The Longlist blog
Field-tested guides on winning clients, sourcing candidates, choosing software and running a profitable desk. Scripts, templates and checklists included.
34 guides8 free templates7 hours of reading, if you're keen
A start-to-finish business development playbook for agencies: pick a niche, build a tiered target list, act on hiring signals, run multi-channel outreach, qualify the brief, agree terms and turn the first placement into the next one.
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A practical playbook for growing a recruitment agency past the founder: when to hire your first consultant, 360 vs 180 desks, specializing, building a contract book, process, management cadence and the numbers to watch.
How agency temp and volume desks fill dozens of roles at once: capacity math, talent pools, fast screening, SMS and WhatsApp, booking, reminders, redeployment and the numbers to watch.
For agencies placing contractors across borders: how contractor management platforms, contractor of record and employer of record differ, what Deel, Remote, Oyster, G-P, Multiplier, Papaya Global and Rippling charge as of October 2026, and the IR35, umbrella and misclassification rules to check first.
Which job boards still earn their keep for agencies in 2026, what changed at Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Monster and CareerBuilder, which niche boards to use by sector, and how to measure what each one actually delivers.
Candidate marketing for recruitment agencies, split into its five jobs (careers site, job distribution, talent-pool nurture, SMS and employer brand for clients), with the vendors worth shortlisting for each and what has changed since our 2023 list.
When an agency should rely on the parser in its CRM and when a parsing API from Textkernel, RChilli, Affinda, DaXtra or HireAbility makes sense, with a 30-CV accuracy test, a scoring sheet and the GDPR questions to ask.
A practical guide to staffing agency software for temp and contract firms: which platforms cover the ATS and CRM, onboarding, timesheets, payroll and VMS, what they publish about price, our pick for the recruiting desk, and how to pick a setup that matches how you pay your workers.
The pre-employment assessment tools worth using in 2026, grouped by what they test, with current pricing, what changed since 2023, and how agencies should use tests with clients without creating legal or AI-cheating problems.
Where UK agencies should advertise in 2026: Indeed, Reed, Totaljobs, CV-Library, LinkedIn and the niche boards, with current prices, what changed (Monster UK and Guardian Jobs are gone) and when to buy CV search instead of adverts.
How AND, OR, NOT, brackets, quotes and wildcards work, how LinkedIn, Google, job board CV databases and your ATS each treat them, and 12 search strings by role you can copy and adapt.
A recruiter's cover-page template with perm, contract and executive examples, client emails you can copy, named vs anonymized CVs, right to represent and a pre-send checklist.
The Chrome extensions recruiters actually use in 2026, grouped by job: contact finding, sourcing and LinkedIn workflow, email, scheduling, writing and security. Every tool re-checked, with free tiers, prices and the ones that no longer exist.
How a retained executive search runs from mandate to onboarding: fee and retainer stages, market mapping, approach scripts, assessment, the shortlist report, references, offer and guarantee, with templates you can copy.
Most big boards now cap free listings or exclude agencies from them. Here is what a recruitment agency can genuinely post for free in 2026, the catches on each, and how to make free listings perform.
A start-to-finish business development playbook for agencies: pick a niche, build a tiered target list, act on hiring signals, run multi-channel outreach, qualify the brief, agree terms and turn the first placement into the next one.
A practical guide to starting a recruitment agency in the US or UK: choosing a niche and business model, legal setup and compliance, fees and terms of business, funding a contract book, winning the first clients, the tech stack and your first hire.
The recruitment agency tech stack broken into its layers, from the CRM + ATS at the core to sourcing, contact data, calling, job distribution and back office, with sample stacks for a solo desk, a 10-desk team and a contract agency.
The recruitment KPIs worth tracking each week, how to define them so the numbers mean something, and how to run a 30-minute scorecard meeting that changes what happens next.
Copy-ready cold call scripts for recruiters: passive candidate approaches, applicant callbacks, client BD calls, spec CV (MPC) calls, gatekeepers, voicemails and the objections you'll hear most.
How to move a recruitment agency from one CRM to another without losing candidates, CVs or history: inventory, mapping, dedupe, GDPR consent data, attachments, testing, cutover and adoption, plus export notes for Bullhorn, JobAdder and Vincere.
An ATS tracks candidates through a live job; a recruitment CRM keeps client and candidate relationships useful between jobs. Agencies need both in one system. Here is where each fits in an agency's day, with scenarios, our pick and a buying checklist.
Copy-ready email sequences for agency recruiters: candidate outreach, client BD, database and client reactivation, post-placement check-ins and referral asks, with timing, stop rules and the deliverability basics Gmail and Outlook now enforce.
Where agency leads actually come from, from stale job ads and funding rounds to referrals and inbound, plus a 10-point score for deciding which ones deserve a call and how to track them in your CRM.
What recruitment agency software really costs in 2026: published per-seat prices from 13 vendors, the best value per seat for agencies, the five cost layers most budgets miss, and worked examples for one, five and twenty seats.
Which free recruiting software really exists in 2026, what each free plan and free trial includes, the free contact-finder allowances, and what to move to when free starts costing an agency more than a paid seat.
What a UK recruitment agency with 20 to 500 consultants needs from its software (multi-brand, permissions, GDPR, right to work, IR35 and umbrella rules, back-office integration and reporting), the vendors UK agencies shortlist, and how to migrate without losing a month of billings.
How a US staffing firm with 20 to 200 internal employees should choose software: the back-office decision that comes first, the compliance and VMS requirements that matter, the vendors worth a demo, a weighted scorecard and a migration plan that doesn't miss a payroll.
How recruitment agencies win and fill automotive roles in the US and UK: the three markets inside the sector, the technician and EV skills gap in sourced numbers, the certifications to check, where candidates are, Boolean strings to copy, screening scripts and how a CRM keeps it all organized.
How contract and temp agencies should run timesheets: the weekly cycle from hours to client invoice and pay run, approval flows, clock-in, the UK and US rules that bite, worked margin examples, and the agency-focused tools worth comparing in 2026.
13 recruitment agency platforms compared on published price, contract terms and which tier holds the features agencies use every day, with our pick for most agencies and a shortlist for each agency type.
What recruiting software a startup actually needs from the first hire to a talent team, which tools have startup plans, when a recruitment agency is the better buy, and what agencies selling to startups should know.
A practical sourcing playbook for agency recruiters: turn the brief into a search plan, rediscover your own database, then work referrals, LinkedIn, Boolean and X-ray, technical communities and job boards, find contact details legally, and qualify a shortlist.
Current, sourced recruiting statistics for US and UK agencies: job openings and vacancies, staffing demand, job postings and pay, applications per hire, time to hire and how AI is changing recruitment. Every figure links to its source.
How a small or mid-sized agency should market and sell: a sharp positioning line, consultant-led LinkedIn, content hiring managers use, honest case studies, email, referrals and a weekly rhythm, measured by briefs rather than likes.
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