2026
–A Ten Part Series–
Part One
by
Bob Marshall
May5th, 2026
Part One – The History of the Job Order
Recruiters, by nature, are optimistic. You almost have to be.
But that optimism can get expensive.
Too many recruiters operate with the belief that every job order they take is a true search assignment—something that’s real, urgent, and fillable. That belief feels good. It keeps energy high. But unchecked, it creates one of the biggest productivity traps in our business.
Because not every job order deserves your time.
Let’s talk about how this usually unfolds.
A recruiter calls a Hiring Manager who wasn’t expecting the call. The manager is polite—most people are. So instead of ending the conversation quickly, they stay on the line. Ten minutes turns into twenty. Twenty turns into forty.
Meanwhile, the recruiter is busy filling in every box on their job order form—requirements, responsibilities, compensation ranges, background, culture, and more. It feels productive. It feels like progress.
Then they hang up, walk into their manager’s office, and say:
“Everything I write is a search assignment. I’ve got more job orders than I can handle. I just need time to recruit.”
That’s the great illusion of our industry.
Because what’s sitting on that desk—more often than not—isn’t opportunity.
It’s unqualified inventory.
And unqualified inventory doesn’t pay fees.
Instead, it quietly drains time. Days turn into weeks as the recruiter “works” the assignment—sourcing candidates, making calls, sending resumes—only to discover that the client isn’t engaged, isn’t committed, or never intended to pay a fee in the first place.
Then frustration sets in. The market gets blamed. The client gets blamed. The manager gets blamed.
But the real issue happened at the very beginning:
The job order was never properly qualified.
Now, look at the same situation from the Hiring Manager’s perspective.
They hang up the phone after that long call and think:
“That recruiter took a lot of my time… and most of those questions? They could’ve been answered by looking at our website or doing a little homework. And now they expect a fee? We can probably handle this internally.”
And just like that, a door quietly closes.
The next time the recruiter calls, the message is:
“He’s in a meeting.”
Or worse: “We’re all set.”
Two completely different interpretations of the same conversation:
- The recruiter thinks they have a search assignment.
- The Hiring Manager has already decided not to engage.
That gap is where production disappears.
So here’s the point:
If a job order isn’t worth qualifying on the front end, it’s not worth working on the back end.
The professionals in this business don’t measure success by how many job orders they collect.
They measure success by how many they can actually fill.
A Short Story to Illustrate
Years ago, I worked with a recruiter who proudly told me he had 18 job orders on his desk. He said it like a badge of honor.
I asked him a simple question:
“How many of those clients would take your call right now?”
He paused.
We picked up the phone together and called three of them.
One didn’t return the call.
One had already filled the role internally.
And one said, “We’re not using outside recruiters on that.”
Eighteen job orders quickly became zero real opportunities.
That recruiter didn’t have a recruiting problem.
He had a qualification problem.
Next week: Part Two – The Six-Part Qualifier Job Order
Bob Marshall began his recruiting career over 45 years ago at MR in Reno, NV. In 1986 he established The Bob Marshall Group, International, where he has trained recruiters throughout the United States and also in the United Kingdom, Malta and Cyprus. With a dedication to executive recruiting, he continues to offer his proven training systems to individuals, firms, and private corporations both domestic and in select international territories. To learn more about his activities and descriptions of his products and services, contact him directly @770-898-5550/470-456-0386(cell); bob@themarshallplan.org; or visit his website @ www.TheMarshallPlan.org.
Bob Marshall
President
TBMG, International
247 Bryans Drive, Suite 100
McDonough, GA 30252-2513
770-898-5550
520-842-5550 (fax)