If you’re constantly firefighting roles, juggling last-minute interviews, or wondering why your shortlist isn’t landing, the issue might not be the market. It might be the strategy. Here’s what to look for, and what to do when hiring keeps getting stuck.

1. Roles Are Sitting Open for Weeks or Months

Unfilled roles don’t just delay service. They burn out your team, dent client confidence and drag down delivery metrics.

If your time-to-hire is creeping up, especially for part-time or clinical posts, it’s likely your sourcing model isn’t working. The job ad may be off. The brief may be too vague. Or the process is simply taking too long.

Before the pressure builds, take a step back. Tighten the brief, clarify what success looks like and get the right partner involved early.

2. You’re Drowning in CVs, but None of Them Land

If you’ve got a flood of applicants but no traction, you’re not short on volume. You’re short on relevance.

This is often a sign of a poor spec or mismatched salary expectations. It also happens when generalist recruiters are submitting candidates who don’t understand the clinical demands of the role. We’ve even seen this with some supposed specialist recruiters!

Sorting through 40 CVs that go nowhere wastes time and energy. You don’t need more applications. You need better ones.

3. You’re Hiring People Who “Tread Water” Then Leave

If your recent hires have felt like short-term fixes, you’re not alone. These are the candidates who keep things ticking over but leave within six months.

They often look good on paper but lack real engagement. They’re not in it for the long haul, and that kind of churn is costly, financially, operationally and culturally.

If your agency or internal process isn’t helping you assess motivation and fit from the start, it’s time to question the approach.

4. Everything Feels Reactive, Not Planned

A vacancy goes live. The team scrambles for CVs. Interviews are squeezed in between meetings. It’s all hands on deck.

It works, until it doesn’t. There’s no pipeline, no forward view and no time to step back.

Hiring should support your strategy, not constantly distract from it. Think ahead, not just around the gap. Recruitment done well is part of the plan, not just the fix.

5. You’re Still Using the Same Old Suppliers

If your recruitment partners aren’t challenging your thinking, bringing fresh insight or raising the bar, they’re not really adding value. They’re just taking up space.

In Occupational Health, where roles are complex and context matters, it’s not enough to rely on who’s been on your supplier list the longest. The roles have changed. So should the support.

Review who you’re working with. If the results have stalled, so has the relationship.

If Hiring Feels Harder Than It Should, It Probably Is

Hiring in Occupational Health is tough. But it shouldn’t feel this difficult, this often. If you’re stuck in a cycle that isn’t delivering, it’s time to reset. That might mean changing your brief, rethinking your approach or bringing in someone who can actually take the pressure off.

We work with in-house teams, clinical leads and decision-makers to do just that.

Need expert recruitment support in Occupational Health or Corporate Healthcare?

At Recruiting Heads, we don’t do generic. We work with healthcare leaders who need roles filled quickly, with care and without drama. Whether it’s a senior clinical hire or a critical leadership role, we’ve been finding and placing hard-to-reach talent for over 25 years.

Ready to talk? No waffle. No juniors. Just seasoned recruiters who know this market inside out.