Hiring a Recruiting Firm? Three Things to Consider

You’ve finally made the decision to save time and money by working with a recruiting firm for your next hire. But how do you choose the right one for you and your business? When it’s time to hire a recruiting firm, will you know to select the best one for your business? Here are the top three things to consider when hiring a recruiting firm and getting the most from the recruiting experience.

There are a number of things to consider before you choose to work with a hiring firm. Taking the time to find a firm that best meets your needs is as important as taking the leap to use a recruitment firm.

You want to get the most from the recruiting firm experience, which means you will have to analyze your business’s needs along with the specific needs of the position.

And there are plenty of firms to choose from that will jump at the chance to help you with your next hire. How will choose the best one for your business? Recruiters LineUp is a free online service that helps to best match your company and its needs to the right recruiting firms.

Location, Location, Location

If you are staffing a business in New York City, it will be difficult to work with a recruiting agency in Sydney, Australia.

But, if your business is located in a small town you may have to look to a bigger city to get the candidates you need.

Carefully consider the location of the recruiting firm in relation to your organization’s staffing needs. Do most of your best candidates come from big cities? Then don’t hire a small town firm.

Are your staffing needs international in nature? In this case, you might consider working with firms in the hiring location, instead of the corporate office location.

Understanding the type of candidate you’re looking for along with the location of the available positions will help you decided where to look for a recruitment firm. A good recruiting firm will understand the local area, will know where to search for qualified candidates and will be able to find the best candidate in the area.

Specialization

Hiring a general staffing agency for a specialized position will only result in lost recruitment time and the potential for additional fees and costs. Hire a recruiting agency that specializes in the type of work you need done.

There are plenty of specialized agencies out there for any profession from Nursing and Law to Information Technology and Human Resources, from Food Service to Bio-technology.

The advantage to using a specialized firm over a general agency is the quality of the recruitment process and the quality of the candidates. Specialized firms know the business, they understand the types of people who succeed in the business, and they know where to quickly find those people.

Specialized recruiting firms also understand the intricacies of the industry. They study the industry compensation, understand the intimate requirements of the job/trade, and know the language of the industry. All of this helps them to clearly articulate the details of the job to potential employees.

Knowing the industry also means knowing where the best and brightest are located and how to reach them. A good specialized recruiter will be involved in industry trade groups and networking circles. This means a quicker recruitment process for you and your business.

Fee Schedule

You obviously want to know up front what your costs will be when hiring a recruitment firm. There are several fee models that agencies use, so be sure to choose the one that best fits your business.

Some firms charge a flat rate per hire. This is typically either an agreed upon rate or some percentage of the new hire’s annual salary.

This means that the agency doesn’t get paid until a hire is made. In most cases, there are no out of pocket fees until you decide on a candidate.

Some firms charge on a retainer type basis. You pay a fee for the firm to do the recruiting for you. And you can continue to contract with the firm for various openings that you may have under this retainer.

Other agencies use a combination of per hire and retainer billing. You pay the firm a nominal fee for their work while they recruit, and the remainder of your contract is paid upon a successful hire.

You should also check on the firm’s guarantee. Some firms will refund your fee if the new hire leaves or terminates within a certain amount of time. This window of time is typically short, like 60 to 90 days.

Finding the recruitment firm that’s right for you doesn’t have to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The right firm is out there if you know what to look for and how to choose the best one for your needs.  Fill out the free and easy to use form (located to the right) from Recruiters LineUp and get matched with the right recruiting firms.