Head to the candidate portal and fill in your details. You will need your CV, and a portfolio or showreel link if you are in a role where you would normally share one. If you work in account handling or production, no portfolio needed. Your experience does the talking.
It takes a couple of minutes. You will get an email to confirm your address, and after that your profile is live.
I read it. Not a keyword filter, not a screening tool, me.
If you look like a fit for the sort of work I place, I will get in touch for a proper conversation. I want to understand what you have done, what you want to do next, and the kind of studio where you would actually thrive.
If there is nothing right for you today, you stay on the network. I will come back to you when something fits.
No. It is free for creatives, always. Clients pay the fee when a placement is made.
No. Nothing goes anywhere without your say so.
When a role comes up that I think suits you, we talk about it first. You decide whether you want to be put forward.
A written profile rather than your raw CV. It covers your experience, your strengths, the work you have done and why you are right for the role.
It is a better introduction than a CV, because it says what a CV cannot: what you are actually like to work with, and why you are worth meeting.
Yes, when we get to that stage. Usually two, from people who have worked with you directly.
I will always ask before contacting anyone.
The email confirming your registration is immediate. A response from me depends on what is live at the time.
If there is a role that fits, you will hear quickly. If there is not, you might not hear for a while, and that is not a reflection on you. Creative hiring moves in waves.
Design and branding. Advertising. Digital and UX. Motion and production. Account handling. Creative operations.
Permanent, contract and freelance.
Register anyway. Most of the best moves happen when someone was not actively looking, and the conversation is easier if we already know each other.
You might also hear from me directly. If I am searching for a specific brief and your work fits, I will get in touch whether or not you are on the market. No pressure either way.
Register on the client portal and tell me about the role. I will come back to you, usually the same day, to talk it through properly.
If the brief needs challenging, I will challenge it. That is part of what you are paying for.
We work out what you actually need, together. Then I go and find it.
You get a shortlist with written profiles rather than a stack of CVs. You review, decide who you want to meet, and request interviews through the portal. I handle the scheduling.
Offers, acceptances and start dates all run through the same place, so nothing gets lost in an inbox.
As many as are right, which is usually a small number.
I would rather send you three people who could genuinely do the job than fifteen who technically match the spec. If only one person is right, you will get one.
Then I go and find them.
Not everyone worth hiring is actively looking, and the best people usually are not. If your brief needs someone specific, I will approach them directly and have the conversation properly.
That takes longer than pulling from a database. It also tends to produce better people.
When it makes sense for the brief, yes. Some roles are better served by a targeted search, some benefit from being seen widely, and plenty need both.
I will tell you which I think your role needs and why.
Yes. Not every team has the time or the resource to track applications, chase feedback and keep candidates warm, and that is usually where good people get lost.
If you want it handled, I will run it: applications, scheduling, feedback, offers, the lot. You stay in control of the decisions.
I charge on the standard agency model: a percentage of salary for permanent placements, and a margin on the day rate for contract and freelance.
Terms are open to discussion, particularly for ongoing work or multiple roles. Talk to me.
There is no fee for registering, posting a role, or reviewing candidates. You pay when someone starts.
Because a CV tells you where somebody worked, not whether they can do what you need.
Every candidate gets a written profile covering their experience, their strengths and why they fit your brief specifically. It is quicker to read and it tells you more.
Yes. Usually two, from people who have worked with the candidate directly. Available before you make an offer.
I do not run background screening, credit checks or vetting. If your role needs that, you will want a specialist provider alongside me and I am happy to point you at one.
Yes. Register on the portal and I will show you relevant profiles for your brief. No obligation, no fee until a placement is made.
Talk to me. Rebate terms on permanent placements are agreed up front and depend on the role, and I would rather sort a problem than argue about it.
Me. Steve Crompton.
I started out as a creative, working with some of the UK's leading design and advertising agencies, then spent eighteen years running a creative recruitment agency. HiiRE Creative is what I have built with all of that.
Deliberately small. You work directly with me.
The UK, working with studios and agencies nationally. Most of the work is London and the major creative centres, but a good role is a good role wherever it is.
Two things.
I know this industry from inside it, which means I can tell the difference between a good portfolio and an exceptional one, and I know which studios look after their people.
And I am small on purpose. You are not an account number, and your role is not one of forty on a consultant's list.