How recruitment actually sells in South Africa
Corporate work is won on panels, not on cold calls
Large employers here appoint preferred supplier lists and then distribute briefs within them. Getting onto a panel means a submission with company documents and empowerment credentials, and staying on it means re-accreditation on the corporate's timetable rather than yours. An agency that only tracks live mandates has no visibility of the process that decides whether mandates arrive at all.
Notice periods stretch the placement calendar
Calendar-month notice is common, which means a resignation early in the month frequently produces a start date almost two months later. Clients who expect a four-week turnaround need that explained at offer stage, and a desk that has not worked the date out looks unprepared exactly when confidence matters most.
Candidate data is regulated and candidates know it
Applicants increasingly ask what you hold and why. Consent gathered in an unsearchable email thread is not a usable answer. Recording it at the point of application, with a purpose and a timestamp, changes an awkward request into a two-minute lookup.