Written by James Hawley, CEO
Ideally, if you can fill your roles yourself you will, and you should. Recruitment firms cost money and your company most likely hired you to perform that role. The issue, however, is you may not have the bandwidth or expertise in this tight candidate market to handle every position. This is where an outside agency can help.
If you are going to hire a recruitment firm it’s critical you pick the right one. If you don’t it could cost you time or worse tens of thousands in wasted money.
Look to do these 5 things to protect your investment and get the right people on the team.
1. Consider a smaller firm for longevity.
Recruiting has very high turnover…. historically about 40% industry-wide. That means most recruiters are new into the business and are likely not going to stay. The last thing you want is to continually help train your recruitment partners, new staff, every year or two. Consider a smaller recruitment firm that has career recruiters that aren’t likely to jump ship because of the pressures larger firms place on hitting an activity number just to keep their job.
2. Find a recruiter that candidates want to work with.
In a tight labor market every detail matters. One important one is reputation. Candidates know which firms treated them well and which dropped the ball. The latter they will choose not to work with no matter the job they have for them. There are plenty of recruiters out there and if you partner with one that a candidate feels like they are just a number they will NOT reach you even though they are the one you really want. Look at online reviews from candidates, ask around, or see if they have LinkedIn recommendations from candidates that give you confidence a candidate will get a high-quality experience. Remember they represent you in the market and are an extension of your brand. Protect what you’ve built!
3. Look at benefits when hiring contractors.
In this day and age, no one can live without health insurance. It’s important if you are hiring temporary workers for a project you align yourself with a firm that provides quality benefits to ensure those workers stay through the end of your project. If the recruiting agency you use doesn’t have key benefits provided you are putting your project at risk as the contractor jumps for another job offer that will provide for them and their family.
4. Degrees from the top.
You want your business to matter and have a true partner that offers flexibility. The bigger the firm the less local decision-making power they have to be a strong partner. Unless your business is significant in size it’s not as relevant to them. Pick a firm that can service your needs and gives you access to decision-makers so you know you’ll get attention when you need it. Not lost in a sea of larger clients that will take priority over your business.
5. Find a recruiter who truly headhunts.
If you just want active candidates out of work looking for a job than simply post the position yourself on Indeed or LinkedIn. The power of using a recruiter is their reach to passive candidates. A true headhunter targets your competitors to contact people you wouldn’t (or couldn’t due to limited access). For you, it doesn’t make sense as you don’t want to create an adversarial relationship by directly soliciting their staff. Using a 3rd party recruiter allows anonymity since your name only comes up to interested candidates that are considering a job change.
If you are in search of a recruitment partner then these 5 qualifications will help you. There is no shortage of recruiters in the market and it’s critical you don’t waste resources on the wrong ones as it can be costly. We hope the above criteria to identify the right firm helps. If you have questions or we can help you through this selection process please reach out at inquire@nextpathcp.com to set up a conversation
Overview:
- Consider smaller firms.
- Choose a recruitment agency with a good reputation.
- Look at what benefits are offered.
- Make sure you pick firms where to can actually speak to decision-makers.
- Find a recruitment agency that does the job search work for you!
If you have further questions please reach out at inquire@nextpathcp.com!
