You know you need a recruiter for your next big hire. But maybe you’ve never worked with a recruiter before. Fortunately, a recruiter will walk you through each step in the process ensuring you have the information you need to feel comfortable with how the search is going. If everything works out according to plan, you’ll have a great new employee at the end of the search.
You don’t want to enter a relationship with a recruitment company without understanding what will happen. Each search is a little different, but there are some key similarities among all high-quality professional recruitments. Real8 Group can help you make the most of your next recruitment effort! Here are a few things you should know about how to work with a recruiter.
Be clear about what you want
Recruiters aren’t mind readers. In order to plan and execute a recruitment strategy, a recruiter must know what you want. As you think about what you want, think beyond the job description. Yes, you want candidates with appropriate educational backgrounds and with the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities. But what else is there to this job?
The right person on paper may not be the right person in real life. Think about your organization’s culture. Do you want someone who fits in perfectly, or do you want someone who will cause some creative tension? What are the personality characteristics that make people successful within your company? Are you willing to take a risk on someone who doesn’t quite match your expectations?
A recruiter can’t tell you what you want. You have to work through your thoughts to come up with the attributes that will make a good hire and ultimately a successful employee.
Help the recruiter promote your company to candidates
Do you want to work for just any employer? No, of course not! Neither do the people your recruiter contacts.
You need to help your recruiter promote your company to candidates. Thinking again about your organizational culture, what makes your company unique? Why should people want to work with you? Give your recruiter some ammunition for when candidates ask about the company. Help the recruiter make your company look like an awesome place to work. Be careful not to undersell or oversell the company. You want candidates to have realistic images when they picture themselves having a great time working with you.
Understand retained vs. contingency recruiters
Retained recruiters function like consultants and are paid whether you hire someone or not. Contingency recruiters are only paid when they place a candidate. It’s important to know which payment arrangement you have with your recruiter. This heads off problems down the road by solidifying a common understanding of how much the recruiter will earn and when earnings will be paid.
Be ready to act quickly
The best candidates may have other recruiters hot on their heels. Be ready to act quickly when your recruiter needs something from you. Your recruiter works diligently and quickly to secure candidates for your consideration. If you take too long, you run the risk of losing candidates to other recruiters or simply due to the fact your company appears disinterested in the recruitment.
You don’t have to rush decisions, but you shouldn’t waste time. Think ahead a few steps in the recruitment process and anticipate the decisions you will need to make. Your recruiter can help you with this. Recruiters have a timeline they do their best to stick to, and they’ll know what input or decisions they will need from you at the key points along the timeline.
Let us work with you
At Real8 Group, we deliver real solutions for employers. We work proactively to find, contact, and recruit the best talent in the marketplace. We want your most difficult job to be deciding which person to hire. Let us work with you to find your next hire.