I am an experienced hire with 5-6 years business transformation experience looking to move on from my first (not big4) consultancy firm. I have a solid CV and a preference for specific firms where I do have close ex-colleagues that would be happy to refer me. I was wondering whether there are any views out there whether it is more successful, more lucrative, quicker, etc. to apply:(a) Via a recruitment agency that I point in the specific direction(b) Direct with the organisation for either advertised or not advertised roles(c) Using a colleague within the firm to refer meAny info would be much appreciated!!I have seen the 2007 top-consultant recruitment report which broke down percentages applying and success rates via different routes, but did not provide a comparison.Thanks in advance.

Consulting firms would love to make all their hires through direct referrals - and indeed many smaller consultancies only recruit this way. But inevitably when they get to 30+ staff they reach the stage where their network simply cannot provide the volume of hires needed by the business. But you definitely have the most credibility as a candidate being sourced through the referral route:-- Application referred by a star consultant in the business = extremely high probability of a successful hire + good fit with firm + relatively low cost of hire (£5k bonus payment to your friends in many instances)-- Application received from a recruitment agency = weaker candidates will have been screened out and the recruitment consultant will add weight to you being worth interviewing; but hiring cost likely to be £10-20k+-- Application received direct = you will only be interviewed on the strength of your CV and so your advantage over other candidates has been nullified. However, if you are a dead cert to be offered interviews then this channel does offer the firms the chance to make hires at the lowest possible cost (<£1k per hire)Hope this helps and good luck!Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

go through an agency (but onyl one that knwos what they are doing) then they can hassle and pester the HR team on your behalf and negotiate a higher salary if needed without any reflection on you.