I've had the opportunity to chase a couple of searches in the last six months that were out of my specialty. Two companies wanted local marketing experts, a Seattle company wanted a recruiter, two tech firms wanted some high value placements and I worked on some splits with a friend.

The results were mixed, because I found candidates and made a placement, but the time lost in pursuing candidates outside of the social media field was a real drag on my other business, and the social media recruiting itself.

The problem is one of lack of specialization. As a one man show in the recruiting field, I don't have the range I did when I was inside. There's also the problem of achy muscles. You use different techniques for hiring in different fields, and though I'm a good enough recruiter to find anyone, there's a time differential as you ramp yourself up, or back up in a given field.

But the lure of the placement fee is very strong. Once you commit, the lure of a fee just waiting to be earned is tough to ignore, and if you have more than one search going, failure in one leads you to work harder in another. It's like you don't want to lose the effort you've put into other off-target searches, so you take on new ones to win the fee you could have earned.

Well, enough of that merry-go round. I'm staying focused on my bread and butter - social media candidates. The rest are going to referrals.