Benjamin Mena The Elite Recruiter Podcast: https://www.eliterecruiterpodcast.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminmena/ If you want to build a recruitment desk around disciplined execution, market authority and relationships that compound, this episode is a must-listen. Podcast Partners This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow — an AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in data enrichment. Book a demo at recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow. Free Resources Recruitment Freedom Scorecard: https://mark-rf1pexbm.scoreapp.com/ Book a free 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Connect With Mark Whitby LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwhitby/ Twitter: @MarkWhitby Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RecruitmentCoach/ Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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Claude for Recruiters: How to Automate Your Recruitment Business | Reyhan Khan

Most recruiters know they should be using AI more. What they don't know is where to start, what to connect, and what it costs. Reyhan Khan makes all of that concrete. Reyhan runs RecruiterGTM and has spent the last 60 days setting up Claude for 35 recruitment agencies. He's based in Lisbon, originally from Pakistan, and spent years running operations for US agencies before launching his own business. He places offshore talent from South Africa, Pakistan, and Latin America into recruitment agencies, which means he operates as a recruiter himself and follows the same process he teaches. In this episode, Reyhan walks through the complete setup: how to connect your ATS, outreach tools, and data sources into Claude so you can run BD, sourcing, and outreach from a single screen. He covers honest tool reviews, a full tech stack cost breakdown, and the three moves to make first if you want results this month, including one approach most recruiters have never considered. In this episode: How Reyhan set up Claude for 35 recruiters in 60 days, and what he found every time Why connecting your ATS, outreach tools, and data sources to Claude changes the economics of BD The recommended tech stack and cost breakdown for solo recruiters and full teams Why downloading your LinkedIn connections and ranking them by fit is the highest-return move most recruiters haven't made Honest tool reviews: RecruiterFlow, Loxo, Bullhorn, and more Why Claude builds market maps at a fraction of the cost of other tools How a recruiter over 60 who described himself as "not tech savvy" built six Claude agents Why offshore talent and Claude work better together than either does alone The recruiter who made a placement by going back to one person she already knew Episode Highlights: [0:00] Intro [02:33] From electrical engineer to online business operator [07:20] Becoming Head of Operations as the agency grew to 45 people [12:56] Deploying Claude for 35 recruiters in 60 days [15:25] Where recruitment agencies need AI most [18:30] Connecting your recruitment tools inside one Claude cockpit [22:43] How a recruiter over 60 built six Claude agents [24:55] The Claude workflow that produced half a dozen placements [27:45] Reyhan's recommended recruitment technology stack [31:27] Why every client and candidate conversation should be recorded [41:29] Building lower-cost market maps with Claude [47:36] The highest-return place to begin with AI [52:26] Combining offshore talent with Claude Listen: https://recruitmentcoach.com/podcast/ Podcast Partner: Recruiterflow, an AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in agents. https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: Take the 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard at https://recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard or book a free strategy session at https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ About Reyhan Khan: Reyhan Khan runs RecruiterGTM, helping recruitment agencies build go-to-market systems using AI and Claude. Over the course of his career, he moved from electrical engineering to freelance copywriting to Head of Operations at a US agency, before spending two and a half years coaching recruitment agencies. He now lives in Lisbon, Portugal, where he places offshore talent and helps agencies build AI-enabled recruiting systems. Find him on LinkedIn or at recruitergtm.com. Connect with Reyhan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyhankhann/ Website: recruitergtm.com Connect with Mark Whitby: Free 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwhitby/ Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://recruitmentcoach.com/podcast/

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How the Top 1% of Recruiters Win New Business in 2026 | Mike Williams, Jen Meyer, and Pree Sarkar

What are the top 1% of recruiters doing differently to win new business in 2026? That's exactly what Mark Whitby wanted to find out. So instead of interviewing one guest, he brought together three Pinnacle Society members for a live panel discussion in front of more than 100 recruiters. Jen Meyer is Chief Revenue Officer at Govig and Associates, a firm doing $12 to $15 million a year. Mike Williams built Carnegie Search into a team of 15 and billed $1.5 million last year. Pree Sarkar runs a global firm from Sydney focused on go-to-market hiring for scale-ups and AI companies. They run successful businesses in very different markets, but there were surprising similarities in how they approach business development. Jen explained why companies going through layoffs can become some of your best client opportunities. Mike shared the simple accountability system that keeps his team on the phones every day. And Pree broke down the 90-day framework that led to seven of his last 10 client agreements. If you're relying on referrals and repeat business, this conversation is a reminder that the best recruiters never stop building a pipeline. In this episode: Why layoffs and restructures create high-value search work that never gets advertised The MPC approach that opens doors without the standard recruiter pitch Mike's fifteen-calls-a-day accountability system How to build a prospect list by hand, and what company size to target Ad calls versus target company calls, and what each means for your fees Pree's Brand, Win, Grow framework and the Fill strategy Nets, Seeds and Spears: balancing short and long-term pipeline What to do if you need a search assignment in the next 30 days Becoming "the recruiter for all seasons" Episode Highlights: [00:00] Intro [04:49] Why reputation and relationships won't build a repeatable pipeline [05:28] Jen targets companies that are downsizing, and why it works [09:56] Mike on why accountability beats good intentions [11:23] The fifteen-calls-a-day spreadsheet system explained [14:11] Why Mike builds every prospect list by hand [16:00] The company size sweet spot for director-level roles [16:51] Pree's three pillars: Brand, Win, Grow [18:35] Nets, seeds and spears explained [25:23] What each panellist would do starting over from zero [30:37] Why one hundred calls a day still matters in 2026 [35:10] Ad calls versus target company calls, and the fee difference [45:00] Becoming "the recruiter for all seasons" [57:50] The one metric Jen says to measure every Friday Podcast Partner Recruiterflow: AI-first ATS and CRM with built-in agents. https://recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow About the Guests Jen Meyer is Chief Revenue Officer at Govig and Associates, leading all business development. She has been in the industry for nearly 30 years, including 14 years running her own firm. Mike Williams is the founder of Carnegie Search, an engineering recruitment firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a team of 15. Pree Sarkar runs a global recruitment firm from Sydney focused on software sales and go-to-market hiring for startups, scale-ups and AI companies. Connect with the Guests Jen Meyer on LinkedIn Mike Williams on LinkedIn Pree Sarkar on LinkedIn Connect with Mark Whitby Get your free 30-minute strategy call: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn | Twitter: @MarkWhitby | Facebook | Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter

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LinkedIn Algorithm: How the Latest Changes Affect Recruiters | Richard van der Blom

LinkedIn has changed how it decides who sees your content, and many recruiters are feeling the impact. Reach is down for most creators, engagement is changing, and tactics that worked a year ago are becoming less effective. Richard van der Blom has spent years studying those changes. His annual LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report is now in its seventh edition, built from the analysis of 1.3 million LinkedIn posts published in the first half of 2026. His latest research suggests LinkedIn has fundamentally shifted from rewarding who you know to rewarding what you want to be known for. In this episode, Richard explains what those changes mean for recruiters, how topic fingerprinting influences your visibility, why random posting is hurting more than helping, and how AI is changing the way LinkedIn evaluates content. He also shares the four content pillars behind high-performing posts, why newsletters are becoming one of LinkedIn's most underused tools, and what recruiters should change now to stay visible. In this episode, you'll discover: Why LinkedIn's latest algorithm changes are reducing reach for many recruiters How topic fingerprinting determines who sees your content The four content pillars behind most high-performing LinkedIn posts Why your profile matters as much as the content you publish How LinkedIn is detecting AI-generated content Why newsletters are becoming one of LinkedIn's biggest opportunities What recruiters should change immediately to improve their visibility Episode highlights: [04:47] LinkedIn's shift from a relationship graph to an interest graph [08:41] Topic fingerprinting and why your profile matters [19:19] The four content pillars behind successful LinkedIn content [38:38] Which LinkedIn formats are performing best in 2026 [43:27] The LinkedIn Loop Cycle explained [48:05] AI detection on LinkedIn and the reach penalty About Richard Richard van der Blom is the founder of Just Connecting, a LinkedIn training and consultancy agency. He has been helping businesses use LinkedIn since 2010 and has published the LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report every year since 2020. His latest report analyzes 1.3 million LinkedIn posts and is widely referenced by organizations including Salesforce, PwC, and Nestlé. Connect with Richard: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardvanderblom/ Website: https://www.richardvanderblom.com/ LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report 2026: https://sales.richardvanderblom.com/content-algorithm-playbook/ Connect with Mark Whitby: Free Strategy Session: https://recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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How AI Is Helping Recruiters Bill More, with Jordan Shlosberg

Recruiters don't need AI to replace conversations with candidates or clients. They need AI to give them more time for those conversations. That's the philosophy Jordan Shlosberg has built his entire business around. Jordan is the founder of Atlas, an AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. Before Atlas, he built proSapient, an expert network platform, scaling it to $40 million in revenue and 300 people across four or five offices before stepping back from the business in 2022. In this episode, Jordan explains where AI is already helping recruiters bill more, and where he thinks it has no place at all. He argues that business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on agency growth. He also shares why he uses Claude alongside his CRM to run his own business, and the simple test he applies to every new piece of technology. If you've been experimenting with AI but aren't sure how to turn that into more billings, this conversation gives you a clear way to think about it. In this episode, you'll discover: Where AI helps recruiters bill more, and where it shouldn't be used Why specing a candidate to a client used to take a day, and what that looks like now How Jordan decides whether to use Claude or his CRM for a given task Why business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on agency growth What "micro AI" means, and why Jordan avoids building one big flashy feature The one test Jordan applies to every new feature before it ships What Jordan thinks every recruiter should try in the next 90 days Episode highlights: 00:54 From building proSapient to $40 million to launching Atlas 08:23 The hiring mistake that dropped Jordan's Glassdoor score to 2.2 30:18 Where AI is genuinely good in recruitment today, and where it isn't 34:20 Why Jordan uses Claude over ChatGPT to run his own business 47:19 The search Atlas can run that no one else can do yet 59:39 Why business development, not delivery, is the real constraint on growth Podcast Partner: This episode is sponsored by Atlas, the AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. For more information, visit recruitmentcoach.com/atlas. About Jordan: Jordan Shlosberg is the founder and CEO of Atlas, an AI-first CRMx built for recruitment agencies. He previously founded proSapient, an expert network platform, which he built to $40 million in revenue and 300 people across four or five offices before stepping back from the business in 2022. Connect with Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanshlosberg/ https://recruitwithatlas.com/ Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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How to Bill $1.29 Million Without Sacrificing Family Life, with Emily Audibert

Emily Audibert billed $1.29 million in 2025. She did it while eight and a half months pregnant with her third child, living in a 750-square-foot cottage for six months during a home renovation with her husband, two young boys, and a 70-pound dog. Emily is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles. The year before, she'd billed $800K. She knew she was capable of billing seven figures, but a bad RPO client was quietly eating the difference. She came home from a conference determined to make some changes, fired the client, worked with her sister, Amanda, to overhaul her processes and technology, and by spring had landed a major new contract. In this episode, Emily walks through that whole sequence, along with the early years of her career, including five failed attempts at the same CPA exam before she ever considered recruiting, and the moment she stopped copying her trainer's script and started sounding like herself on the phone. Today, she's off the phone by 4:30 most afternoons to be with her kids, and she explains exactly how her business is built to make that possible. In this episode, you'll discover: How to tell a good RPO from one that's quietly draining your business Why the type of contract you sign never fixes a role that's hard to fill What changed when Emily brought her sister on as her operations partner Why she spend nearly her whole day on the phone and almost nothing else The three things that took her from $80K to $390K in her second year Why a softer, more personal approach outperformed a memorized script The daily habits she leans on to stay calm during a demanding week How half her breakthrough year came from work she was already doing Episode highlights: 02:26 Life with three kids under five 08:13 How 2025 became her breakthrough year 09:01 The RPO client she fired 14:41 Failing the CPA exam five times before finding recruitment 21:54 From $80K to $390K in year two 26:46 Finding her own voice on the phone 46:04 Why hiring her sister as integrator changed everything 52:43 A great RPO versus one you should fire Podcast Partner: This episode is brought to you by Recruiterflow, the AI-first ATS and CRM built for recruitment agencies and search firms. recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard: https://mark-rf1pexbm.scoreapp.com/ Book a Strategy Session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ About Emily: Emily Audibert is the founder of EA Associates, a search firm specializing in go-to-market roles across marketing and sales. She began her career at Hobson Associates, trained under Danny Cahill, and has spent nearly 10 years in recruiting. She was inducted into the Pinnacle Society in 2025. That same year, she billed $1.29 million, up from $800K the year before. Connect with Emily: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyaudibert/ https://ea.associates/ Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter so you never miss an episode.

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How to Make More Placements with Split Fees | NPA Worldwide Panel

How many search assignments have you turned down because they were outside your niche, outside your geography, or you simply didn't have the capacity? In this special sponsored panel episode, Mark Whitby is joined by Heather Gardner, Jeff McGraw, and Jen Anderson from NPA Worldwide to discuss how split-fee partnerships help independent recruiters make more placements without taking on more clients. Heather made six split placements in her first year with NPA Worldwide. Jen has completed more than 55 split placements over the past decade. Jeff has been making split placements since 1994. Together, they explain how split fees work, how to build trusted recruiting partnerships, and how collaboration has helped them fill searches they would otherwise have declined. What You'll Learn: How a standard 50/50 split fee works, including the fee paid back to the network What questions to ask before agreeing to work on someone else's job order How Jeff brought a partner onto an intake call and filled an optics engineer role he couldn't have qualified alone How Jen builds trust with a new partner by copying them on every email with the client and candidate How Heather turned six split placements into a steady first year with NPA Worldwide What separates a partner worth working with from one worth turning down Timestamps: 00:00 Why recruiters turn away good search assignments 07:45 How split fee partnerships work 10:43 Heather's first year: six split placements 22:16 Jeff's optics engineer success story 26:10 How to qualify a split opportunity 28:57 The university client Jen won with a partner's help 37:39 Why collaboration beats competition 45:57 What makes a great split recruiting partner Guest Panel Heather Gardner is the owner of High Sierra Talent in California and made six split placements during her first year with NPA Worldwide. Jeff McGraw is with William Charles Search Group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been making split placements through NPA Worldwide since 1994. Jen Anderson is the owner of Prestige Recruiting Firm in Clearwater, Florida. She has been an NPA Worldwide member for 10 years, has completed more than 55 split placements, and currently serves on the NPA Worldwide Americas Board. If you've ever turned down work because it sat outside your specialty, this conversation will change how you think about the next one. This episode is sponsored by NPA Worldwide, a global, member-owned network of independent recruiters built around split fee placements. Learn more about NPA Worldwide: https://npaworldwide.com Mark Whitby: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwhitby/ The Resilient Recruiter: https://www.recruitmentcoach.com/podcast/

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How a Solo Recruiter Went From Running a Bakery to Billing $100K a Month

Michael Chambers didn't come into recruitment through the usual route. Before becoming a recruiter, he spent eight years running a bakery with his mother in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then his father passed away from cancer, leaving behind a recruiting business that had barely gotten started. Michael decided to take it over despite having no recruiting experience. A few years later, after navigating Covid, relocating across the country, and completely changing niches, Michael relaunched his business in manufacturing and battery recruitment across the Southeast United States. By month two, he was billing $100,000 a month as a solo recruiter. His business development strategy is unlike anything we've featured on the podcast before. Michael combines the Dream 100 methodology with personalized market intelligence reports, handwritten notes, LinkedIn videos, voice messages, phone calls, and in-person visits. In one campaign discussed on the show, 25 personalized mailers generated 15 responses and 10 booked conversations. He even shows up at target companies with cakes featuring their logo printed in icing. In this conversation, Michael breaks down exactly how the system works, why he went all-retained after Covid, how he built a niche in the Southeast Battery Belt, and why giving away value before asking for anything has become the foundation of his business. What You'll Learn • How Michael went from bakery owner to a six-figure monthly recruiting desk • Why he switched to a retained-only business model • The complete Dream 100 campaign and follow-up sequence • How personalized market intelligence reports open doors with target clients • Why physical mail still works in a digital world • How AI helps him create highly customized reports efficiently • The thinking behind his two-year replacement guarantee • How he became known as a specialist in battery manufacturing recruitment Timestamps [1:24] Michael's unusual route into recruitment [8:23] Taking over his father's recruiting business [15:21] Starting in 2019 and navigating Covid [17:47] Going all-retained and becoming more selective [21:51] Sending market intelligence before pitching anything [28:14] Relocating and relaunching in the Battery Belt [29:38] Billing $100K/month from month two as a solo recruiter [39:28] Why physical mailers outperform digital outreach [47:22] Dream 100 campaign breakdown: 25 mailers, 15 responses, 10 conversations [53:09] Showing up unannounced with a logo-printed cake [58:59] Inside a 30-page market intelligence report [1:00:38] The two-year replacement guarantee About Michael Chambers Michael Chambers is the founder of The Chambers Group, a retained search firm focused on manufacturing, operations, aerospace, and semiconductor recruitment across the Southeast United States. He entered recruitment in 2019 after taking over the business his father had started before his passing. Today, he specializes in helping manufacturing organizations hire critical leadership and operational talent across the Southeast Battery Belt. Connect with Mark Whitby Free Strategy Session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session 7-Figure Freedom Scorecard: recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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How to Build a Recruitment Business That Runs Without You, with David Jenyns

David Jenyns had 15 people on his team when he realized his business still couldn't function without him. Every client wanted him personally. Every escalation came back to him. He was working long hours and couldn't switch off. When he thought about taking time off to be present for the birth of his first child, it filled him with anxiety rather than excitement. "It was a little bit scary when I realized, hey, if I'm not working, the business isn't working." David is the founder of SYSTEMology, a three-times bestselling author of Authority Content, SYSTEMology, and Systems Champion, and a TEDx speaker. He has built and exited multiple businesses and, in 2016, systemized himself out of Melbourne SEO Services by documenting the business, hiring a CEO, and stepping away from day-to-day operations. He has since personally coached 223 businesses across 48 industries and 27 countries. In this conversation, David and Mark explore why founder dependency is so common in recruitment businesses, why it often gets rewarded in the early stages, and how agency owners can break the cycle. David explains the Critical Client Flow, the knowledgeable worker concept, the Systems Champion role, and why documented processes have become even more valuable in the age of AI. In this episode: Why the traits that help build a recruitment business can eventually limit its growth The Critical Client Flow and how to identify the systems that matter most How to distinguish between the work that requires your expertise and the work that doesn't Why key person dependency creates risk beyond just the founder How to capture the knowledge inside your team's heads before it walks out the door The Systems Champion role and how it drives systemization from within How AI can turn recordings into first-draft process documentation Why businesses with documented processes are getting the most out of AI right now What happened when ChatGPT disrupted a quarter of David's business almost overnight Episode Highlights [2:08] Why David's agency became dependent on him despite having 15 team members [4:15] The catalyst: finding out his wife was pregnant [9:03] Why founder dependency gets rewarded in the early stages [13:16] Systemize everything around the magic [19:58] The Critical Client Flow: where to start [25:32] The knowledgeable worker concept [27:41] The Systems Champion role [38:40] Building a Systems Hub for your intellectual property [47:03] How ChatGPT disrupted David's business overnight [49:06] Why process documentation is now the foundation for AI adoption About David Jenyns David Jenyns is the founder of SYSTEMology and a three-times bestselling author. His books, Authority Content, SYSTEMology, and Systems Champion, have been endorsed by Michael Gerber, Gino Wickman, and Allan Dib. A TEDx speaker and serial entrepreneur, he has personally coached 223 businesses across 48 industries and 27 countries. He also hosts the podcast Business Processes Simplified and runs systemHUB, a platform for business process documentation. Connect with David: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/david-jenyns SYSTEMology: systemology.com systemHUB: systemhub.com Podcast Partner Recruiterflow is an AI-first ATS and CRM built for modern recruitment agencies. Book a demo: recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources Seven Figure Freedom Scorecard: recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard Free Strategy Session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session Connect with Mark Free 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Twitter: @MarkWhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter: https://plinkhq.com/i/1489513354

The Pros and Cons of Building a Recruitment Business in Dubai | Louise Vine

Dubai attracts recruiters from all over the world. Louise Vine has spent the last 18 years learning how the market really works. Louise is the founder of Inspire Selection, a specialist finance and accounting recruitment firm based in Dubai. Over the last 13 years, she has built a fully remote business operating on a commission-only model while navigating a market where fee pressure is intense, cultural differences shape every interaction, and jobs can disappear without warning. Last year, 70% of Louise's assignments were either canceled or put on hold. Louise covers the challenges that catch Western recruiters off guard, why agencies charging 8% fees have changed client expectations, and how she introduced engagement fees to protect her team's time. She also explains how her commission-only model works, why only a small percentage of recruiters are suited to it, and what she has learned about hiring, accountability, and building culture in a fully remote business. If you're considering Dubai, exploring commission-only recruitment, or looking for a different way to build a recruitment business, this episode is worth your time. In this episode: How Louise went from Robert Half in the UK to building a recruitment business in Dubai What recruiters need to understand about the realities of the UAE market Why nationality-based salary bands still exist in some organizations How fee pressure impacts recruitment firms across Dubai Why 70% of Louise's jobs went on hold or were canceled last year The engagement fee strategy that changed client behavior The pros and cons of a commission-only recruitment business How to manage performance without micromanaging Building culture and accountability in a remote team Episode Highlights: 00:00 Intro 02:17 Growing up in Yorkshire and how it shaped Louise's resilience 15:51 The Facebook photos that convinced Louise to move to Dubai 17:25 Becoming top biller in her first quarter in Dubai 22:37 Nationality-based salary bands and what they mean for recruiters 27:06 Why 70% of jobs went on hold and how the engagement fee changed things 37:43 The commission-only model: 60-80% payouts, fully remote, no base salary 44:07 The hidden cost of commission-only, most owners don't see coming 46:18 How Louise manages performance without micromanaging 56:30 Why finding the right person for a commission-only model is harder than it sounds 1:03:07 How Louise builds team culture with everyone working from home About Louise Vine Louise Vine is the founder of Inspire Selection, a specialist finance and accounting recruitment agency based in Dubai. She moved to Dubai from England 18 years ago and launched Inspire Selection 13 years ago. Today she leads a team of nine billers and three support staff, all working remotely on a commission-only model. Connect with Louise: Louise on LinkedIn, inspireselection.com Podcast Partners Recruiterflow is an AI-first ATS and CRM built for modern recruitment firms. Find email addresses and phone numbers directly from LinkedIn profiles and manage your entire recruitment workflow in one platform. Book a demo: recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow Free Resources: Take the Recruitment Freedom Scorecard: recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard Book a free Strategy Session with Mark: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session Connect with Mark Whitby LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach Subscribe to The Resilient Recruiter for weekly interviews with recruitment business owners and search firm leaders.

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How to 10X Your Recruiting Productivity with AI, with Rich Rosen

Rich Rosen is having a strong year. But he's quick to point out that it hasn't come easily. In his words, he's working twice as hard for those results. Rich has completed more than 1,200 placements, been recognized by Forbes as one of America's Top 50 Recruiters for seven consecutive years, and continues to bill over $1 million annually. He also spends more time testing recruiting technology than almost anyone in the industry. Yet despite all the AI tools available today, Rich still spends four to six hours a day speaking with clients and candidates. His concern is that many recruiters are approaching AI the wrong way. Either they use it as a distraction, spending core hours building automations instead of talking to people. Or they save time with AI and then fail to reinvest that time into the activities that actually generate revenue. Rich's view is simple: AI should help recruiters become more productive. The real question is what you do with the time it gives back. In this conversation, Rich shares how he runs his desk in 2025, what's in his tech stack, why disciplined phone time still matters, and what he's learned from producing results in a market he describes as genuinely tough. In this episode: Why are many recruiters getting distracted by AI rather than becoming more productive because of it The one question every recruiter should ask after saving time with automation Rich's current tech stack: Pin.com, Ren Systems, Cluely, Gemini Deep Research, and more How he plans his day the night before, so he's calling from minute one Why does he fire bad clients even in a difficult market and what happens when he does How to identify the clients worth keeping and the ones worth walking away from What the Pinnacle Society conference revealed about where the market really is right now Episode highlights: [10:03] Why perseverance was the dominant theme at Pinnacle Miami [11:46] Rich's take on AI hype and what companies are actually doing with it [17:57] Why recruiters burn out from underappreciation, not hard work [21:29] How to identify the clients worth keeping and the ones worth walking away from [32:44] The mistake recruiters make after saving time with AI [35:18] His current tech stack and the tools generating the most value [46:38] How AI has changed the workflow of a million-dollar desk [54:17] Why he still spends four to six hours a day on the phone [59:57] Is AI making recruiters more productive or just creating new distractions? About Rich Rosen: Rich Rosen is the founder of Cornerstone Search Group and one of the most accomplished recruiters in the technology sector. Over the course of his career, he has completed more than 1,200 placements and been recognized by Forbes as one of America's Top 50 Recruiters for seven consecutive years. Rich specializes in software sales, sales leadership, sales engineering, and executive-level searches for technology companies ranging from startups to enterprise organizations. He is also a longtime member of the Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of top-performing recruiters in North America. Connect with Rich: Rich Rosen on LinkedIn Cornerstone Search Group Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy call: www.recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session/ Mark on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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How to Win New Clients with Personalised Video, with Sam Johnstone

Sam Johnstone has never worked for a recruitment agency. He spent three and a half years selling video technology to agency owners. Then he decided to go and do it himself. Four years in, he has a portfolio of repeat clients and inbound leads from LinkedIn. All built from a cabin on the Scottish coast with a few thousand pounds in the bank. Sam is the founder of Real Recruit, a specialist sales recruitment firm based in Glasgow. He built his entire business around video - using it to prospect for new clients, market roles, screen candidates, and deliver shortlists. It's his single biggest differentiator for winning clients over every other agency they're talking to. In this episode, Sam breaks down his complete video process from first outreach to final shortlist. He explains how a 30-second personalised video and a five-minute callback rule consistently gets prospects to take his call. He explains how filming video job adverts inside client offices builds relationships that standard agencies can't match. And he shares the hiring day model that compresses weeks of interviews into a single afternoon. Sam also covers the harder lessons. A hiring day that cost him money. A client who took 180 days to pay. The payment term changes he made after that. And the monthly recurring revenue model he built to create more predictable income. In this episode you'll discover: The 30-second video formula that gets cold prospects to pick up the phone Why Sam sends personalised videos to multiple decision makers at the same company on the same day How filming a video job advert on-site at a client's office wins repeat business The hiring day model and how to run one Why a client who haggles on your deposit is a red flag How Sam rebuilt his payment terms after a client took 180 days to pay How Clay, SourceWhale, and Claude Cowork replaced LinkedIn Recruiter in his tech stack Episode highlights: [1:18] What a video-first recruitment agency actually means [15:15] The BD routine: personalized videos, watch notifications, calling within five minutes [17:54] The 30-second video formula [22:29] How a Rangers fan story turned into Sam's first big retainer [25:16] Why Sam works on deposit - and what clients receive in return [32:42] The hiring day model explained [43:55] The hiring day that cost Sam money and what he learned [49:32] Getting paid 180 days late - and the changes that followed [1:08:16] Clay, SourceWhale, and Claude Cowork replacing LinkedIn Recruiter If your outreach isn't getting responses, this episode will give you a completely different approach to winning clients. Connect with Sam: LinkedIn: Sam Johnstone Website: realrecruit.co.uk Connect with Mark: Free strategy session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session Mark on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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How to Choose the Right Recruitment Tech and Avoid Wasting Money on Tools, with Nitin Sharma

Recruitment business owners are being pitched new tools every single day. Most of it gets bought based on fear of missing out, not because there is a real problem that needs solving. Nitin Sharma is the founder of Rectools IO, an independent directory of recruitment technology, and the host of Rectalk, the most followed recruitment podcast on YouTube with over 100,000 subscribers. He speaks to more recruitment technology companies than almost anyone in the industry while staying completely independent. Before all of that, Nitin built a recruitment agency to 15 people and close to 5 million pounds in revenue. Then it failed. Sitting with an insolvency practitioner, being asked why he did not know the answers to basic questions about his own business, was the moment that shaped everything he does now. In this episode, Nitin shares why most recruitment businesses are buying technology in the wrong order, how to work out what you actually need, and the one question every business owner should ask before spending anything on new tools. You will hear why your business finances almost always mirror your personal finances, the three conversations to have before buying any new tool, how to audit what you already own before spending anything new, and why a CRM with strong back office functionality is the one thing every recruitment business genuinely needs, regardless of size or model. Nitin also breaks down where AI will genuinely replace recruitment work first, how to spot a GPT in a wrapper before you buy it, and why legacy recruitment software is under more threat than most people realize. Episode highlights: 2:19 Building to close to 5 million pounds in revenue and the collapse in December 2023 6:17 The real reasons the agency failed 15:56 Why business finances mirror personal finances 25:47 How Rectools IO and Rectalk became the industry's biggest YouTube channel 31:13 What recruitment business owners should be doing on LinkedIn 46:47 Why legacy recruitment software is under threat 48:10 The recruitment work AI will automate first 49:06 How to spot a GPT in a wrapper 50:53 The one question to ask before buying any recruitment tool 53:38 How to check what you already have before spending anything new 59:48 Why a CRM is the one non-negotiable Connect with Nitin: LinkedIn: Nitin Sharma Website: rectools.io YouTube: Rectalk Podcast Connect with Mark: Free strategy call: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session Seven Figure Freedom Scorecard: recruitmentcoach.com/scorecard Mark on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mwhitby Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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How to Build a £25M Recruitment Firm Without Chasing Headcount, with Michelle Lownie

Adding more people is how you grow a recruitment firm. Michelle Lownie spent years believing it. Then she watched it go wrong. Michelle is the CEO and co-founder of Eden Scott, one of Scotland's leading recruitment firms. She started in recruitment in 1989, filing documents and making tea at Melville Craig on a six-week summer contract. She stayed 15 years. In 2003, she co-founded Eden Scott alongside Guy Martin and Chris Logue. Today, Eden Scott generates approximately £25 million in annual revenue with 38 consultants across Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Glasgow. At its peak, the business had nearly 70 people. In this episode, Michelle talks through what it took to rebuild around a smaller, higher-performing team - and how that decision changed everything about how the business runs today. She covers the hiring process Eden Scott uses to find recruiters who don't need managing, why they've stayed on the 360 model for 23 years while everyone else splits desks, and what keeps recruiters at Eden Scott for years in an industry known for high turnover. She also shares what the last 18 months have looked like on the ground in Scotland - and why relationship-led recruitment still matters more than ever. In this episode, you'll learn: How Eden Scott rebuilt from 70 people down to 38 - and what changed How COVID became an opportunity to rebuild around the right people The hiring process - including why interviewers never discuss candidates between stages What Michelle is actually looking for when she makes a hiring decision How their commission and retention structure works, including sabbaticals at 5, 10, and 15 years How the 360 full-desk model still produces a £25 million business What consistent business development actually looks like in practice Episode highlights: [13:39] How COVID forced a complete rethink of the business [17:51] Why Michelle has no interest in scaling back to 70 people [26:29] Why Eden Scott has stayed on the 360 model while others split desks [35:30] The hiring process - and why interviewers don't discuss candidates between stages [45:11] The retention strategies that keep consultants at Eden Scott for years [52:18] Why good recruiters don't need to be pushed This episode is sponsored by Recruiterflow - an AI-first ATS and CRM built for recruiters who want to spend less time on admin and more time on relationships. See it in action at recruitmentcoach.com/recruiterflow. About Michelle Lownie: Michelle Lownie is the CEO and co-founder of Eden Scott, one of Scotland's leading recruitment firms with annual revenue of approximately £25 million. She began her career in 1989 at Melville Craig and co-founded Eden Scott in 2003 alongside Guy Martin and Chris Logue. The firm operates across Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Glasgow with 38 consultants. Connect with Michelle: LinkedIn: Michelle Lownie Website: edenscott.com Connect with Mark: Free 30-minute strategy session: recruitmentcoach.com/strategy-session Mark on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markwhitby Follow on Instagram: @RecruitmentCoach

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