Henry Lee

5 ways to ditch your best recruiter 🫡 Thinking of pushing out your top biller? Here’s a handy guide ⬇️⬇️   🫵 Micromanage them to death Hover over every call, second-guess their judgment, re-write emails, and remind them how you did it back in the good old days. Works like a charm.   🎯 Set KPIs for KPI’s sake Who cares if they’re bringing in the most revenue? Make sure they still make 50 calls a day!   🔨 Give them broken tools Outdated CRM? No access to LinkedIn? No automation? Perfect   🙅 Offer zero support Want a healthy pipeline? Don’t bother with marketing. No client intros. No admin. Let them juggle everything   👊 Create constant turf wars Pit them against others in the team, create an environment where your recruiters won’t share candidates/clients/info – nothing like a bit of healthy competition Are you a manager reading this and feeling personally attacked? I’m sorry to say you may be creating a toxic environment 😭 Are you a recruiter reading this thinking, is this post about me? Message me ASAP 🥲 Recruiters don’t leave recruitment They leave environments that make it impossible to succeed #recruitment #agencylife #recruitertips #rec2rec #recruters  

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When did cutting corners become a recruitment strategy? Lately, we’ve come across agencies sending candidates to clients after a quick 5-minute chat - no proper registration, no interview, no background checks. Just… “Here’s someone who might be okay. Good luck!” There are so many things wrong with this: * It’s not fair on the candidate, who deserves to be properly prepped and supported. * It’s not fair on the client, who’s trusting you to do your due diligence. * And it’s not fair on the industry, which relies on professionalism, trust, and relationships. Recruitment is more than matchmaking. It’s about understanding people, vetting thoroughly, and delivering quality - not speed over substance. To the recruiters out there holding the line and maintaining standards - thank you. Let’s protect the integrity of our profession!

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An update on UK hiring trends. We're seeing some significant changes in the UK job market. The latest figures tell an interesting story, job postings across the UK are sitting 13% below pre-pandemic levels, with a 23% drop compared to last year. But despite these numbers, our unemployment rate is holding steady at 4.3%, and we're actually seeing wage growth for new hires at 6.7%, which is higher than many other countries. The impact isn't uniform across all sectors. While tech and professional services have seen the biggest changes, we're also noticing significant shifts in hospitality and retail. It's creating a really unique situation in our job market. I'm sharing this because whether you're hiring or job hunting, understanding these trends is crucial for making informed decisions. What changes are you seeing in your industry? #UKJobs #Recruitment #EmploymentTrends #Economy

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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?

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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.

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One thing I wish candidates did more of in Europe? Sending thank you notes after interviews. It doesn’t need to be anything over the top — just a short message thanking the interviewer for their time, reaffirming your interest in the role, and maybe referencing something you discussed. It won’t guarantee you the job, but you’d be surprised how often it makes a difference. Hiring managers are human — they remember the candidates who show genuine interest, professionalism, and a bit of courtesy. Especially when it comes down to a final decision between two equally strong profiles. In North America, this is almost standard practice. In Europe? Much less so. So if you're heading into interviews soon: follow up. Say thanks. Show you're engaged. Don't rely on your recruiter to do it for you! It takes five minutes — and it might just give you the edge.

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You’ve done everything right. So why are you still invisible in the job market? 💬 You’re the perfect candidate… so why are you being ignored? You tick every box. ✅ The experience - solid. ✅ The qualifications - relevant. ✅ The CV - ATS-optimised and professional. ✅ The LinkedIn - active and aligned. Yet... silence. Or the dreaded: “We’ve decided not to proceed.” You’re not imagining it - the hiring market has changed. Recruiters today aren’t just screening for fit. They’re screening for risk. They’re asking: “Will this person stay long-term?” “Are they easy to onboard?” “Can they adapt quickly?” Even exceptional candidates get filtered out because: 🔸 You’re positioned too senior - seen as costly or short-term. 🔸 Your career story shows skills, but not impact progression. 🔸 The market is oversaturated - hundreds of qualified applicants per role. 🔸 You’re applying reactively instead of marketing yourself strategically. 🔸 Your visibility doesn’t match your capability - you’re not being seen. ✅ So what’s the solution? 1️⃣ Reposition your narrative - make your value, growth, and impact unmistakable across your CV and LinkedIn. 2️⃣ Increase recruiter visibility - engage, connect, and stay top of mind through consistent activity. 3️⃣ Tailor strategically - align every application with the company’s language, results, and priorities. 4️⃣ Balance seniority with flexibility - show that you’re adaptable, collaborative, and invested in long-term contribution. 5️⃣ Market yourself like a brand - presence now carries as much weight as performance. The best candidate doesn’t always get hired. The most visible, lowest-risk, and best-positioned one does. You don’t need to reinvent yourself - you need to reposition yourself. #CareerStrategy #JobSearch #ExecutiveBranding #RecruitmentTruths #FutureOfWork #HiringBias #CareerCoaching #LeadershipBranding #ATSOptimization #JobSearchStrategy #PersonalBranding #CareerGrowth #VisibilityMatters

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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

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