3 Reasons You Should Hire a Specialized Recruiting Agency
Business is business, right? Well, yes and no. People run businesses, so business is human. In fact, I believe that people are an organization's greatest assets. I've been recruiting for 25 years, and I have learned that the process of hiring, onboarding, and employing is a people business. I also know that hiring the right talent is critical to long-term business success.
Like many other business functions, getting the right people in place takes knowledge and expertise. After all, you aren't hiring people to simply fill open roles. You're building a team with the hope that they can work together to help you reach your business goals.
My point is that who does the hiring and recruiting is as important as the people you ultimately hire. The expertise of the recruiter will ultimately determine the quality of the candidate and the level of match with your needs and culture.
And here is where people get confused. Recruiter expertise is often confused with agency size. This is a misconception.
Too often, organizations will default to hiring a larger agency over a smaller, specialized agency because it feels like the safer or more effective option. What they're overlooking is the value of genuine trust, deep relationships, and truly personalized service that specialized agencies offer.
Let’s break it down.
I'll give you three good reasons why hiring a specialized, boutique agency is a better choice for recruiting:
Industry veterans have deep industry knowledge
Small agency founders build partnerships that last a lifetime
You'll get tailored strategies and white glove treatment
"Finding the right recruiting agency to make connections between you and the talent you seek is about forming personal relationships that last a lifetime." - Keva
#1 Industry veterans have deep industry knowledge
Besides the very large, generalist recruiting agencies, there are larger agencies that have teams of 5 or 6 people who specialize in one market area. When deciding on a recruiting partner, it may be tempting to choose the agency that is both specialized and staffed with multiple recruiters.
However, having a staff of recruiters is not the same as employing industry veterans with firsthand experience and deep industry knowledge of a niche area. In a boutique agency, those who are recruiting for you have likely been in the trenches and spent years making connections and developing expertise in a specific niche area — such as creative, marketing, design, or operations.
Here’s how deep knowledge of one industry and experience recruiting from that niche market result in greater hiring potential for you:
We know the trends. Hiring trends. Salary trends. Skills trends. Candidate desires. We have our finger on the pulse of only ONE industry. We read about it, write about it, and talk to people about it every day. We know the pitfalls and the future predictions. Best of all, we can use that knowledge to help you craft a job description that attracts the right person to fill your unique role.
We have the connections. Not massive databases of names. We keep a Hot List of the best talent. We know who they are. We are connected with them. We talk to them. We have vetted them. We know who’s looking and who isn’t looking, but might be ready for a change.
We have the expertise: We have in-depth market knowledge and will share actionable insights to help manage your hiring strategy, align your internal teams, and craft a message to candidates that reflects current employment trends, appropriate titling, and salary benchmarks.
BENEFIT: When you're looking to hire someone for your creative, social media, design, or marketing team, hiring an agency staffed by industry specialists delivers immediate value. Your recruiting partner will fully understand your goals and challenges, as well as those of your potential hires. They can help you anticipate roadblocks and provide insights based on current trends and fluid market conditions.
"With 25 years of experience matching top creative, design, and marketing talent with great companies, we know where to look, how to talk to candidates, and how to get the best talent." –Keva
#2 Building partnerships that last a lifetime
There is a difference between hiring an agency and becoming a business partner with an individual. In a boutique, specialized agency, the decision makers tend to prioritize personal relationships over the transactional nature of client/agency agreements. While they are creating lifelong relationships with you, they also have a database of candidates who have already undergone a thorough screening process, ready to fill your open roles.
“I’ve always said: Relationships matter, talent matters, and keeping it real is the secret sauce. My clients and Hot Listers get it- and that’s why we keep working together.” - Keva.
How do years of forming relationships in a niche Industry benefit you?
Potential candidates have already been vetted. Instead of a stack of resumes, you'll receive fewer, highly-qualified candidates to interview.
Fewer mismatches. The costs of onboarding and offboards are significant. Smaller, specialized agencies have more intimate knowledge of candidates and will help you to avoid making poor hiring decisions.
Relationships for life. What does that mean? Hiring a smaller agency means more intimate business relationships that build trust. You not only get the recruiting expertise of working for years in a single industry, but you also get a trusted advisor for your company and for you. In addition to helping you build your team, you will have a resource to help build your own career.
Your recruiter is an industry veteran. In smaller agencies, the recruiters come directly from the industry they are recruiting for. They know what it takes to be successful. They have an eye for talent because we’ve been there, done that. They are the experts.
BENEFIT: A specialized, boutique agency will handle fewer clients and place fewer candidates. Those clients and those candidates get 100% of our attention versus living somewhere on the roster of a larger agency.
"After years of calling on us to place candidates, our clients trust KDA to help them find their next career or coach them to get ready for a promotion. That's the nature of a partnership that begins with deep understanding and personal connection." - Keva
#3 Tailored strategies and white-glove treatment
Depending on the size of the agency you choose, you may get more or less customization and personalized attention to solve your unique hiring needs. A very large agency will tend to offer "tried and true" processes and solutions. Smaller agencies are more focused on building lasting relationships and take the time to really understand your needs and respond with tailored solutions.
Clients of a larger agency will often get the benefit of multiple recruiters. The downside is that communication is spread over multiple points of contact. You are also more likely to experience hand-offs and less direct access to senior recruiters.
Smaller firms tend to have fewer layers of management, giving clients greater access to the senior recruiters and decision makers. With a single, consistent point of contact, you'll always have someone who will answer the phone (or the email), and the responses you get will likely be more informed.
And while you most likely won't be communicating with the founder of the larger agency, the white glove service of a boutique specialized agency means that you'll receive more attentive communication and direct, intimate, and repeat contact with the decision makers.
Any size agency can develop a tailored hiring strategy for you, but only a specialized agency will be able to share extensive knowledge of a specific industry and help you to identify subtle role requirements based on your stated needs.
Deeper connections to industry top talent mean that smaller agencies have a better chance of finding candidates with the exact skills and personalities to match specific job requirements and company cultural fit you're seeking.
BENEFIT: Direct connections and responsiveness result in higher-quality matches, a more efficient hiring process for the right candidate, and a superior, less frustrating experience.
“If you want your recruiter available on a Friday night when your CEO finally greenlights the offer, they need skin in the game. That means retained. That means exclusive. Creatively structured? Sure. But committed? Absolutely.” - Keva
Bonus: Trust is the currency of the specialized recruiting agency
What makes the biggest difference in your recruiting agency experience? One word: trust.
Why? Because smaller agencies can't afford to lose clients or candidates. Therefore, they work overtime to build relationships and earn trust.
It's pretty simple.
So, next time you think you should hire the larger agency, think again. Consider the depth of knowledge, scale, genuine relationships, and personalized service that you'll get from working with a specialized agency.
Making the business case to your executives and board is straightforward. With an experienced, knowledgeable, and connected recruiter on your side, you won't just fill roles; you'll build long-term talent pipelines, stronger teams, and ultimately contribute to long-term organizational success.
So, next time? Call The Keva Dine Agency. We'll pick up the phone, email, DM, carrier pigeon, or smoke signal. We'll be your #BFFRecruiter - for life!
