Vas Georgiou

One post cites 4.8 million unfilled cybersecurity roles worldwide and says the shortage is not of people but of clear briefs.

• They trace that view to years in HR watching searches go wrong.
• Their method is to spend more time onboarding a client than recruiting for them.
• Before asking for a job description, Georgiou wants to know why the role is open, why the last person left, what kind of personality succeeds in the business, what success looks like after six months, and why someone should join this company rather than a competitor.
• A recruiter represents the employer in every candidate conversation, so understanding the business helps them represent the role well.
• As Georgiou puts it, good recruitment does not start with sending CVs; it starts with understanding the business behind the vacancy.

Georgiou says the first thing the firm asks a company is not for a job description. Onboarding a client takes more working time than recruiting does.

Read original · Original 2

Announcing the relaunched website, Georgiou described the focus as four sectors the firm knows inside out, with no generalist shortcuts. Their argument draws on their experience in HR: sitting opposite a hiring manager who has been let down by recruiters three times running helps a headhunter understand the manager's needs, rather than simply having heard about them.

The client feedback Georgiou highlights is a review from an HR manager praising the time spent understanding the company and team, rather than the role on paper.

• The review calls the work thoughtful, strategic and focused on quality over quantity.
• Georgiou links that approach to their HR background: the difference, they write, is not having heard about the job or shadowed someone, but having actually done it.

Read original · Original 2

Two candidates can look almost identical on paper, with the same qualifications, years of experience, industry and similar responsibilities, while one is curious and ambitious and the other cannot explain why they applied.

• A CV shows what someone has done, Georgiou argues, but not what motivates them, why they want to leave, what environment they thrive in or what they want next.
• They criticise recruiters who forward CVs without first speaking to candidates and say no CV goes anywhere without that call.
• As Georgiou puts it: "I'm not recruiting CVs.
• I'm recruiting people."

Georgiou describes two candidates who matched on qualifications, years, industry and responsibilities. What separated them was the conversation: one was genuinely excited about their career; the other could not say why they had applied for the job.

Read original

They do different jobs: internal teams manage multiple roles, interviews, onboarding and internal processes, while an external specialist can market roles differently, approach passive candidates and explore channels the internal team lacks time for. Georgiou argues that external recruitment should support internal teams, not compete with them, and that the best companies use both.

One client Georgiou names has several internal talent acquisition partners and still works with the firm externally.

The argument is specifically about recruitment in Cyprus. Ask for evidence of comparable hiring work in the US, UK or EU.

Read original

Candidates remember how they were treated, tell others, and can generate referrals years after a placement.

• A cautionary story illustrates the value of discretion: a Glasgow clinic owner asked detailed questions about Georgiou's process, where the firm recruited and how it automated the work, then never called back, blocked the number and did it in-house.
• Georgiou's lesson is to talk less and listen more: copying the steps does not reproduce the intent behind them.

A candidate told Georgiou they had followed the work for years and had been waiting for a role Georgiou was recruiting.

• A friend placed three years earlier had kept recommending the experience.
• Georgiou says the reputation is built on work candidates never see: the 20-minute call before a CV is sent, telling someone a role is not right for them, and chasing a client who has gone quiet.

Read original · Original 2

Newcomers should start here: it explains the firm’s origins and sector focus, which later posts build on.

Georgiou describes leaving an HR job in April 2020 and founding Heilsa after becoming frustrated with recruiters who sent irrelevant CVs and disappeared once a candidate was rejected.

• They report placements across more than 30 countries and say the firm has narrowed its focus to four sectors — law, cybersecurity and technology, financial services, and healthcare — working across the US, UK, and European Union.
• The stated principle is quality over volume, with no generalist work.

For brands planning a campaign

Anchor any recruitment brief to one of the four named sectors. Georgiou positions Heilsa against generalist agencies, so a campaign built on specialist sector knowledge fits the stated identity better than a broad “hiring partner” message.

It shows what a client gets in practice and helps hiring managers judge whether Georgiou is a fit for their brief.

Georgiou says more time goes into client onboarding than recruiting.

• The first request is not the job description but answers to questions about why the role is open, why the last person left, what personality succeeds, what success looks like after six months, and why a candidate should choose this company over a competitor.
• The argument: a recruiter represents the employer’s brand in every candidate conversation, so they need to understand the employer’s hiring needs before sending CVs.

For brands planning a campaign

A structured intake questionnaire or “brief quality” checklist would match the method Georgiou describes and give hiring managers something concrete to respond to. The hook turns the usual approach around: the recruiter does more work before the search starts, not after.

Readers can judge whether the quality claims are backed by a visible practice.

The post draws a line between a CV and a screening conversation.

• Two candidates can look identical on paper — same qualifications, years, industry, and similar responsibilities — but one is curious while the other cannot explain why they applied.
• Georgiou lists what a CV does not reveal: motivation, reason for leaving, preferred environment, next step, and what matters to the person.
• Their rule is never to send a CV to a client without speaking to the candidate first.

For brands planning a campaign

For a wider hiring audience, the contrasting-candidates format offers a ready-made content device: two near-identical profiles and the conversation that separates them. It suits video or carousel formats, where the difference can be shown rather than described.

It shows how Georgiou discusses a market problem rather than a service, helping readers assess the credibility of the expertise.

Georgiou cites 4.8 million unfilled cybersecurity roles globally and argues, drawing on prior HR experience, that hiring failures come from weak briefs rather than a shortage of people. The post invites hiring managers to share their experience and carries hashtags for cybersecurity, tech hiring, and headhunting.

For brands planning a campaign

Cybersecurity hiring is the strongest topic here for a campaign focused on the sector. A data-led angle — a reported talent gap and the claim that clear goals drive hiring-campaign outcomes — gives a sponsor a distinct editorial slot without requiring a product mention.

This is the most useful post for readers deciding whether to use one.

Georgiou describes a common misconception in Cyprus: that internal talent acquisition teams and external recruiters compete for the same placement.

• Their argument is that internal teams are busy managing multiple roles, interviews, and onboarding, while an external recruiter can market roles differently, approach passive candidates, and explore channels the internal team has no time for.
• Good recruitment, they say, supports internal teams rather than replacing them.

For brands planning a campaign

A natural hook for a campaign aimed at in-house talent acquisition rather than HR directors: a “how to split the work” piece with an explicit division of labour. The Cyprus reference makes the post locally targeted, a consideration for any regional campaign.

Where other posts describe the process, this one shows what it is meant to produce.

A candidate tells Georgiou they have followed their work for years and waited for the right role rather than approaching sooner.

• A friend was placed three years earlier and kept recommending the experience.
• The post lists the unpaid work candidates never see: the 20-minute call before a CV is sent, advice not to apply for a role that does not fit, and chasing a quiet client.
• Georgiou frames a placement as reputation rather than a transaction.

For brands planning a campaign

Referrals and word of mouth are the proof points here. A campaign built around candidate experience — what happens between application and offer — fits the story and gives a sponsor a credible place to attach an employer-brand message.

Useful to readers weighing whether the advice is reflective or purely promotional.

Georgiou recounts a call from a Glasgow clinic owner who asked detailed questions about process, recruiting locations and automation, then never called back, blocked the number and did the work in-house.

• The lesson: talk less, listen more, and remember that not everyone who calls is a client.
• They add that copying the steps does not replicate the intent, and ask readers whether they have been burned by being too open.

For brands planning a campaign

The most personal post in the set, and the strongest candidate for a narrative-led campaign about trust or protecting intellectual work. It also signals an audience of small agency owners and independent consultants, not just large employers.

A useful second read after the founding post.

Georgiou quotes an HR manager’s review, which praises their time spent understanding the company and team, their thoughtful and strategic approach, and their focus on quality over quantity. They connect that praise to their time working in HR, distinguishing having done the job from having heard about it, and invite readers to send a direct message to start a conversation.

For brands planning a campaign

The quote offers usable proof for a campaign that needs a third-party voice. The post’s service list — cybersecurity, tech, law, financial services, healthcare — matches the founding post and confirms a consistent four-sector frame.

They describe the firm as focused on four sectors — law, cybersecurity and technology, financial services, and healthcare — with placements across 30+ countries and work across the US, UK, and EU.

• The relaunch message is explicit: there are "no generalist shortcuts."
• A client review they highlight praises their understanding of the team, not just the role on paper.
• Georgiou traces that directly to their HR experience: "Not heard about it.
• Not shadowed someone.
• Actually done it."

For brands planning a campaign

Content aimed at hiring managers in those four sectors can draw on the specialist positioning and practitioner background. Generic recruitment messaging would undermine that positioning.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

They point to 4.8 million unfilled cybersecurity roles and years spent in HR watching searches go wrong. Their intake questions focus on business context: why the role is open, why the last person left, what kind of personality succeeds, what success looks like after six months, and why someone should join this company over a competitor.

Moves the conversation from job description to business context before candidate outreach, and positions the recruiter as representing the employer to the candidate market.

For brands planning a campaign

Angles that help a client write a stronger brief or model the intake conversation step by step map directly onto this argument.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

They criticize recruiters who forward CVs without speaking to candidates first.

• Much of the work is invisible: a 20-minute call before anything is sent, or an honest "this one isn't right for you" conversation.
• The payoff can last: one candidate waited years for a role because a friend, placed three years earlier, kept talking about how they were treated.

For brands planning a campaign

Process-transparency content showing what happens between brief and placement is a differentiated angle the posts already support.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Internal teams juggle multiple roles and process work, they argue, so an external specialist can market roles differently, approach passive candidates, explore channels internal teams lack time for, and represent the company externally. Their claim is that the best companies use both, and good recruitment should support internal teams rather than compete with them.

The observation is specific to the Cyprus market. For US, UK, or EU campaigns, ask for evidence that the same dynamic applies.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for agency-side content aimed at companies with an in-house recruiting function that need a reason to add an external partner.

Examples: Source 1

The lesson: "talk less, listen more" and protect what you have built.

• Copying the steps, they argue, does not reproduce the intent.
• A placement is not just a transaction but a matter of reputation: candidates judge how they are treated and pass that judgement on to others.

A first-person cautionary anecdote makes the case for professional judgement and confidentiality.

For brands planning a campaign

A discretion-and-confidentiality angle — how a recruiter protects a client's process and its candidates — is supported by this material.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Concrete moments carry the argument: a blocked number, a friend's referral three years old, two identical CVs. Recruitment advice comes through a scene, not a checklist.

A scene-setting hook, short lines, one lesson, and a closing question inviting comments.

For brands planning a campaign

A brand working with Georgiou should expect conversational, story-led placements rather than data-heavy or listicle formats, with comment-friendly prompts as part of the mix.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

The specialist headhunting firm works in law, cybersecurity and technology, financial services, and healthcare across the US, UK and EU, with placements in more than 30 countries. A later post says they built Heilsa after being let down by recruiters as a hiring manager.

View example

Both argue that how clients and candidates are treated over a long relationship is the product.

Ungar works with beauty and wellness brands, positioning the firm as an extension of the client’s team. Georgiou works across law, cybersecurity and technology, financial services, and healthcare, drawing on their HR experience before founding the firm.

Read original · Original 2

Both focus on decisions made before candidates arrive.

Clifford’s posts lean on platform data, statistics, and product case studies, often focusing on tool and process optimisation. Georgiou’s are first-person stories that make the case from the hiring need and screening call, with little data or product framing.

Read original · Original 2

Georgiou makes a similar case from the other end, arguing that the hiring need and candidate conversation matter more than forwarding CVs.

Cox builds posts around talks and ideas from others, addressing talent acquisition teams broadly. Georgiou draws on their HR background and the firm’s placements, with a focus on specific sectors.

Read original · Original 2

Ungar's posts describe staying close to the search, adjusting when priorities shift, restarting a search rather than forcing candidates into a profile that no longer fits, and keeping candidates engaged through delays on the brand side.

• One post draws the values point from a sign on the wall at the BeautyMatter office: candidates experience a company through interviews, decisions, and how leaders communicate, not through a polished careers page.
• For a beauty or wellness employer that wants that argument made by someone who works the sector, Ungar's posts are more specific than Georgiou's.

The tradeoff is sector match.

• Vas Georgiou's posts do not say they work on cybersecurity, law, financial services, or healthcare searches—the ground their posts cover: the unfilled-cybersecurity-roles argument, the five questions asked before accepting a job description, and the screening call that separates two identical CVs.
• A beauty and wellness specialist brings a narrower but deeper sector fit; Georgiou brings a stated four-sector scope and a stronger method for clarifying search needs before a search.
• Neither creator's posts describe sponsorship terms, deliverables, or pricing, so both are headhunting engagements as far as the posts say; neither should be planned as a defined paid placement without asking.
• Ungar's posts also say less about which roles were filled for which clients, so a buyer wanting a record of completed searches gets more of that from Georgiou's posts.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Clifford's material also examines how AI changes what recruiters spend their time on, using a named customer story, Risus Talent Partners, with roughly $300K in placement revenue tied to AI-sourced candidates and a team reorganized so junior recruiters build pipelines while senior recruiters close. For a buyer whose campaign angle is employer branding, job-posting craft, or an operating-model story about AI in a staffing business, Clifford's posts supply the specific claims and a finished example.

The tradeoff is vantage point.

• Clifford's posts cite LinkedIn Talent Solutions and a staffing customer story, so the claims come from a platform and vendor context rather than an independent sector practitioner.
• A buyer wanting an outside, first-person account of running searches should weigh that.
• Georgiou's posts are narrower in topic but come from running a firm: the argument for clear search requirements, the screening questions, the onboarding process before a CV moves, and a stated focus on law, cybersecurity and tech, financial services, and healthcare.
• Their posts tell candidate and client stories rather than present frameworks and data, so a campaign that needs scannable how-to structure or a documented AI case study gets more from Clifford.
• Neither set of posts shows commercial terms or rates.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

One post works through a talk by Mads Faurholt-Jorgensen and pulls out the ideas worth arguing about: that hiring managers ask for someone good at everything when they need the best goalkeeper and the best striker, that people hire people like themselves, and that resumes screen out strong performers who lack the pedigree to be loud.

• The other post takes a phrase, "don't pave the cowpath," and asks whether AI should speed up inherited funnel steps or replace them, closing with a question that invites peers to answer.
• That makes the material well suited to a campaign that wants a reflective, systems-level conversation and a built-in comment prompt.

The tradeoff is proximity to a real search.

• Cox's posts are commentary on the field, and one is explicitly a response to someone else's talk, so part of the value is curation and framing rather than first-hand placements.
• Georgiou's material takes the opposite approach: first-person stories about a candidate who waited three years for the right approach, a clinic owner who took the process in house, and the questions asked before a role is accepted.
• A buyer who needs evidence of sector-specific searches completed, especially in cybersecurity, law, finance, or healthcare, gets more from Georgiou; a buyer who wants a sector-neutral argument about how hiring should work gets more from Cox.
• Cox's posts name no clients, and neither set of posts shows sponsorship formats or rates.
• For a campaign aimed at internal talent teams, Georgiou also writes directly about supporting internal teams rather than competing with them—a more direct answer to that room.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2