Sure, You Saved Money. But At What Cost?

There’s a difference between saving money and saving smart.

On paper, skipping a recruiting fee sounds like a win. In reality, it’s often the most expensive line item you never see.

I get it. I really do. Two years ago, I was personally offended by a $300 quote to clean up the leaves in our yard. So I bought a ~$100 leaf mulcher and spent roughly 40 hours turning those leaves into about 60 bags of mulched leaves. So yes, I saved a little money. But at what cost?

Now, back to hiring.

About a year ago, a company realized they needed to fill a pretty niche senior role.

They’re a great team: thoughtful, intentional, and very cost-conscious. And being cost-conscious isn’t a bad thing. It’s smart.

So when it came to this search, they decided not to work with any outside recruiting partners. They figured they’d handle it internally and save the money. Totally fair.

Except here’s what happened.

Their already stretched team got even more stretched. Because now they were doing their day jobs and trying to run a complex, high-level search.

Months went by. They finally hired someone, but by then, they were behind and exhausted. They had to compromise on experience just to get someone in the seat.

A few months later, they had to let that person go. Wrong fit.

Fast forward to today: it’s been over a year. The role is still open. And I’m over here itching to help. I know the person they need exists. I could find them (probably quickly) because I’ve been in this market for years, I have the right tools, and I know how to do targeted searches efficiently.

But they didn’t want to pay a recruiting fee.

So sure, they saved ~$25,000. But look what it actually cost them:

This week, I sat down with a CEO to talk about our recruitment process.

Nothing fancy, just the usual “how we find people” conversation.

But by the end, I realized how big the gap really is between what people think a recruitment agency does and what a good recruitment partner actually does.

Here’s the difference: You tell me who you want (experience, company size, industry background, tenure, even company growth stage) and I go find them. That means targeted outreach to the people who match what you need, whether they’re actively looking or not.

We run targeted searches. Not whoever happens to see your job posting and apply. The person you actually need. Often, we get people to update their resumes for you.

I’m not saying strategic recruiting is hard. It’s not complicated work. But it takes consistency, time, and focus.

The people who’ve been doing it for years make it look easy because they’ve built the habits that make it work.

I’ve been in staffing since 2014. I started Rogue in 2018. This week, one of our clients made an offer to someone I first connected with back in 2019.

That’s not luck. That’s consistency. That’s relationship-building over years, not weeks. Side note: this is one of the reasons there is such high turnover and drop off in our industry, because it is very HARD to break into the industry and compete when people who are more established are always ten steps ahead of you with their network.

And because I’ve had to be efficient, I’ve learned how to do this fast. Most of this year, I’ve been running Rogue while raising three kids under four, with my husband deployed.

Efficiency stopped being a skill a long time ago. It’s survival.

So yes, you can go find your own people. If you have the time, tools, and focus, you probably can.

But let’s be honest: most leaders won’t. Not because they can’t, but because they shouldn’t.

You’re either paying for recruiting help, or you’re paying for the consequences of not having it.

One’s a single invoice. The other’s a long, quiet drain on your people, your productivity, and your momentum.

See you next Monday,

Robin

#gorogue