Recruitment Agency in Belgium & Brussels

Archetype is a Belgian recruitment agency specialised in sales, marketing and management roles, from field sales representatives to managing directors. We are a family business founded in 1993, and we recruit for SMEs, mid-sized companies and subsidiaries of international groups across Belgium (Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia) and in the Netherlands, working in French, Dutch and English. Brussels alone accounts for a quarter of our assignments. Every assignment runs on a retainer, with the fee agreed in advance, takes 12 weeks on average and includes an assessment of every finalist and a 6-month replacement guarantee. Tell us about the role: you will receive a written proposal within 48 to 72 hours of the first call.

(translate) Consultante en recrutement et dirigeant d’entreprise en réunion de briefing dans un bureau à Bruxelles — (translate) Le premier appel sert à challenger la fonction, le scorecard et la fourchette avant tout sourcing.

Why sales recruitment fails before it has even started

Nearly half of our assignments are launched directly by a CEO, a founder or a managing director. A third come from HR directors, and most of the others from sales directors. Whoever we speak to, the same obstacles come up:

A job advert attracts the candidates who are available, rarely the ones already performing elsewhere, who have to be approached.
The job title is vague. Depending on the company, “Sales Manager” can mean a team leader, a regional manager or a sales director in all but name.
The salary range does not match the market, and nobody says so until the third candidate turns the offer down.
A good CV does not tell you whether the person can sell, run a team or hold on to a strategic account under pressure.
The CEO does not have time to run twenty interviews on top of the day job.

Our work starts with these points, before any sourcing begins.

The roles we recruit for

We do not recruit for every function. Sales roles make up 60% of our assignments, management 20% and marketing 11%, while 9% are internal roles for long-standing clients. Each function has its own page:

Sales Manager recruitment, when you need someone to get a team selling day to day;
Sales Director recruitment, to restructure a sales organisation and manage the margin;
managing director or CEO recruitment, for the top job in the company;
Head of Sales recruitment, for growing companies building their first sales team;
Business Developer recruitment, to open up a new market or segment.

We also recruit Account Managers, Key Account Managers, sales engineers, Country Managers and Marketing Managers. We work in nine sectors, including automotive, transport and logistics, construction, tech, industry, beauty, medical and non-profit organisations.

Our 5-step recruitment method

In-depth briefing. We challenge the role, the job scorecard and the salary range. If the brief goes off course, the sourcing goes with it.
Sourcing strategy. It is written for each assignment: direct approach of candidates in post, our network and, for exclusive assignments, an employer branding page and posts in your company’s name.
Structured screening. Every shortlisted candidate goes through an in-depth interview, role-plays or a case study, and the KOAN personality test, which we have used for 30 years.
Detailed presentation. For each finalist, you receive a file with the scorecard, the interview transcripts and the validated job description. You compare facts, not impressions.
Follow-up before, during and after the hire. We stay in touch with the new hire and their manager throughout the first three months.

We support clients and candidates before, during and after the hire. Not out of courtesy, by design. The first three months of a sales or management hire shape what happens for the next three years. If onboarding fails, the placement is lost, regardless of how good the sourcing was. That’s why our support doesn’t stop at contract signing. It’s also why our clients come back: they aren’t signing for a recruitment, they’re signing for a long-term partnership.
The Archetype method, since 1993

How much does recruitment with Archetype cost?

We work 100% on a retainer basis, never on a success fee. You commit to the assignment and we see it through, however long it takes. Our fee is agreed before the assignment starts and set out in the written proposal we send you. Four criteria determine the amount: language requirements, management level, the technical complexity of the role and the complexity of the assignment.

You therefore know the amount and the payment terms before you sign, and they do not change along the way.

Criterion	Retainer (Archetype)	Success fee
When you pay	In stages agreed in the written proposal, from launch	Only if a candidate is hired
The agency’s commitment	The assignment is seen through to the end, however long it takes	Paid on placement, so the agency has an incentive to favour roles that are quick to fill
Exclusivity	Possible, with an employer branding page and posts in your company’s name	Often several agencies working on the same role
Finalist assessment	In-depth interview, role-plays, competency analysis, KOAN test	Varies from one agency to another
Guarantee	Replacement if the candidate leaves within 6 months	Varies from one agency to another

A retainer is a commitment on both sides: you invest in the assignment, we see it through. That is what allows us to turn down the volume game.

12 days to launch the assignment, 12 weeks to recruit

On average, 12 days pass between the first call and the signing of the assignment contract. From that signature to the candidate’s acceptance, allow 12 weeks on average. Then add the candidate’s notice period, which depends on their length of service with their current employer.

Day 1

Discovery call

Needs analysis, the role is challenged.

48 to 72 hours

Written proposal

Summary, scorecard, sourcing strategy.

Day 12 on average

Assignment signed

Sourcing and employer branding begin.

During the assignment

2nd candidate meeting

Finalists assessed, full candidate files.

12 weeks on average

Placement

The candidate signs with you.

After the hire

Follow-up and guarantee

3 months of follow-up, 6-month replacement guarantee.

What you can judge us on

33 years of recruiting sales and management profiles, and more than 155 active clients.
A success rate of 75 to 80% on assignments carried through to the end. The assignments that were not completed are the ones the client chose to stop.
A 6-month replacement guarantee if the candidate leaves the company.
A recruitment process rewritten in 2025 and validated by Federgon, the Belgian federation of HR service providers, of which we are a member.
The Talent Business Innovation of the Year 2025 award (Talent Business Awards), for our ethical and structured use of AI. AI prepares the deliverables, a consultant makes the decisions.

All of Belgium, Brussels included, in French, Dutch and English

Our assignments are split between Flanders (48%), Brussels (26%), Wallonia (16%) and the Netherlands (10%). Whether your company is based in Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia, we can run an entire assignment in Dutch, French or English: briefing, candidate approach, interviews and reports. For France and Germany, we work with two partner firms, Granit RH and Konsultwerk.

Archetype is a family business. Marc Diamant founded the firm in 1993. His sons Davy and Steve joined him in late 2023. That continuity isn’t an anecdote: it’s what lets us hold client relationships across 20 years without method discontinuity, without turnover wiping out file memory, without changing direction every three years to chase the latest HR trend. Stability, in a trust business, counts.
The Archetype method, since 1993

Recruitment agency, temporary employment agency or headhunter?

A temporary employment agency provides you with a worker it employs itself, for a limited period. A recruitment agency searches for and assesses candidates whom you hire directly, usually on a permanent contract. Headhunting is a sourcing method: approaching people in post who are not looking at job adverts. It is one of the sourcing methods we combine depending on the assignment. For more detail, read our comparison of a recruitment agency and a temporary employment agency.

Already have your candidates? Have them assessed

Recruitment, assessment and training are our three lines of work. If you have found your finalists yourself, we can assess them with the same method we use for our own candidates: an in-depth interview, role-plays, competency analysis and KOAN, followed by a spoken debrief. See our pre-hire assessment service.

About Archetype

Archetype is a Belgian family business founded in 1993 by Marc Diamant and now co-managed with Davy Diamant and Steve Diamant. A member of Federgon, it won Talent Business Innovation of the Year 2025 for its ethical and structured use of AI.

Frequently asked questions about our recruitment agency

How much does a recruitment agency cost in Belgium?

At Archetype, the fee is agreed in advance and set out in a written proposal, sent within 48 to 72 hours of the first call. It depends on the languages required, the management level, the technical complexity of the role and the complexity of the assignment. We work on a retainer, never on a success fee, and a 6-month replacement guarantee is included.

How long does recruitment take?

12 weeks on average between the signing of the assignment and the candidate’s signature. You then need to allow for the candidate’s notice period with their current employer.

Do you work on a success fee, with no upfront payment?

No. We only work on a retainer. It is a choice of method: it commits us to seeing every assignment through, without picking easy roles over difficult ones.

What happens if the new hire leaves soon after starting?

A 6-month replacement guarantee applies if the candidate leaves. We also follow the onboarding during the first three months, so problems can be corrected before it comes to that.

Do you recruit in Flanders and in Dutch?

Yes. Flanders accounts for 48% of our assignments. We run recruitment assignments in Dutch, French or English.

Which roles do you not recruit for?

We specialise in Sales, Marketing and Management. For a purely technical, finance or IT role with no sales or management dimension, we will tell you so on the first call.

Let’s talk about your recruitment

One call is enough to frame the role, the profile and the salary range. We will tell you plainly whether the recruitment is achievable on your terms, and you will receive our proposal within 48 to 72 hours.

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