When is the right time to go independent? Five signs for recruiters

Every week there’s someone sitting across from me who’s thinking about it. A senior recruiter who bills well, knows their clients and wonders whether they’d be better off going independent. Sometimes I say: do it. Just as often I say: wait another year.

Let’s not be naive about it: going independent isn’t for everyone. Nor is it a question of nerve. If you’re ready, you can usually see it in your own work already. These are the five signs Vince and I look for.

1. You’re your own driving force

When you’re an employee, there’s always someone pushing you. A manager asking how many calls you made, a target on the board, a colleague who just closed a deal. When you’re independent, all of that falls away. Nobody asks why you’re still not on the phone at ten o’clock.

That’s why this is the first sign, and the most important one: you have to motivate yourself. Not because someone is on your back, but because you want to bill. Ask yourself honestly: do you still make your calls on a Monday in August, when no one is watching? If the answer is yes, you’re well on your way.

2. You’ve got enough miles on the clock

Experience is more than the number of years on your CV. It’s about everything you’ve already seen: a market that grinds to a halt, a client who pulls out after three interview rounds, a candidate who accepts a counteroffer on the last day. If you’ve been through that before, it won’t throw you into a panic as an independent.

If you’ve never been through a bad quarter, you don’t know how you’ll react to one either. And as an independent, you feel a bad quarter in your bank account straight away.

3. You know every part of the job inside out

Most people underestimate this sign. At an agency, you rarely do everything on your own. Someone else brings in the client, a researcher helps with the search, your manager negotiates the fee, the accounts team follows up on the invoice. As an independent, you do all of that yourself, and you need to master it a hundred per cent:

• Bringing in clients: picking up the phone yourself and winning assignments, not waiting for them to come in.
• The intake: asking the right questions, so you know what the client is really looking for.
• Sourcing: finding the candidates yourself, the ones nobody else finds.
• Qualifying: knowing who’s really on the move and who’s just curious.
• Defending your fee: not caving when a client asks for a discount.
• Closing: the offer, the counteroffer, handing in notice and the first working day.

If there’s one part where you lean on someone else today, you know what to work on first.

4. Your billing already proves it

Gut feeling is good, numbers are better. If you’ve billed steadily for a few years, even in a tougher year, you know it isn’t luck. And then it pays off too: on a salary of €3,000 gross and €18,000 in commission, you keep more as an independent than as an employee from around €150,000 in billing. You’ll find exactly how those numbers work in How much does an independent recruiter earn?

If you bill less today, that’s not a no. But it is a sign that you’ll want to know your own numbers first.

5. Your clients call you, not your agency

The last sign is one you hear on the phone. Do clients call you directly with a new vacancy? Do candidates you placed years ago come back to you for advice? Then they have a bond with you, not just with your employer’s logo.

That’s the difference between a recruiter who can bill on their own and a recruiter who mainly benefits from their agency’s name. There’s no shame in the latter, but it makes your first months as an independent a lot harder.

When you’re better off waiting

To be just as honest as with the signs: sometimes the answer is “not yet”. For example, if:

• you’ve only been a recruiter for a short while and are still learning every part of the job,
• you mainly want to get away from a boss, rather than move towards something,
• you have no buffer and a lean quarter would get you into trouble straight away,
• you haven’t yet discussed at home what it means if your income fluctuates for a few months.

If you recognise yourself in one of those points, that’s no reason to shelve the idea. But it is a reason to prepare for it properly.

How to make the move

If you tick most of the signs, the practical work begins:

1. Run the numbers. Look at what you take home today and what you’d earn as an independent. It takes a minute in the calculator.
2. Build a buffer. Allow for three to six months of fixed costs. Your first fees only come in once your first candidates have started.
3. Read your contract. Look at your notice period and at any non-⁠compete clause. Whether such a clause is valid depends on your salary and on how it’s worded, so have it checked before you hand in your notice. This is general information, not legal advice.
4. Set up your BV (private limited company). Contribute your capital in cash, so you can later pay out dividends at the lower VVPR-⁠bis rate.
5. Sort out your insurance. Above all, guaranteed income insurance and your hospitalisation insurance. You can read what you need in What insurance do you need when you’re self-⁠employed?

And if you don’t want to do it all alone

Maybe you recognise yourself in most of the signs, but not all of them. You’re motivated and experienced, but you miss the energy of a floor and someone to spar with, or you’ve no appetite for invoices and bookkeeping. Then you don’t have to choose between staying an employee and doing everything alone.

That’s why Vince and I started Shortlist: you work as an independent through your own BV, but with a sales floor, mentoring, tools and a back office behind you. You can read what it costs and what you get in return in Why work with Shortlist?

Frequently asked questions

How much experience do you need?

There’s no magic number. More important than the number of years is that you can do every part of the job yourself, from bringing in clients to closing, and that you’ve been through a bad patch before.

Do I need to have clients before I start?

It helps enormously, but keep your contract in mind. A non-⁠compete clause can limit who you’re allowed to work for in the first months. Have that checked before you make plans.

What if it doesn’t work out?

Then you’ll have a few months or years of experience as an entrepreneur, and nobody can take that away from you. Good recruiters always find work. But with a buffer, the numbers worked out and the right preparation, the chances of it coming to that are slim.

Can I start on the side first?

If your contract allows it, you can. Many employment contracts in our line of work do forbid it, though. So read it first.

You’ll find all the steps in one place in our guide Becoming an independent recruiter in Belgium.

Still not sure? Run the numbers in the calculator, or have a chat with me via Join us.