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Our approach to recruitment - why a partnership is the way forward

Haydn Eyles, Team Lead at Opus Recruitment Solutions thinks the relationship between recruiters, clients and candidates is changing and that traditional methods are becoming outdated. It’s all about integration and working in partnerships…


Recruitment has changed, and so have we...

I’ve worked in recruitment for over six years and as both the business needs and my role have changed, it’s becoming increasingly clear how important is it to work in partnership with both clients and candidates. It’s about knowing them well enough to genuinely understand and care about their needs and to adapt from the more traditional ways of working to try new approaches.

One of the ways we translate this at Opus is by offering full scale solutions. So we can work with any business from a one man band to a global company. That may mean one minute dealing one on one with a single hiring manager or on bigger accounts giving clients the attention of a full RPO team, which is obviously the other end of the scale. Each team member at Opus also has a dedicated specialism – be it Java Developers or Product Owners. Each of us also have a geographical area of specialism. In my career I have seen recruiters try and recruit for everything and for everywhere – from a job building boxes to a job working in Aerospace. I just think that isn’t how our clients operate, they wouldn’t have someone working across programming and HR for example, so why should we?

We can offer a more bespoke service

This approach means we can offer a more bespoke service – to both clients and candidates and understand them more. And if we can’t help that specific need then we will pass it onto one of the Opus team who can, which again is a bit of a newer way of working. The typical recruitment attitude is that if you can’t fill a role, you don’t fill it and you move on. Whereas here, if we’re passed a role that’s not in our specialist or geographical area, we’ll always pass it onto another recruiter. Other places I know of either won’t work a role if it doesn’t benefit them personally or they’ll be caught working too many roles – and you can’t efficiently look after a huge and varied pool of jobs. Our business is structured (and everyone within it is encouraged) to work the hardest for our clients and candidates, not for ourselves.

I think part of that has come about because the market has changed from being client led to being candidate led. It used to be a lot harder to get a great role on your desk than a great candidate but now, particularly in sectors like tech, it’s the opposite. For us, it means we have to have a genuine relationship with candidates – speak to them regularly, not leave them hanging on to hear after an interview and to become their first port of call. We know and genuinely appreciate the value of candidates. You also never know when a candidate could eventually become a client of course.

We can be more flexible with our working time

I think another key part of it is that we don’t have a KPI culture at Opus – which again, is a break from the old school way of working. It allows us to be flexible with our time depending on what’s landed on our desk. For me personally it’s meant spending more time working roles than trying to bring in new clients.

If you’ve got a target of 40 canvas calls to make, you HAVE to spend a portion of your day doing that regardless- you’re bringing in new clients for the sake of it, whether you have time to fill that role or not. Whereas we can be a bit more exclusive with the people we work with. We have time to get to know a business inside out and know exactly what they value in a candidate. This means we can often match a candidate to a role before its even become available. You just know the pair will match up . I firmly believe that by focusing on a smaller and specialised pool of clients, you can offer a more personal and integrated service. I love getting out to see clients and try and ensure I’m on first name terms with everyone, even the tea lady!

We have the same approach to partnerships across all our Opus offices around the globe. So, I can easily pass the right clients to our Sydney office or let a candidate know their dream role may be about to come up in New York. I’d say we have a global reach whilst always focusing on that specialised knowledge. And we all have a commitment to working in partnership with you, whether you’re a candidate or a business.


We would love to hear your thoughts on our refreshing approach to recruitment. Can we help your needs by working more closely? Visit www.opusrs.com to learn more about our tech recruitment solutions.

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