Posted: April 7, 2026The best hire for your business probably isn’t on a job board. And they’re unlikely to respond to a speculative email from an agency they’ve never heard of. Reaching them takes something most agencies can’t offer: a genuine relationship.
How we think about recruitment differently
Most recruitment models reward volume and speed. CVs submitted. Roles filled. Invoices raised. There is no structural incentive to care about what happens six months after placement — whether the candidate settles in, performs, or was genuinely the right fit.
When that model goes wrong, the cost isn’t just a replacement fee. It’s a delayed project, a disrupted team, and months of lost time. We built Sonas because we believed there was a better way. Here is what that looks like in practice.
How we work
| How we work | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| We work exclusively on every assignment we take | Full commitment to your search — not split across five parallel briefs for the same role |
| We send fewer candidates, and better ones | A shortlist of three strong candidates is more useful than a flood of ten mediocre ones |
| We take the time a search deserves | A considered process produces a better outcome than a 24-hour turnaround |
| We measure success in retention and repeat business | That’s the only metric that tells the truth about whether a placement was right |
These aren’t recent policies. They’re the reason we still work with clients we first placed over a decade ago.
The best candidates are not on job boards
The senior project managers, quantity surveyors and civil engineers who would make a real difference to your business are almost never actively looking. They are delivering projects, leading teams, and building careers. Reaching them takes relationships, not software.
Over more than a decade in this market, we have built a network of over 40,000 construction and engineering professionals in Ireland. These are not database entries. They are people who know us, return our calls, and trust that when we get in touch, it is worth their time. We use technology and AI to work across that network intelligently, but the network itself was built the old-fashioned way: one honest conversation at a time.
There’s a difference between influence and activity. Any agency can generate activity. Influence is earned.
When a client works with us, we are fully committed to their search. Not split across five parallel briefs for the same role. We invest the time to understand the organisation properly: the team dynamics, the project pipeline, the kind of person who will genuinely succeed there. The majority of our revenue comes from repeat clients. We have placed over 30 roles for single contractors within a 24-month period. We have professionals we placed early in their careers who are now at director level within the same client businesses.
“We have professionals we placed early in their careers who are now at director level within the same client businesses.”
What guides every decision we make
Everything we do at Sonas is built on three principles. They guide how we work with clients, how we engage with candidates, and how we hold ourselves accountable.
We take time to understand our clients and candidates properly. Better relationships produce better placements.
We take decisive steps within our control. We do not send holding emails or blame the market. When a client has a need, we move.
We don’t always get it right. But every search makes us sharper. We invest continuously in our process, technology and methodology — because standing still isn’t an option.
It means holding ourselves to a standard that requires honesty — with clients about what’s achievable, and with ourselves about what we could do better. We measure our success in retention and repeat business, not invoices raised. We tell clients when a role will be difficult to fill, rather than overpromising to win the brief.
We work with six of the top ten construction firms in Ireland, as well as major public sector clients including the HSE, ESB and Irish Rail. They don’t come back to us because we’re the cheapest or the fastest. They come back because the people we place stay, perform and progress.
The right hire, not the fastest one
If you want five CVs by Friday, we are not the right firm.
If you’re looking for a recruitment partner who will be fully invested in your search — who will take the time to understand your organisation and bring you candidates who are genuinely right — we’d welcome the conversation.
Call us on 01 443 3917 or submit a brief at sonastechnical.com/looking-to-hire
Derek Byrne is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Sonas Technical.