Just as not every candidate is a match for every open role, neither is our recruitment firm for your business. While we would like to help every prospective client achieve their hiring vision and goals, sometimes it’s not in your best interest to work with us.
You’re probably wondering, why would we write such a blog and the answer is to help guide CEO/Founders, like you, and other hiring managers know when it’s the right time to engage a niche recruitment firm or if it makes more sense to go it alone.
Here are four scenarios when it would not make sense to work with Martyn Bassett Associates and what you should do instead:
Looking for Junior Candidates
Using a niche-retained recruitment firm like ours does not make sense for junior roles. Why? Because the ROI is not there.
Junior roles are all about hiring for potential versus specific experiences. These looser requirements mean candidates are much easier to find. Not only that, but junior candidates make much smaller contributions to the business; contributions that generally don’t equal out the amount of a search fee.
What to do Instead: Quality matches can often be made from inbound applications and employee referrals. If you’ve tried those and the right candidates aren't flowing in, searching through profiles on resume platforms, like LinkedIn, can be a valuable talent sourcing tool as well.
Require the Cheapest Option
If you’re a scrappy startup living off the funding of a couple of Angel investors, seed round, and/or a single paying client, you need a grassroots approach. Don’t put yourself in a possibly insurmountable financial hole to secure some high-flying executive you most likely won't even fully utilize.
Remember, the Leader who gets you from pre-revenue to positive cash flow is not usually the Leader who will drive your scaleup from $5-20M ARR. Focus your smaller budget on candidates who are still growing, learning, and ready to hustle for less pay and more equity.
What to do Instead: There are tons of free tech-focused resources (like AngelList) that you can leverage to help you land the scrappy and hungry candidates you are looking for.
Are Not a Tech Company
Our niche is helping tech startups find the Product, Marketing, and Sales Executives needed to drive growth. We know the world of tech startups.
B2B SaaS, FinTech, WealthTech, HealthTech, CleanTech, MarTech, EdTech, DTC eCommerce, B2B2C product brands, etc.; we know these brands, traditional company growth trajectories, and the big players of these spaces. What we don't know? Everything else.
What to do Instead: If you’re a large pharmaceutical, automotive, or other highly specialized industry, invest your recruitment dollars wisely by searching for and employing niche recruiters who speak your language. Firms that can not only find quality candidates but can also provide additional value in terms of market knowledge and current industry and salary trends.
Wanting a Resume Shop
If you are simply looking for a recruitment firm to send you a pile of resumes of only actively available candidates, we are not the best option for you.
Our retained model means we have an outbound candidate sourcing approach. Our team will take the time to truly understand the scope of the role, company culture, and your north star before taking that story to the market. On average, we reach out to over 100 candidates per role. Candidates currently doing a similar role already, often happily employed, and not actively looking to make a move.
In addition to this outbound approach, we are also hands-on. We don’t send you a pile of resumes and vanish. Instead, we provide our clients with white-glove service from start to finish. We act as an extension of your team to coordinate and oversee the interview process, candidate progression, as well as compensation negotiation.
What to do Instead: If you simply want a pile of resumes for your HR team to sort through, there are less expensive, more generalized recruitment firms as well as inexpensive tools that can scrape active resume profiles off sites like Indeed.
Our services aren’t for everyone. Our goal is to help our Series A/B clients grow from a tech startup to a successful venture. We are hyper-focused on serving this market and providing value through our unique expertise and ability to help you land the best talent in the marketplace.