If there is one thing I have learned in the recruitment world, it is that collaboration is often stronger than competition. Just last week, I was with an organization that used this exact phrase. It reminded me of an orchestra - the fact that you already have a violinist does not mean that a cellist is unnecessary.

In practice, we see that different recruiters often tap into different talent pools. It's like fishing in different ponds. One recruiter may have strong ties in the Randstad, while we know how to reach that hidden talent in Eastern Netherlands. Or vice versa.

A great example of this was a technical company in Twente. They had been working with a respected agency for years but were missing certain profiles. Not because that other agency wasn’t good - on the contrary. But because each agency has its own unique network and approach.

It's not about replacing existing recruitment partners. It's about broadening your horizons. In a job market tighter than ever, you really can't afford to leave potential channels unexplored.

What we often see is that different recruiters actually strengthen each other. Where one is strong in senior professionals, the other, for example, reaches young technicians just out of school. It's not a zero-sum game.

It reminds me of that old wisdom: if you always do what you did, you'll always get what you got. In today’s job market, that’s no longer enough. New challenges require new approaches, new perspectives, new networks.

And sometimes that means daring to recognize that multiple partners can complement each other. Because ultimately, it’s not about who delivers the talent, but whether you find the talent that moves your organization forward.