Talent teams see volume and call it abundance. Hiring managers feel powerless. Candidates are bruised into transactional behaviour. The result is a mirage - a hiring market that looks functional on the surface and breaks down at the point of placement.In this episode, Jeremy unpacks why direct hiring is failing more often than internal teams admit, and what recruiters need to do about it. Volume has decoupled from quality. AI-enhanced CVs, AI-screened applications, and AI-written job specs are creating a feedback loop that hides real talent and surfaces look-alikes.What you'll take away:The difference between an applicant and a candidate, and how to use it in client conversationsWhy hiring managers feel toothless even when they are seniorThe data that proves direct hiring is breaking downA reframe of agency value: candidate control and deal creation are now premium skills, not commodity adminThe numbers that matter:57% of applicants abandon a process that feels like it's going nowhere44% of candidates hold multiple offers in play34% of Gen Z accept a job and don't turn up on day one35% of accepted offers are reneged on (Gartner)60% know the job is a bad fit at the point of acceptanceThe finish line is the start date, not the signed contract. Human recruitment has now gone up to a premium - and this episode shows you how to prove it.Full data report: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/szyzfyag54i6yo5tzhyde/2026-Hiring-Guide.pdf?rlkey=pts9xw2tesodqh097o5eljonl&st=hhjmlbzi&dl=0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your People Engine - The People Engine For The Recruitment Industry.Delivering context-rich learning and development initiatives for all levels of people in recruitment. Live sessions delivered every week and content that focuses on implementation through guided activities.From new hires through to the top performers there’s an opportunity for everyone to grow and develop. The AI assistant curates relevant content on your behalf based on your questions.That’s immediate access to what you want, when you want to develop performance.

Why most "headhunting" today isn't headhunting at all  and what to do instead.Jeremy Snell unpacks the difference between true headhunting and the icky, mass-produced LinkedIn outreach that's come to wear the same name. Drawing on his executive search experience from the mid-90s (when headhunting was a telephone contact sport and being on the receiving end actually felt flattering), he makes the case that the craft hasn't died. It's just been buried under bad messaging, low response rates, and an over-reliance on people who've already decided to become candidates.If you're a recruiter relying on organic replies to in-mail blasts and reporting "low candidate interest" back to clients, this one's for you.What you'll hearWhy the word "headhunter" has been diluted, and how that hurts both recruiters and the people they're trying to engageThe difference between sourcing candidates and engaging individuals who haven't yet decided to become candidatesThe "icky message" problem: why generic outreach trains the market to ignore youWhy response rates aren't a reflection of the market. They're a reflection of your messagingThe job-hugging epidemic and why perceived risk has roughly doubled in the last 12 monthsWhy the phone still beats asynchronous channels for genuine engagement, and why most recruiters avoid itA real example of a phone-led approach turning a non-candidate into a candidate mid-call-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your People Engine - The People Engine For The Recruitment Industry.Delivering context-rich learning and development initiatives for all levels of people in recruitment. Live sessions delivered every week and content that focuses on implementation through guided activities.From new hires through to the top performers there’s an opportunity for everyone to grow and develop. The AI assistant curates relevant content on your behalf based on your questions.That’s immediate access to what you want, when you want to develop performance.

Counter-Offers Are Rising. Here's Why You're Losing Candidates at Two Minutes to Midnight.Counter-offer loss is climbing again - and it's not a money problem. It's an emotional one, dressed up as logic.In this episode, I unpack why recruiters are bleeding placements at offer stage, and why the fix sits at the start of the process, not the end. We cover the three forces driving the spike: a volatile market making candidates anxious, employers fighting harder to retain productive people, and compromised processes creating buyer remorse before day one.You'll learn:Why counter-offers are an endorsement, not a failure — and what that changesThe five-stage candidate confidence journey from first call to first dayThree power tools to run before any CV leaves your desk: the Values Deep Dive, the Motivation Grid, and the Ecology CheckThe Tension Ladder — a weekly health check that tells you who will actually resignThe two-number scoring system that kills false-positive pipelinesWhy "when they counter-offer you" beats "if" every timeIf you've ever heard "I just need to think about it" and felt the deal slipping, this one's for you.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your People Engine - The People Engine For The Recruitment Industry.Delivering context-rich learning and development initiatives for all levels of people in recruitment. Live sessions delivered every week and content that focuses on implementation through guided activities.From new hires through to the top performers there’s an opportunity for everyone to grow and develop. The AI assistant curates relevant content on your behalf based on your questions.That’s immediate access to what you want, when you want to develop performance.

Are Your Consultants Doing the Job - or Just Completing It?There's a crisis running through recruitment businesses right now. Consultants are drifting. Not because they're lazy, but because the conversations around their work have become binary. Did you call? Did you advertise? Have you done the database?Done doesn't mean done well.In this episode, Jeremy explores the difference between executing a task and mastering it, and why that distinction is costing agencies some of their best people. When consultants can't see a pathway to genuine improvement, the striving stops. Billings plateau. People leave.The fix isn't more pressure. It's better questions. How well did you search LinkedIn? How well did you qualify that job? How well did you leave that voicemail?Jeremy introduces the concept of levels of capability, why most experienced consultants are operating at a fraction of what's possible, and the three maturity stages every recruiter moves through: infant, teenager, and adult.If your one-to-ones sound like a checklist, this episode is for you.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your People Engine - The People Engine For The Recruitment Industry.Delivering context-rich learning and development initiatives for all levels of people in recruitment. Live sessions delivered every week and content that focuses on implementation through guided activities.From new hires through to the top performers there’s an opportunity for everyone to grow and develop. The AI assistant curates relevant content on your behalf based on your questions.That’s immediate access to what you want, when you want to develop performance.

Recruiters are told the job is about relationships. Nobody explains what that means or how to build one with intent. In this episode, Jeremy Snell breaks down the difference between being liked and being trusted, and gives you a five-level roadmap for moving clients from casual contact to genuine partnership.The Five Levels of TrustLevel 1: Entry Trust. Access without influence. Small talk and common ground. Most "good relationships" sit here.Level 2: Functional Trust. Execution permission. You get jobs with conditions attached and compete against two or three others.Level 3: Diagnostic Trust. They seek your judgment. Exclusivity and retained work start here.Level 4: Inner Circle Trust. Full influence. You frame decisions and challenge thinking before the brief is written.Level 5: Partnership Trust. Shared ownership of outcomes. Extreme loyalty and long-term value.The Diagnostic TestWrite down your ten strongest client relationships. Then ask each of them for theirs. If you are not on their list, you have work to do.Subscribe for weekly episodes on recruitment performance and building agencies that compound.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your People Engine - The People Engine For The Recruitment Industry.Delivering context-rich learning and development initiatives for all levels of people in recruitment. Live sessions delivered every week and content that focuses on implementation through guided activities.From new hires through to the top performers there’s an opportunity for everyone to grow and develop. The AI assistant curates relevant content on your behalf based on your questions.That’s immediate access to what you want, when you want to develop performance.