Align Yourself with a Quality Recruiter

Team member recruitment does not have to be a hit-or-miss journey.  A quality candidate is out there, you just have to find him or her.  Finding the “right” candidate takes time, money, patience, and sometimes a little luck.

There is such a wide spectrum of candidate specialties and thus, some recruitment requires a more in-depth effort in order to achieve a positive outcome.  Some companies have opted to hire outside recruiters to handle their specialized candidate searches, while other companies maintain all recruitment functions in-house.  No matter the decision, an outside recruiter may be worth the price for finding those specialized candidates.

A relationship with a recruiting firm is a partnership.  Both parties must work collectively in order to communicate and understand the needs, expectations, and timeliness of the recruitment process.  Thus, the company should be very selective of their recruiting firm choice and should ask the following questions:

• How long have you been in business? 
• What industries do you serve?
• What are your fees?  How are they structured? 
• What is the time frame projected in order to find a qualified candidate?
• What is your screening process?  How do you qualify the candidates?
• What experience and training do you have as a recruiter?
• What resources do you utilize in order to find available/interested candidates?
• What follow-up contacts might I expect in order to know your progress?
• Why should I choose you as my recruiter?
• Will you provide me with the recruitment contract so I may preview its contents?
• What are the service termination requirements?

Another important aspect of the recruitment partnership is quality assurance.  How do you know the recruitment firm is representing themselves professionally, cordially, respectfully and lawfully?  Here is the surprise answer, you don’t!   A quasi solution is to have the recruiting firm provide a listing of all candidates interviewed, with their phone numbers, and contact a few of them.  Identify yourself to the candidates and explain the reasoning for your contact (follow-up on recruiter contact).  Ask the candidate the following questions:

• Did the recruiter identify themselves and define the interview process?
• Were you the candidate comfortable with the interview presentation?  If not, why not?
• Was the interviewer professional, a good listener, a good explainer/communicator?
• Were you the candidate allowed time to ask your questions?
• Rate the interview between 1 and 10.  Explain the reasoning/rationale behind the number rating.

Once you are comfortable and confident with your recruitment partner, the professional relationship can hopefully become a loyal allegiance towards achieving company growth through team development.

If you are going to use an outside recruiter, align yourself with a quality recruiter! 

To learn how we may assist you, contact The Burda Group