Make it clear who you can help
State your specialist markets, role families, hiring types and genuine location coverage. A relevant employer should be able to understand your fit before the first conversation.
Use TalentChoice alongside your existing client relationships, professional referrals, useful content and appropriate business development. Your profile is another route to discovery; it does not replace the work of building and maintaining relationships.
Qualify the work before promising delivery
| Question | What it helps you decide |
|---|---|
| Is there a defined and approved vacancy? | Whether this is an active search or an exploratory conversation. |
| What must the person achieve? | Whether you understand the role and can assess the required skills. |
| What budget, location and timing apply? | Whether the brief is workable within the expected scope. |
| Who makes the decision? | How the process and approvals need to work. |
| What agency arrangements already exist? | Which responsibilities and expectations need clarification. |
| Do I have the expertise and capacity? | Whether to proceed, clarify, decline or suggest another route. |
Use the recruitment brief template as a shared starting point. Record what is known and what still needs confirmation.
Offer a next step that advances the decision
- Summarise the need
Reflect the employer’s role, outcome and constraints in your own words.
- Explain the relevant approach
Describe how you would assess and manage this requirement, based on the service you can actually provide.
- Clarify the commercial basis
Discuss scope, fees, payment timing and conditions through your usual agency process.
- Agree one next action
Choose an owner and date: a briefing call, missing information, a proposal review or a decision.
Follow up on the agreed action
After the conversation, send a concise recap of what was understood, what remains open and who is doing what next. Follow up at the time you agreed, with the information that helps the employer decide.
If priorities have changed, update your own record rather than treating every old enquiry as an active vacancy. Keep outreach relevant to the relationship and honour requests not to be contacted further.
A useful follow-up has a purpose
“Following our briefing call, I have outlined the proposed search scope and the two points still to confirm. Once we have the approved range and interview availability, we can agree the next step.”
Measure progress, not just activity
In your own notes or CRM, distinguish new enquiries, qualified briefs, agreed engagements and placements. Record why work did not proceed when the employer provides that information.
Review where the process stalls. If enquiries are outside your specialism, sharpen the profile. If relevant conversations stop before a decision, review the scope, timing and follow-up. Do not infer results from visits alone.
For agency partnerships and shared opportunities, explore TAP Recruiter. Collaboration with another agency has different responsibilities from a direct employer engagement; confirm the relevant arrangement before proceeding.
Your enquiry-to-next-step worksheet
Copy this into your own notes or CRM. It does not create stages or reminders in TalentChoice.
ENQUIRY → NEXT STEP Employer / role: How the conversation started: Business outcome needed: Essential requirements: Location / hiring type: Approved range / what it includes: Target dates: Decision maker / approvals: Existing search or agency arrangements: Fit with my expertise and capacity: Information still missing: Scope / commercial discussion needed: Agreed next action: Owner: Agreed date: Follow-up recap sent: Current position in my own workflow: [new enquiry / clarifying / qualified brief / agreed engagement / not proceeding] Reason or next review:
Your final check.
Tick these as you work. Refreshing this page resets the ticks.
Write a useful first response
Use the employer-enquiry checklist and a response template you can adapt.
Read the next guide