A Broader Kind of Specialist: Rethinking What Expertise Means

When people hear the term “generalist recruiter,” they often picture someone who jumps between unrelated industries with little depth in any of them. On the other hand, “specialist recruiter” suggests deep expertise, but often within a narrow lane. In reality, a firm can be both — highly specialized in how it works and in what it understands, while still serving a range of industries effectively.

The Old Perception of Specialization

Ten or fifteen years ago, being a specialist recruiter in one field made perfect sense. People were more willing to relocate for the right role, which meant a recruiter could serve multiple clients within the same industry and still reach a wide talent pool.

That’s not the case anymore. Relocation rates have dropped dramatically since Covid. RSI historically would relocate over 25% of our hires nationwide. Since Covid, that has dropped to <5%.

For many professionals, personal priorities changed. They now value family time, flexibility, and community roots alongside career growth. The idea of moving across the country for a promotion feels less appealing than it once did.

This shift means recruiters — and the companies they support — must think differently about where and how they find talent.

Why Broader Reach Matters

When a recruiting firm focuses exclusively on one industry, it eventually faces a practical challenge. To stay in business, it must serve multiple clients in that same space. That creates a long list of companies the recruiter can no longer ethically recruit from. Unless they cross lines (which good recruiters won’t!!), their pool of available talent shrinks.

Firms that work across adjacent industries avoid this trap. They can ethically recruit from a wider range of companies and tap into similar talent markets — engineers, data scientists, quality leaders, software developers — without conflicts. The results are faster searches, fresher perspectives, and stronger candidate pipelines.

The Modern Meaning of “Specialist”

Being a specialist today is not just about knowing one industry. It’s about understanding complex roles, cultures, and success profiles at a deep level. The most successful firms I know do the deepest dives into their clients, and help fill all their openings. From there, they become an expert on that business. Obtain all their competitors as clients .... and you have no pool to pull from.

The Network Effect

The best recruiting firms often grow their specialties organically through referrals. A satisfied client in one sector introduces them to another in a related field. Over time, the recruiter becomes known not just for one niche, but for a way of working — learning each company deeply, understanding its culture, and identifying who succeeds there. RSI's clients range from large manufacturers to analytical services providers, yacht brokers, SaaS developers, e-commerce logistics... you name it!

That combination of curiosity, adaptability, and ethical boundaries creates a model that is both specialized and expansive. It allows the recruiter to serve new industries without losing the precision that true expertise requires.

The Bottom Line

Specialization doesn’t mean limitation. A company can have deep technical knowledge and still work effectively across multiple industries. The key is understanding people and performance — what makes someone successful in one environment and how those traits translate to another.

The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” no longer fits. In today’s market, the real value lies in being a Master of Understanding — adaptable enough to cross boundaries, yet focused enough to deliver consistent, high-quality results wherever the need arises.

#recruiter #recruiting #executivesearch #generalistrecruiter #rsijobs