'I Love Talking Local Government': Insights from an Interim Recruitment Specialist
18 Jun, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- How to secure a successful career in the interim market.
- How the demand for interim workers has changed in recent years.
- Whether now is the right time to transition from the permanent to interim market.
- Discover more about our interim recruitment services.
A passion for politics and in-depth knowledge of local government has led interim recruitment specialist, John Shorrock, on a very rewarding career path.
With interim workers seeing fluctuations in the demand for their specialised skills, alongside them, John has witnessed the ebb and flow of this ever-changing market.
From budget cuts affecting innovation to the delivery of services, John shares his insights on the challenges the interim market faces in 2025 and uncovers how emerging trends might shape the future for interim professionals throughout the UK.
Can you give us an insight into how the interim job market works?
Interims are usually engaged by local authorities or the private sector, looking for highly skilled workers to cover a skills gap within their establishment. Whether that be a brand new project or a new programme which needs completed, they will bring in an interim with experience in the required field.
By doing so, they are enhancing their existing team with the best talent available and it means a local authority has assurance that their work will get done.
Interims are typically used if someone is on long term sick leave or if someone has resigned with cover needed whilst the organisation looks for a permanent employee.
An interim will be expected to join a team with no need for any training, hit the ground running and lead a service as though the head of that service was never gone.
Interims are always senior and have a very highly valued skill set which is going to be integral to the improvement and completion of a project in a timely and budget-meeting manner or ‘business as usual’ running of wherever they are employed.
What are the main reasons councils hire interim professionals rather than permanent staff?
To hire a permanent member of staff you’re looking at 3-6, or even up to 9 months, of training to get them up to speed, or waiting for them to finish a long notice period.
It can be hard to find somebody who is immediately available who works within the permanent market, so the benefit of using an interim is you’ll have somebody who is immediately available, only has a 1-2 week notice period and already has the required skills.
With a critical business need, local authorities don’t need to wait for training to take place which is essential when challenges need resolving immediately. An interim worker can go in, hit the ground running and get the job done.
How has the demand for interim workers changed in recent years?
The market has shifted. Two years ago we were looking at a market where there was a lot of funding and a lot of proactive projects and programmes, which was quite exciting. Since then, all of these projects and programmes are now nearing completion and as a result the job market for interim workers has dropped.
Coupled with a lack of funding in local government, this means it’s hard for local governments, under financial pressure, to complete proactive projects or invest within their own councils - so the job market has seen a drop.
The change now is that where the market was very candidate led, because there were so many jobs and not enough interim workers, there’s now a lack of jobs and demand for workers. This means pay rates have dropped as there is a wide selection of candidates to choose from who are available on the interim market.
Another challenge for us as recruiters and interim workers is CVs needing to be tailored and relevant to the role being applied for. CVs need to showcase a candidate’s relevant skill-set and by doing that, hiring managers will see a CV which represents the role they are recruiting for. Applications must be relevant to the role because currently, there are so many available candidates out there.
What do you love most about recruiting in the interim market?
For me, I love talking local government. I can talk about politics, local government and economics all day. It’s a passion of mine and I think everyone I speak to knows that.
I think the benefit we have over other agencies is that I understand the inner workings of local government, budgeting and areas of which councils are responsible for, such as Social Care, Housing, IT, HR and Corporate Functions.
I have an in-depth understanding of each sector because consistently enhancing my knowledge around these areas is enjoyable to me. I also take a lot of pride in helping the right people get into the right roles.
What are the current challenges in the interim market?
Budgeting is a big challenge experienced by local governments and therefore affects the interim market. The micro economy within local authority is difficult, but when you look at the macro economy and how the economy of the country is moving forward, it’s shrinking.
With a lack of funding from the central government going into local government, we find that there’s no money to be spent on forward thinking.
A lot of what money is being spent on is recovery, service improvement and updating IT. This means the market is being reactive rather than proactive. In my opinion, this has been the main challenge in 2025 for the interim market.
How can Spencer Clarke Group help to overcome these challenges?
I can’t control budgets but what I can do is work with a client's budget and make sure that I am consulting with interim workers and looking at what’s affordable to a local authority. This means that ultimately, educated choices can then be made.
The market fluctuates in terms of pay scales but I can work with candidates to help them understand why rates change across the board and I can help clients maximise their budgets.
Full consultation is of utmost importance to clients and candidates and ultimately my aim is to help both get the best possible outcome.
What advice would you give to someone transitioning into the interim market?
Prepare for any opportunity that arises. A lot of interim roles will be given to me on one day and then filled within 2 weeks.
Transitioning into the interim market from permanent work can be difficult unless you have a short notice period, because the requirement for a person’s skill-set is immediate a lot of the time.
For anybody looking to transition into the interim market, they really need to know when the market is hot and when to take the plunge. At this point in time, 2025, transitioning into the interim market could be a challenge and leaving a secure, full-time position is risky as the interim market is very competitive and candidate heavy right now.
Saying that, when the market recovers and it is time to move into interim working, I will be there to help. I wouldn’t be a good interim consultant if I wasn’t honest about the market or if I gave false hope. Hopefully in 2026-2027 we will see recovery across the market.
What skills make a successful interim professional?
Skills across the public sector can be hard to define. The reason for this is that ultimately, you’ll be successful when you stick to what you know.
The most successful interim workers have a specialist area in which they work, whether it be project or programme management, social care, IT, HR or service leadership to name some examples.
My advice is to focus on what you know and become the best in your field because if you are, you’ll likely never be short of a contract.
If you try to become a jack of all trades and master of none, you might struggle to land contracts because there will always be someone out there more specialised than you.
Across the interim market you don’t come across broad roles very often, so honing in on what you do best is an effective way to secure a successful career in contracting.
Are there any common misconceptions clients have about hiring interims?
I’d say there is one common misconception that comes through and that is that interim workers can be expensive and have many requests. However, the majority of interim workers, particularly in the public sector, work on an ‘Inside IR35’ basis.
The common misconception is the price of a consultant is too much but when working with the right agency, who has vetted candidates properly, any misconception a client has about the quality of work being completed or the rates of pay that candidates command can be alleviated. Clients will get quality and be provided team members who have a successful history of leading projects within a local authority.
How do local authorities usually measure the success of an interim placement?
To measure success, local authorities need to be looking at key indicators and asking questions such as; Has the service been improved? Have issues been resolved? Has the project been completed? Has the IT upgrade been completed? Is everything working sufficiently?
There are always going to be points during a contract where local authorities can measure the progress of a project or service leadership. For example, if they’re looking at service leadership in social care, they can analyse customer satisfaction surveys and ask; Are people happier with the service as a whole? Has customer satisfaction increased?
Surveys like this provide trackable metrics.
There are many tools now which can effectively manage the progress of a project. This means a local authority can tell if a project has gone wrong, been overspent or gone over schedule.
Are there any emerging trends that could shape the future of interim work?
Trends change all the time. The trend of interim working at the moment is very challenging, because there are too many candidates and not enough jobs. All markets ebb and flow and every economy that shrinks will eventually begin to boom.
Especially when we look at local government, we have to look at central governments budgeting and ask; What have they mandated to children’s and adults social care? What have they given to housing? What have they given to construction, regeneration and highways?
Once we identify where the investment is, it’s easier to forecast where the next interim requirements are going to be. If we look at the budget for last year, a lot revolved around housing in terms of improvements.
The housing market is still quite buoyant but when we look at the social care market, not a great amount of extra funding has been given to them and as a result what we’re seeing is a lack of opportunity within social care.
A lot of the opportunities are coming through councils which are facing financial hardship as a team of interims are needed to assess cost efficiency, reduce process and operational waste and streamline their services.
Most importantly, at the heart of everything is the residents who require such services. For a local authority and interim workers, it should always be about asking; ‘How do we look after the people we’re responsible for?’.
Interim recruitment services
As interim recruitment specialists, we support local authorities nationwide with their temporary and interim recruitment needs.
We operate across a number of specialisms including Health & Social Care, Nursing, IT and Corporate Functions.
If you’re struggling to fill a vacancy, why not get in touch with Lead Consultant, John Shorrock on 01772 954200 to see how we can help?
Interim jobs
If you’re searching for your next interim job, why not take a look at the latest vacancies, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re an award winning and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West. Our reputation is built on trust, expertise and an unwavering commitment to exceed expectations.
In 2024, we were named Recruitment Agency of the Year at the prestigious Recruiter Awards, an accolade we are extremely proud of.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
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