Monday, February 15, 2021

When should you contract with a 3rd party recruiter?

During my daily conversations with leaders I often hear that they must utilize their in house recruiting team to fill open positions.  I understand and agree with that methodology.  Why pay a 3rd party when you have the resources in house to be successful?  

There is a time and a place to contract with an outside recruiter.  Occasionally positions remain open for a long period of time, create business disruptions, cause client satisfaction to suffer or put an undue burden on staff for a prolonged period of time.  Those are the times to consider an outside provider.   As most internal company recruiters are assessed on their ability to control expenses, they may be reluctant to work with outside providers.  During those times it often becomes necessary for the department head or other person in a leadership capacity to become involved in order to convince the HR/Recruiting group to consider other methods like working with a 3rd party.  

As the skills, education, experience become more specialized or rare you can expect terms for your search with a 3rd party to vary.  Expect to pay a portion of your fee in advance for the more unique or highly qualified openings.  The recruiter that you engage should specialize in your industry and geographic area and be well established.  All 3rd party recruiters are not the same.  Your ultimate success will be based on choosing wisely.  Similar to your business, a highly recognized, well connected, skilled recruiter may not be as inexpensive as others that you may speak with.  There is added value in skills, knowledge, and success.  

The bottom line:  Don't wait for your business to be disrupted to hire an outside recruiter.  



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