How do I choose a recruitment agency?

The four questions

1. If the role is not filled, what comes back? Get the terms, not a phrase. The same protective-sounding words cover a full refund, a partial one, a re-run of the search and a support commitment — all published by different providers in this market. Ask what triggers it, what conditions apply to you, and how long the window is. Ours, for the record: no refund.

2. How many candidates will you present, and why that number? "As many as you like" is a bad answer: it means the screening is being pushed back to you. Across our own filled roles 1,542 candidates were screened and 235 presented — about 15%. A shortlist of three or four people who have all been interviewed is the shape you want.

3. Show me a role like mine that took a long time. Anybody can produce the 14-day success. Ask for the hard one. If an agency has no slow roles to show you, they are either very new or not telling you everything. Ours took up to 169 days and it is published.

4. Who is actually doing the work? The person who pitches is not always the person who searches. Ask for the name, and ask how many other roles they are carrying.

Two things worth checking yourself

• Do they publish a price? A "fixed fee" you have to ring for is not really fixed. Five UK providers publish theirs and several do not.
• Does the sector match? A generalist is fine for a recognisable role. For something genuinely rare, a specialist's network is worth the percentage — we would tell you that rather than take the brief.

What not to decide on

The headline percentage or fee, on its own. On a £45,000 hire the fee difference between providers is usually smaller than the cost of the role staying empty for another month.