Case Study: How We Placed a Senior Designer in 7 Days

Last month, we got one of those calls that makes your heart race. A boutique branding agency in Shoreditch had just lost their senior designer, literally walked out on a Friday after a disagreement about creative direction. Monday morning project deadlines loomed. Client presentations scheduled for the following week. Pure chaos.

"We need someone brilliant, and we need them fast," said Sarah, the agency's creative director, her voice tight with stress. "Can you help?"

Seven days later, we'd placed the perfect candidate. Here's exactly how we pulled it off.

Day One: The SOS Call

The brief was crystal clear yet utterly challenging. They needed a senior designer with 5+ years experience, strong branding background, proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, and someone who could hit the ground running on three active campaigns. Oh, and they had to mesh perfectly with a tight-knit team of six creatives.

Budget? Competitive but not excessive. Timeline? Immediate start preferred.

Most agencies would've laughed. We saw an opportunity to showcase what targeted recruitment really looks like when you ditch the spray-and-pray approach.

Day Two: Strategic Candidate Mapping

Instead of posting on every job board and crossing our fingers, we went surgical. Our talent mapping process kicked into high gear: we analysed the local creative landscape, identified designers currently working at agencies with similar aesthetic sensibilities, and cross-referenced our existing candidate database with specific skill requirements.

The magic happened when we spotted three potential candidates who weren't actively job hunting but might be open to the right opportunity. Sometimes the best talent isn't scrolling through job listings; they're busy creating brilliant work elsewhere.

We crafted personalised outreach messages. Not generic "great opportunity" spam, but messages that referenced their recent projects and explained why this particular role might excite them.

Day Three: The First Conversations

Three phone calls. Three very different responses.

Candidate A was intrigued but tied up in a major rebrand project for another month. Timing wasn't right, but we filed them away for future opportunities.

Candidate B seemed perfect on paper: stellar portfolio, relevant experience, available immediately. But something felt off during our conversation. Their enthusiasm felt forced, and when we dug deeper into their career motivations, red flags appeared.

Candidate C, however, lit up when we described the agency's approach to brand storytelling. Jamie had been quietly considering a move from their current mid-sized agency to something more intimate and collaborative. Perfect timing, genuine excitement, and their portfolio showcased exactly the aesthetic sensibility our client needed.

Day Four: The Deep Dive

We arranged a comprehensive video interview with Jamie, diving beyond surface-level qualifications into working style, creative process, and team dynamics. This wasn't your typical "tell me about a time when..." interview script.

Instead, we explored how they handled creative feedback, their approach to client presentations, and crucially: how they collaborated with other designers under pressure. The agency needed someone who thrived in collaborative chaos, not someone who'd crumble when deadlines mounted.

Jamie shared screen recordings of their design process, walked us through recent project challenges, and demonstrated the kind of creative problem-solving that makes senior designers invaluable.

By end of day, we knew we had our match.

Day Five: Client Chemistry Check

The trickiest part of any placement isn't finding someone with the right skills: it's ensuring personality fit. We arranged a casual coffee meeting between Jamie and Sarah, positioning it as an informal chat rather than a high-pressure interview.

They clicked instantly. Sarah later told us she knew within ten minutes that Jamie understood their agency's creative philosophy. They discussed ongoing projects, shared horror stories about difficult clients, and even debated typography choices with the kind of passionate intensity that signals genuine creative chemistry.

"It felt like talking to someone who already worked here," Sarah said.

Day Six: Negotiation and Details

With both sides excited to move forward, we handled the delicate dance of terms negotiation. Jamie's salary expectations aligned perfectly with the agency's budget, but we negotiated additional benefits: flexible working arrangements and a professional development allowance: that sweetened the deal without breaking their budget.

We also coordinated practical details: start date (the following Monday), equipment setup, and introduction schedules. The agency agreed to push back one client presentation by a few days, giving Jamie breathing room to get oriented.

Everything aligned beautifully.

Day Seven: Sealed Deal

Contracts signed. References checked (glowing, naturally). Jamie handed in notice at their current agency with a two-week transition period, but agreed to start part-time consulting immediately on the most urgent project.

By the end of the week, crisis averted.

The Secret Sauce

What made this placement work so smoothly? Three key factors:

Relationship-First Approach: We prioritised finding the right cultural fit over checking boxes on a skills list. Technical abilities can be developed; personality clashes are much harder to resolve.

Speed Through Preparation: Our existing talent pipeline and relationship network meant we could move fast without compromising quality. We knew who to call because we'd been building those relationships for years.

Transparent Communication: Everyone stayed in the loop throughout the process. No nasty surprises, no last-minute curveballs, no games. Just honest conversations about expectations and reality.

Six Months Later

Jamie is now leading their first major rebrand project and has been promoted to senior creative lead. The agency has landed two new clients partly based on work Jamie contributed to. Sarah called us last month to handle another placement: this time with less urgency, thankfully.

"Best hire we've made in years," she said. "The process was so smooth, we forgot how stressful recruitment usually is."

What This Means for Your Next Hire

Not every placement needs to happen in seven days, but every placement benefits from strategic thinking rather than desperate posting. When you're facing a hiring crunch, remember:

Speed doesn't mean compromising on quality. It means having better systems and stronger relationships in place before you need them.

The best candidates often aren't actively searching. They're busy doing great work somewhere else, waiting for the right opportunity to find them.

Cultural fit matters more than perfect skill alignment. You can teach someone new software; you can't teach them to gel with your team.

Ready to experience recruitment that actually works? Whether you need someone tomorrow or next month, we're here to make it happen without the stress, spam, or settling for second-best.

Get in touch and let's talk about finding your next creative superstar( fast.)