What we're learning, building, and proving

Case studies from real engagements and perspectives on how mid-market and GovCon companies are solving their toughest hiring challenges.

Case Study

Enterprise PartnerHire for a $1B Security Systems Integrator

How a dedicated recruiting team embedded across six job functions delivered 40+ placements and earned a top-two vendor ranking in under a year.

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Blog

5 Biggest Staffing Challenges in 2026 (And How to Solve Them)

AI-generated applications, skills gaps, 40-70 day time-to-fill cycles, and fierce competition for senior talent. Here's what's driving the market and what to do about it.

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Case Study

Staffing a $3B government solutions integrator's U.S. Navy Financial Management Program Under SeaPort-e

20 cleared professionals placed in seven months supporting a $3B government solutions integrator's Navy financial management contract, with a 70% submission-to-interview rate.

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Case Study

Scaling Talent Acquisition for a Fast-Growing Silicon Valley Tech Firm

A PartnerHire engagement that delivered candidates in five business days, achieved 95% retention, and expanded into full contractor workforce management.

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Case Study

Accelerating Growth for SitScape's Enterprise Software Business

A two-year DirectHire engagement placing solution architects and product developers for SitScape's enterprise software platform, with 96% retention and a four-week guarantee replacement.

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Case Study

Accelerated Team Ramp for Virsec's Defense Product Team

Six engineers onboarded in 10 weeks for Virsec, including two with top secret clearances, with 100% retention at six months. A PartnerHire sprint for their defense cybersecurity product team.

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Case Study

Building a Public Sector Practice for a Global Consulting Firm

20+ cleared consultants and developers placed in under a year across cloud, data analytics, blockchain, and cybersecurity. Earned Premier Vendor status and a #2 talent team ranking.

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Blog

Hiring Cleared IT Professionals for Government and Public Sector Work

Why the cleared talent market is so tight, what's actually working to attract passive candidates, and how to compete with the private sector for top-tier professionals.

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Buyer Guides

How to Choose a Recruiting Partner

Practical, sourced comparisons for specific hiring decisions, written to be useful whether or not you ever contact BizFirst. Every firm is compared on the same terms, and company-reported figures are labeled.

How we research these guides
Pricing Guide

What Should You Pay a Recruiter? Recruiting Fees Explained (2026)

Contingency, flat-fee, retained, and RPO pricing in plain English, with the real dollar cost at every salary and a simple way to tell what is fair.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 Cleared Recruiting Firms and Hiring Platforms (2026)

Cleared hiring is a small, gated market. The main options, from sourcing platforms to national staffing firms to GovCon specialists and boutique senior-led search, compared by what each is strongest at.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 GovCon Staffing and Recruiting Firms (2026)

The staffing and recruiting firms built for government contracting, from national IT staffing to cleared specialists and boutique senior-led search, compared by what each is strongest at.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 Recruiting Firms in Northern Virginia and the DMV (2026)

The firms that genuinely work Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland, from national names with local offices to regional specialists and boutique senior-led search, compared by what each is strongest at.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 Recruiting Firms for Startups and Scale-Ups, Seed to Series B (2026)

The firms that serve Seed-to-Series-B startups, from go-to-market and leadership specialists to technical and embedded recruiters and flat-fee options, compared by what each is strongest at.

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Buyer Guide

How to Evaluate a GovCon Recruiting Partner Before You Sign

A practitioner’s scorecard for choosing a GovCon recruiting partner: the clearance, capability, and pricing questions that matter, and the warning signs worth slowing down for.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 Proposal Staffing and Post-Award Federal Ramp Recruiting Firms (2026)

Winning federal work creates two different hiring problems. A capability matrix and sourced comparison of the firms built for pre-award capture and for post-award ramp.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 AI, Data, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Recruiting Firms (2026)

Four talent markets, four recruiting models. Specialist and enterprise firms compared by hiring path, seniority, and engagement model, with sourced facts.

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Buyer Guide

Top 10 RPO and Embedded Recruiting Firms for Small and Mid-Sized Companies (2026)

Most RPO firms are built for the enterprise. The providers genuinely built for SMBs and the mid-market, compared on commitment, flexibility, scope, and pricing transparency.

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GovCon Hiring Series

Why Post-Award Hiring Breaks Down

A four-part series from BizFirst CEO Jeff Packard on the structural reasons GovCon hiring falls apart after award, and what teams that recover faster do differently.

Government Recruiting

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