Unless you’re like Amazon, and have hundreds of dedicated internal professional recruiters who are solely focused on evaluating candidates for job openings, chances are you’ve experienced one, if not many, bumps in the road when it comes to attracting top talent to fill open positions at your company.
There are pros and cons to consider when comparing the difference between internal hiring approaches (HR, or internal hiring managers) versus working with external professional recruiters. Some companies like Google are experts at hiring the best people, while others struggle to secure the talent they need to grow their business. If you aren’t working with a professional recruiter, and use internal resources to make hires, watch out for these five telltale warning signs that mean it’s time to consider working with an external recruitment firm.
- It’s taking too long to fill a position: For many reasons, jobs are filled much faster when companies work with professional recruitment firms – they have access to large applicant pools and they have the time to dedicate to making the hire. It’s easy for conflicting agendas or high-priority meetings to distract HR generalists or hiring mangers away from the recruitment process. Recruiters reduce the time and resources spent on hiring and make more effective candidate recommendations. At Martyn Bassett Associates, it’s not uncommon to move from interview to offer in less than four weeks.
- Your number of applicants is low: Professional recruiting firms are experts at the art of the job description. They know how to create job postings and market them to not only generate interest in the position, but attract candidates that are the right fit for the opportunity. Because many internal HR departments are spread so thin, they sometimes fall into the trap of using a static job description template that is too corporate in feel and doesn’t represent the reality of the opportunity. Professional recruiters know how to tease out the most exciting and important aspects of a job opportunity and sell the position to bring top talent on board.
- You aren’t able to seal the deal: The art of selling and sealing a deal is equal parts science and art. Professional recruiters are in touch with what matters to candidates today, and they know which aspects of the opportunity to push forward. They are also experts at identifying when candidates are hesitant and knowing what types of discussions to have to avoid the risk of pushing top talent away.
- You aren’t finding the right skill-set: Professional recruiters know how to attract not only top talent, but the unique skill-sets that niche job openings require. Recruiters are experts when it comes to knowing a specific talent pool, and they have lasting relationships with elite talent. They have connections with both active and passive potential candidates and they have deeper expertise in assessing technical skill-sets.
- You keep going back to screening new applicants: Professional recruiters are focused on making long-lasting, quality placements – not just generating activity. Top tier professional recruiters work with fewer high-quality candidates, only needing to present three to four candidates in order to make the hire. Compared to HR or hiring managers, they have the science of the recruitment process down to ensure that when candidates are presented, time isn’t wasted and a hire will be made. For example, Martyn Bassett and Associates has a six-step recruitment process that brings the best candidates to the table.
Once you’ve decided to work with a professional recruiter, it’s important to select one that will best fit your needs. Recruiting firms often specialize in specific industries and have access to different types of talent pools. You will also want to connect with a recruiter you are looking to work with to assess if they are accessible and determine their placement success rate. It’s important that you are confident in your hiring decisions – look for recruiters who have 100% post-placement guarantees.
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