Why more agencies often slow recruitment down (and what to do instead)

Ever heard the saying “Too many cooks spoil the broth?” 
It’s a classic for a reason, and it applies perfectly to recruitment.

When a role becomes difficult to fill, it’s tempting to widen the net and bring in multiple recruiters or agencies, hoping more activity will mean faster results.

In reality? That approach usually creates friction, confusion, and delays, for you and for candidates.

Here’s why…

 

1. Candidate confusion 

One of the quickest ways to damage your employer brand is by looking disorganised.

When multiple recruiters contact the same candidate about the same vacancy, it creates an awkward experience:

• “Why are three different people messaging me about this?”
• “Who am I supposed to respond to?”
• “Is this company desperate?”

Even great candidates can disengage purely because the process feels messy.

 

2. Duplicate submissions (or “fastest finger first” CVs) 

This is a common (and costly) side effect of using multiple agencies.

The same candidate can land in your inbox from two or three recruiters, and suddenly your focus shifts to admin:

• Who sent them first?
• Who actually owns the candidate?
• Can we progress without a dispute?

But there’s another issue that comes with multi-agency hiring: “fastest finger first” behaviour.

When recruiters know it’s a race, some will fire over CVs quickly just to secure ownership, even if the candidate isn’t a strong match. So instead of improving speed, it can turn into a scramble where quantity replaces quality.

 

3. No clear accountability 

When everyone “owns” the vacancy… no one truly does.

With too many recruiters involved, it’s easy for:

• Follow-ups to slip
• Quality to drop
• Candidate care to become inconsistent
• Responsibility to become unclear

Your advertised role becomes a race and not a strategy.

 

4. Multiple briefings lead to mixed messages (and damage your employer brand) 

One of the biggest issues with working with multiple agencies is time, because most employers simply don’t have the capacity to brief 3, 4, or 5 recruiters properly.

So what happens? Each recruiter walks away with a slightly different understanding of the role, including:

• What “good” actually looks like
• Must-haves vs nice-to-haves
• The culture and team dynamic
• The real selling points of the opportunity
• Why the position exists in the first place

This is where things can start to unravel. Instead of one consistent message in the market, candidates start hearing:

• Different salary expectations being shared
• Conflicting info about flexibility and working patterns
• Different selling points being highlighted
• Conflicting details about the team, progression, or working pattern

And when that happens, candidates don’t just feel uncertain, they start to question what’s true, which can confuse your employer brand and reduce trust before the interview stage even begins.

 

5. More work, not less

Bringing in multiple agencies sounds like help… but it usually adds coordination.

More recruiters typically means:

• More calls, updates, and chasing
• More CV screening across inconsistent formats
• More comparisons with no clear benchmark
• More noise, less signal

All resulting in, ironically, less progress.

 

Sometimes less really is more

In our experience as a UK recruitment partner, the best results come when businesses work with a small number of trusted recruiters (or just one) who take real ownership.

A recruiter who genuinely understands your business will outperform a crowd chasing speed - every time.

• Better candidate experience
• Higher-quality shortlists
• Clear accountability
• Faster decision-making
• Less admin and disruption

Quality > quantity. Always.

 

If you’re hiring for a specialist Procurement, Logistics, Supply Chain or Sales role and need a focused, accountable approach (without the chaos), we’re happy to help.

Get in touch.