Why Recruitment Needs a Rethink: Olivia Coughtrie on Ethics, SEO, and the Power of Picking Up the Phone

In an industry that often leans heavily toward client-first thinking, Oriel Partners is setting a different standard.

From long-term candidate support to meticulous online visibility, co-founder Olivia Coughtrie shares how a boutique recruitment firm can punch well above its weight – by investing in real relationships, not just results.

You were featured in the Attract 50 for your standout approach to online candidate attraction. What do you think sets your strategy apart?

At Oriel Partners, candidate care is at the heart of everything we do. It’s something we prioritised from day one because recruitment agencies haven’t always been known for offering a great experience to candidates.

While clients are the ones who pay for our service, we believe it’s crucial not to overlook the candidate experience. Job hunting can be an incredibly vulnerable time. People are often out of work or unhappy in their current roles, and putting yourself out there is never easy. 

We can’t support everyone – we’re a boutique agency, after all – but once someone is registered with us, we do everything we can to help them. That goes beyond just finding a job. We offer CV support, salary benchmarking, career advice, and long-term check-ins – even for those we don’t place straight away. We stay in touch with our passive candidates and regularly host events with industry experts to keep them engaged and supported.

From an online perspective, we’ve also made sure it’s easy for candidates to find us. We’ve invested in SEO, we advertise on one key job board as well as our own site, and we share every new vacancy on LinkedIn. We connect with every candidate and client we register, so our live opportunities are always visible and accessible.

Ultimately, we want every candidate to get the level of care that they deserve during the job hunting process.

What’s helped make the internal partnership between recruitment and marketing work?

We’re lucky to have a fantastic freelance marketing partner who supports us on that side of the business. Ultimately, it’s in the recruiter’s interest to work closely with marketing. Getting their jobs out there means they’re reaching candidates who might not have seen the opportunity otherwise. That’s the day-to-day impact, but the relationship goes well beyond job posts.

Marketing also supports us with bigger-picture initiatives – like being shortlisted for industry awards, producing our quarterly newsletters, and running our annual salary survey. We’ve produced two podcast series, which, while not directly linked to filling specific roles, have helped massively with brand awareness and attracting the right people to the business.

The key is alignment. Marketing helps raise our profile, and that benefits every recruiter here.

Given the boutique nature of your firm, how do you maintain a high standard of candidate experience?

It’s definitely a challenge. We receive hundreds (sometimes thousands) of applications, particularly for higher-salary roles. Realistically, we can’t support everyone and we know that can be frustrating.

But once we identify someone we believe we can genuinely help, we’ll invite them to register with Oriel Partners and that’s when the elevated service begins.

From that point, we offer hands-on support. From strengthening their CV to advising on what to wear or how to handle an in-person interview after years of doing everything online – it’s about making sure candidates feel confident and prepared.

One thing we’re quite strict about is only registering candidates when we have a relevant role to discuss. We know that registering takes time and energy, and we don’t want anyone to invest in that process without good reason. Some agencies work to targets that involve registering as many candidates as possible, but that’s never been our approach.

Even when candidates don’t end up placed, we want them to feel like they were supported, respected, and not led down the garden path. That’s how we maintain our standard.

What’s one thing you think more recruitment firms should be doing when it comes to candidate attraction?

I think transparency is something candidates always want more of… but it’s also one of the trickier things to deliver. As recruiters, we’re often the middleman between client and candidate, and we can only pass on the information we’re given. But wherever possible, being open and honest builds trust.

Beyond that, I really believe more recruitment firms should prioritise genuine candidate care. It’s something we’ve always placed at the core of Oriel Partners, but there’s a tendency in some parts of the industry to treat candidates like commodities, especially when there’s high volume. 

Ultimately, we’re dealing with people, and that comes with an ethical responsibility. Recruitment will always have a sales element to it – but I think the consultative approach is far more effective in the long run.
If you take the time to place the right person in the right role, those candidates will come back to you. They’ll become clients. That’s how you build lasting relationships: not through quick wins, but by doing right by people from the start.

If someone was starting from scratch with their employer brand, what’s the first move you’d recommend?

Relationships are everything. I think too many people hide behind screens and rely on emails, but so much of Oriel Partners’ success has come from getting in front of people, face-to-face and over the phone.
We still do a huge amount of in-person meetings with both candidates and clients. The better you know both sides, the better your matches will be. 

You get so much more insight through a conversation than an email. Whether it's understanding how a client really felt about a candidate, or gauging a candidate’s enthusiasm for a role, that nuance often gets lost in written comms. 

The other piece of advice I'd give is to invest in a quality SEO agency early on. If you’re not on page one of Google, you might as well not exist. It can take years to rank for the keywords that matter in your market, and finding the right SEO partner isn’t easy (it took us a few tries). But once we did, the long-term results really paid off.
So for me, building strong, human relationships and investing in visibility are two of the most powerful starting points for any employer brand.

Are there any recent shifts in candidate behaviour that have shaped how you now engage talent?

One of the biggest ongoing shifts has been around hybrid and remote working. Since the pandemic, flexibility has become a top priority for candidates. But at the same time, many of our clients are leaning back toward more office-based roles.

It’s a tricky balance to navigate. We’re always advising candidates that if they won’t consider a full-time office role, they may limit their options. Equally, we’re also encouraging clients to offer at least one day of remote working if they want to access a broader talent pool.

Interestingly, we’re seeing more and more candidates prioritise hybrid working over base salary. Flexibility is often the deciding factor.

Another change is that people (both clients and candidates) seem less inclined to meet face to face. That could be due to continued remote working habits, but it's something we actively try to counter. You can build far stronger relationships in person, and we still believe face-to-face interactions are key.

And finally, in our world of PAs and admin professionals, we’ve seen a shift toward more international roles. A number of high-net-worth individuals have relocated overseas, which has opened up opportunities beyond London. As a result, we’re now recruiting nationally and internationally for high-calibre assistants willing to travel or relocate. 

It’s definitely been a period of change, but an exciting one too!

Is there anything on the horizon that you're particularly excited about?

Absolutely. One thing we’re really proud of is The PA Podcast, which recently wrapped up its second series. 

In the first series, we spoke with PAs and EAs about their career journeys. For series two, we flipped the perspective – interviewing high-profile clients (including the CEO of Tesco, Jason Tarry) to hear how they work with their assistants, what they look for, and how those relationships function day to day.

It gave candidates, especially those early in their careers, a rare behind-the-scenes look at what top employers really value. It was a brilliant way to help raise the profile of the profession, and we’re already thinking ahead to a potential third series in 2026. We’ve always believed that knowledge is power, and content like this supports that mission.

We’ve also launched a new event series this year called Meet the Expert. Rather than hosting traditional networking events, we invite subject-matter experts to speak on topics that are highly relevant to our clients.

For example, earlier this year we held a breakfast session with a leading employment lawyer to break down the recent changes in employment law. We also hosted the Global VP of HR at Lionsgate Films, who shared practical insights on hybrid working, culture, and promoting women into leadership roles.

These sessions have been incredibly well-received – they’re practical, informative, and help our clients stay ahead of key issues. So continuing the success of this series is a huge priority for us!

Olivia and Oriel Partners were recently featured in the idibu Attract 50 report, spotlighting standout candidate attraction in staffing and recruitment. Download the full report for free.