Why do we keep seeing the same engineers?

A client recently asked me why several recruitment suppliers kept presenting the same names. Different agencies had been briefed. The shortlists looked different at first glance. But once the client reviewed them, many of the candidates were already known. Several had been interviewed before. Some were being represented by more than one supplier at the same time.

Why this happens

This is a common problem in specialist recruitment. The market for experienced grid, protection, commissioning, power systems, and project-delivery professionals is relatively concentrated. When every search begins with the same databases, the same keywords, and the same familiar networks, the results start to converge. Different agency, same names. Adding more agencies does not necessarily expand the market. It simply increases the number of people contacting the same candidates.

The question worth asking instead

The more useful question is not how many recruiters are working on the role. It is how much of the relevant market has actually been mapped:

• Who has adjacent experience?
• Which candidates sit outside the obvious competitor set?
• Who has delivered comparable projects under a different job title?
• Who is not actively applying, but may still be open to the right opportunity?

What we do differently

At TalSource, we use AI-assisted market mapping alongside specialist human research and engagement to give clients a broader view of the available talent. The aim is not to send more of the same CVs. It is to uncover people a conventional search may never reach.

If your shortlists keep circling back to the same names, TalSource can show you how much of the market you're actually not seeing.