Peter Andrews asked:


Scientific employers are the latest in a long line of top level managers to criticise the services of recruitment agencies in a report generated by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE).

 

Scientific employers and a number of senior managers in prominent science sales jobs levelled a number of criticisms at scientific recruitment agencies and the services they offer, in a report by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE). The report highlights high fees (in some cases as much as 20% of the successful candidates first year salary) and poaching staff (known in the industry as headhunting) as common complaints and believes that recruitment agencies could be doing more to fill some current vacancies thought to around 20, 000.

 

Quality issues have dogged recruitment agencies on all sectors since recruitment services began to be offered. The problems lie with discrepancies in the objectives of recruitment consultants and recruiting managers. Firstly, a recruitment consultant may only need a small number of placements monthly to meet their target, hence, when there are an abundance of vacancies they can cherry pick the easiest to fill, without concern for the rest. Meanwhile, a recruiting manager must focus on trying to fill ‘all’ of their vacancies and hence are often left short by a recruitment consultant happy with filling only a couple of positions.

 

Most scientific employers, when questioned, said that they would be happy to do without the services of recruitment agencies if they could afford the time to manage the recruitment process. The recruitment industry has, in the past 15 years or so, become very reliant on the use of recruitment professionals. Although many companies would prefer to handle the recruitment of new staff in-house, the means to do so are limited. The majority of good candidates are already registered with one, or in some cases many, recruitment agencies and there are very few websites that allow for direct recruitment. The human resources manager of one such company said “we feel like we’re backed into a corner. We’ve made efforts to bring our recruitment process in-house but inevitably we’ve ended up having to use the services of recruitment professionals because we couldn’t attract enough suitable candidates directly. It’s a shame because we’re willing to try and take it on ourselves but the recruitment agencies have such a hold over the whole of the recruitment market”.

 

The next issues stems from the turnover of recruitment consultants, which is high. Very few recruitment consultants stay on the same position for any length of time. This coupled with high bonuses available means their motivation to make placements make overtake any desire to build long term client relationships.

 

Many of the engineering recruitment agencies surveyed felt that recruitment consultants would ratchet up salaries falsely to increase their own fees. The issue of poaching is a serious problem.

 

This is the scenario where a recruitment consultant takes staff from a client they are also trying to find people for. In some cases, they end up ‘recycling’ the same people and indeed the same vacancies, for example, poaching someone and making a fee, then approaching the manager who has lost his member of staff to gain the new vacancy, before anyone else knows about it.

 



Robert

GlobalHunt India asked:


The word outsourcing can be easily misinterpreted with off shoring.. It is always advisable to shift clients account to an overseas location after the completion of a certain number of recruiting cycles. If it is initiated in the best manner then it can save time and can improve productivity many folds, but at the same time a goof up might lead to a disaster culminating even into the loss of business.

Sunil Goel, GLOBALHUNT says “Recruitment Process Outsourcing is when a provider acts as a company’s internal recruitment function for a portion or all of its jobs. RPO providers manage the entire recruiting/hiring process from job profiling through the on-boarding of the new hire, including staff, technology, method and reporting”.

A clear demarcation between RPO and other types of staffing is Process. In RPO the service provider is the fulcrum of the process, while in other types of staffing the same is part of a process controlled by the organization buying their services.

Based on GlobalHunt’s experience towards RPO as a practice, there are a number of advantages of RPO.

Advantage RPO:

1.Top notch Talent Pool

Competition for the most talented individuals is increasing. Organizations need to secure the best people quickly and efficiently to help them build competitive capability.

2.Cost reduction and removal of workload from the HR Administration

RPO providers take on the burden of operational recruitment activities, allowing organizations to focus on core value-creating and strategic activities. By transforming processes, utilizing best practice, and replacing a fixed cost base with a variable charging structure, RPO can significantly reduce the cost of recruitment. In regular staffing, you invest in salary, incentives, overheads, infrastructure cost and more. By outsourcing recruiting functions to Recruiting Junction, all you need to pay is a fixed monthly retainer fees (which is lesser than the salary of one in-house recruiter) along with a negligible commission. You can reduce up to 50% of your cost by offshore outsourcing.

3.Better Productivity and Quality

There are many stakeholders in a recruitment process; through improving processes and evaluating the right metrics and KPIs, RPO providers can provide highest quality services. By outsourcing your recruitment process to Recruiting Junction you get dedicated recruiters for each client, while in regular staffing, one recruiter handles many clients. In regular staffing the focus is lost, as recruiters serve bigger clients better. Our recruiter can provide undivided attention to your all your clients – big or small.

4.Reduce operational risks

Risks come in many forms, and the expert knowledge of an RPO specialist can help organizations reduce the risks associated with an inability to scale their business operationally to meet changing demand, and the risks of non-compliance to legislative and regulatory change .

GlobalHunt’s Service Overview: A total RPO process with its four pillars

Sunil Goel, GLOBALHUNT says “A properly managed RPO will improve a company’s time to hire, increase the quality of the candidate pool, provide verifiable metrics, reduce cost and improve governmental compliance”.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is not new. How you should approach it is! Companies have been outsourcing segments of their recruiting process for years. It is second nature to outsource your background checking and drug testing. Your recruitment process has many tasks or otherwise transactional based activities that can be completed outside the organization, increasing efficiencies through economies of scale.



Kim

Recruitmenow asked:


Online job recruitment sites have revolutionized the recruitment landscape for both employers and job seekers and largely increased the efficiency with which hiring decisions can take place. Employers and jobseekers have widely benefited from online recruitment and today, online recruiting forms the central pillar of a smart staffing strategy for firms in every economic sector.

The widespread arrival of online recruitment has brought jobseekers and employers with countless benefits and rewards. The most apparent benefit of online recruitment is the vastly improved degree of recruitment process. Throughout every phase of the recruitment process, an online system eases a more streamlined, standardized approach than the traditional, paper-based recruitment. Many manual tasks, such as sorting, coding, filing, and routing application materials, can now be performed automatically. This enhanced and efficient recruitment solution contributes to another major benefit of online recruitment — cost-effectiveness. Recent studies and industry surveys show that most firms’ recruitment costs have decreased sharply after the shift toward online systems. Applications like qualification quizzes, instant “fit” assessments, skill-based evaluations, and other metrics can be administered instantly to candidates over the Internet narrowing the number of résumés that are hand-coded by HR personnel. Online recruitment is quick. A job vacancy can be put on a job site in the morning, the first applications arrive by lunchtime, and a candidate interviewed by the end of the day. Online recruitment gives you an indication of how quick online recruitment can be and job recruitment sites are user-friendly, you do not have to have an in-depth knowledge of IT to post a vacancy advertisement. Usually all you need is a job ad and a credit card.

It is undeniable that the movement of many online recruitment functions and job search resources has vastly expanded the scope, accessibility, ease and efficiency of the recruitment process. This innovation will be far more effective than current industry recruitment solutions and pose less risk to both the candidates and clients. Apart from increasing the caliber of candidates within the Recruitment Industry, recruitment agencies will have the choice to select candidates directly from job recruitment sites at a lesser costs of current industry recruitment arrangements.



Juanita

Kimberly Schenk asked:


The recruiting industry is evolving quickly. This is a fantastic profession that impacts businesses like never before. If you have never invested in a recruiter training program, do so today. There is greater and greater competition for top talent and the hit or miss mentality is fast getting left behind by those who want the credibility of the Title: Executive Recruiter. There are bountiful benefits and profits for those who treat the recruiting profession as a profession and forget the untrue claim of, “it’s just a numbers game”.

Training is critical for those who want to be a professional Recruiter. Whether you choose to work for a search firm, as a contract recruiter, in an in-house recruiting department, or staffing agency, you will offer the maximum value if you understand and implement the skills of a full cycle recruiter.

There is a vast range of skills and understanding at play throughout the recruiting industry today. Basic recruiter skill training is painfully absent. An interview and a check list must be used to determine the skill level of someone who claims to be a recruiter.

Did you know that there is a 60% - 90% turnover rate in staffing agencies and search firms for new recruiters who have under six months of experience? Wouldn’t client corporations who use these services be shocked to learn that their ‘experts’ don’t know how to identify and screen candidates in their own industry? The whole recruiting industry suffers from a credibility issue when turnover rates reach such staggering levels. Why does embarrassingly high turnover remain business as usual?

Did you know there was an average turnover rate of 23.6% for American companies in 2006, per the U.S. Dept. of Labor Statistics? The U.S. Government estimates the recruiting industry will grow by at least 50% by 2014. Private and corporate estimates put the number closer to 70%. What this means for professional Recruiters’ is unlimited success and income.

If you are a professional recruiter, take charge of your career and your success and invest in training yourself. If your company gave you a desk and a phone and said, “work hard and you’ll make a lot of money”, don’t believe it! Don’t be an unnecessary casualty of lazy, poor management. There are a number of solid training courses that provide the tools you need to establish a method to make placement after placement. Training will help you improve your results. Do it today!

This is your profession. Don’t fail or lose out on income because you stepped into a revolving door mentality at your staffing agency or search firm office. You know more than anyone that companies view candidates as a portfolio of skill sets and the more skills you have, the greater your value. The investment in a training program will be in your self. Your job satisfaction, effectiveness, paychecks, peace of mind and self-esteem will increase once you know the principles and methods used by successful recruiters.

Many in-house recruiters suffer tremendous frustration from lack of training in the basic principles and methods Executive Recruiters use. Many in-house recruiter positions are glorified clerical spots, with great, unmet expectations. They are recruiters in name only. While it’s understandable that upper management can clearly see the value in eliminating or reducing the fees for outside recruiters, it’s silly to think their companies will benefit from a recruiter with no understanding of how recruiters’ get the job done.

Most in-house recruiters have no clue how to utilize 100% of the candidate marketplace vs. the 20% reached by ads alone. There is more to recruiting than resume diving. Help your company by making an investment in recruiter training for every person involved in the hiring process. Providing training programs for in-house recruiters also means that should a recruiter leave, the expertise remains for the next recruiter to utilize.

When Staffing Agencies and Search Firms take the first few days to train every recruiter who walks in the door, those companies’ excel. Applying risk management principles has proven throughout all business that reducing the risk of loss, SAVES companies money and MAKES them piles of money as well.

It’s that simple. Longevity of staff members means less ad costs, less time interviewing, less down time, less time spent on orientations, less business interruptions, fewer mistakes, reduced frustration on the part of those continuously picking up the slack from vacancies, and less chaos.

Longevity also means, more cohesiveness of effort is possible and more placements will be made. Recruiters’ will enjoy less stress and frustration, make more money, service their clients better, faster, smarter. A strong team, which everyone says they want, can actually have a chance to materialize when the expertise of everyone is raised to a higher professional level.

When the recruiters in an office all use the same methods, they can assist each other. They have more trust in co-workers when they know the same principles and methods will be used on every search. Issues of personality or ‘sloppy’ practices are no longer a concern. One recruiter can assist another at any point in the process, once methods are uniform.

Countless industries utilize standard practices. Take Home Inspectors. There has been a standardization of items to check during a home inspection that has been in place for decades. The Associations Home Inspectors belong to demand their members take continuing education courses every year to keep their good member standing. Credibility is enhanced and production increases with ongoing training.

Of the unproductive practices I come across, lack of training is the easiest one to fix and generates the most rewards, almost immediately. Our company is dedicated to practical, step by step instructions and methods that Recruiters can utilize to make a good profession great.

Start today, if you haven’t already done so…invest in yourself. Take a look at our Top Recruiter Secrets e-Book. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! This is a great value. visit http://www.toprecruitersecrets.com



Jason

Recruitment Specialist asked:


When the economy is doing well, the job market scene does well. From this scenario, 2 groups emerge from here;

Group 1 (Clients) is the Hiring Managers/ HR/ Recruitment Companies/ Search Firms/ Talent Acquisition teams and Head of Departments. This group have 1 common problem faced, yes… PROBLEM. The lack of talents. Why so you may ask? Well, it is the on-going trend that when the job market is doing well, the talents tend to be pickier about choice of potential Employer and more demanding about package.

Group 2 (Candidates) is the talents out there who will jump on opportunities to scale up the corporate ladder, move up the ranks within the same industry and also in return, having a more attractive remuneration package. This in turn creates more opportunities for others within their current organization once they leave for greener pastures.

Realistically, that is the ideal scenario that benefits everyone. Employers get more and better talents who can take on more scope and responsibility and potential candidates move on to greater heights in their careers.

Of course, we do not live in an ideal society whereby economy always point to the north. Another scenario surfaces when the economy is not doing so well, and 2 groups also appear.

Group 1 (Clients)

Inactive Clients - This category makes up more than half of all the organizations I come into contact with. They are inactive in the sense; they stop hiring due to economic downturn, implement measures to stay competitive and do minor ‘restructuring’ within themselves to cut costs of operation.

Active Clients - This category is the one that I daresay makes up less than 1/5 of the market. They implement policies to maintain overhead costs, strategize sales and marketing projects to be stay competitive and lastly, they NEVER stop hiring. Yes you read me right. THEY CONTINUE HIRING TALENTS. Why you might ask. The answer is simple. This unique group of Clients realised that in order to: STAY AHEAD, BE COMPETITIVE AND BEING BEST IN CLASS. They view this period as the critical time to recruit talents even when the economy is doing not so well because they also realised 3 things; Talents is in abundance during this period of time, talents tend to be less picky (demanding) and last but not the least, they come in remuneration packages that does not leave HR scratching their heads over figures/ numbers.

Group 2 (Candidates) comes about due to unfortunate retrenchments process by some organizations. Although they tend to be more critical of the opportunities that was laid in front of them in the past, the fact remains; They are still talents in their own rights and professionals in what they do best. The difference between the past and present is that now, they do not have the luxury to choose and compare the offers from Company A, B and C unlike the past when the marketplace is bustling with activities.

Sadly, many talents still remain ‘stuck on the shelf’ without any prospective offers and the main reason is because they do not know how to market themselves. *Self marketing is an interesting topic that I will cover soon in the near future.

What I can say is, with many organization whom are slow in the uptake, there is an abundance of TALENTS out in the marketplace. With the correct choice, decision and self-marketing, ‘exposure’ made respectively by both the Clients and Candidates (talents), its only a matter of time before they find each other via recruitment firms, talent management firms, HR consultancy firms or other channels readily available.

Hiring managers and organizations, what better time to start and leap frog your competitors than now.

Talents and potential candidates assess the situation well and make the RIGHT choice. Now is the time to start planning your future and to learn what the power of self-marketing and exposure can do for you.

For more infomation, please visit http://www.allianz-mc.com.sg/



Jeanne

David asked:


Many companies are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies for their low to medium level – and sometimes even executive staffing needs. Most of the companies turning to recruitment agencies for their staffing needs are doing so in the spirit of outsourcing their non-core functions. The companies that turn to recruitment agencies in the spirit of outsourcing non-core functions normally engage the companies to help them ease the much sorting which is involved in the initial recruitment stages.

Other companies are turning to recruitment agencies in a bid to get the very best professionals in the various fields. In this aspect, employers are acting on the knowledge that recruitment agencies receive more resumes (as they are ever in ‘recruitment mode’), have more time to go through the numerous resumes (since it’s the agencies’ core business), and know what to look for in a particular field (as they are more in touch with the trends and developments in human resource management). In the case of top executives the recruitment agencies have the capacity to go head-hunting, even among competing companies without raising eyebrows and the animosity such head-hunting in a competitor’s backyard can raise if undertaken by the employers themselves.

One of the staffing areas where employers are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies is in finance. This means that people looking for jobs in finance are increasingly having to enlist with finance recruitment agencies to get their dream jobs. And due to increasing relevance of the finance recruitment agencies, many bogus financial recruitment agencies have also sprung up, to take advantage of gullible job seekers. So how is one to tell a good finance recruitment agency from a bogus one?

It is hard to tell for sure, but there are some things that can give you a hint.

1.     The industry reputation of the agency: You need to check out and find out what the industry reputation of the finance recruitment agency in question is. With the freedom of information that has become available through the Internet, this should not really be hard. You can, for example do a web-search with the name of the finance recruitment agency in question as the keyword, and see what information is available about them on the web, preferably in independent websites, that is, websites run by people who are beyond the influence of the recruitment agency in question.

2.     The Fees They Charge: The fees that a finance recruitment agency charges (if any) should compare favorably with the service they provide, rather than just with their (big) name. Many people make the mistake of paying a large fee to an established recruitment agency, without asking themselves what they are getting for their money.  In this respect, a finance recruitment agency that goes out of its way to properly market you to prospective employers who are likely to have some jobs in finance generally merits a higher fee than a recruitment agency which just files your resume – but then this varies from case to case.

3.     The Success Rate of the agency: The success rate of the finance recruitment agency in question is another factor you need to look at. If you are looking at a general recruitment agency, what is their success in finance recruitment? In looking at the success rate of any given recruitment agency in finance recruitment, you might for example go to an online recruitment forum, then go to the  financial recruitment section and see what past users of the particular financial recruitment agency have to say about it and how their general experience with the agency was. Of course opinion in such a forum is likely to vary, and there will inevitably be negative feedback even for the best recruitment agencies. Nevertheless, if all the feedback about a given agency seems to be on the negative, it might be a valid warning not to go in that direction.



Clifford

Aman Rajabali asked:


The Human Resource function has undergone a sea change in perception and priority. And recruitment being the most dynamic aspect of the HR function breathes tangibility into the very being of HR.

Recruitment therefore, in such vibrant times, deserves to get recognized as a priority activity that can forecast the direction in which the profit margins will head. Recruiters are responsible for sourcing and selecting suitable, accurate talent matches across the canvas of the organization.

Like any successful relationship, working with a recruiter will prove more effective when each party understands how the other works.

When choosing a recruiter, look for someone 1. with a proven track record within your industry

2. with qualities such as speed, integrity, creativity, honesty, persistence, organizational skills and a sense of corporate maturity 3. with good listening skills and an innate ability to “read” people.

When to call a recruiter

You typically call a recruiter when: -

1. You have a tremendous urgency to fill a position. Recruiters are often paid to reduce the time factor.

2. You have a difficult position to fill. You have placed ads, checked with competitors, consulted with colleagues for references and extensively interviewed with no success. In this scenario, the recruiter offers the company a window of opportunity - a “court of last resort”.

3. You wish to be kept informed of top-notch talent as those talented people surface, regardless of whether there is an opening.

Contrary to popular belief, or myth, recruiters do not “steal” people. Also, recruiters do not actively recruit from their client companies. That would be unethical.

What the Recruiter Needs from You -

Apart from providing details of your company - its business-strategy, its operating markets, its organisational and management structure; to help ensure a successful search, recruiters need complete Position Description information: -

Contact Information: This should include the recruiting manager’s phone numbers including cell phone in the event of an emergency arising regarding time-sensitive information or requests. It is also important to return the recruiter’s phone calls in a timely manner.

Duties and Responsibilities: Include a basic description of what you are looking for. The recruiter may ask you to divide the description into percentages for what is required in terms of administrative, technical and supervisory types of tasks and to what degree.

Selection Process: Determine who interviews, where the interview takes place and within what time parameters. Provide a deadline and then allocate time as needed to ensure that the recruiter has enough time to find the ideal candidate.

Recruitment Information: A recruiter will ask whom the hiring manager wants for this position - in other words, a prospect’s name. If this is unknown, consider which companies you respect, including your competitors that you may want someone from. This, then, becomes the recruiter’s target ‘extraction’ or ‘headhunting’ marketplace.

Chemistry Matching Information: This may be the most critical of the six pieces of job order information because all good hires are based on strong chemistry matches. People hire those people with whom they develop rapport, i.e., people they like, believe, trust and understand. Provide opportunities for the recruiter to speak to key corporate people and conduct company visits.

Fees: A service charge will be required if a placement occurs. The last thing you and the recruiter would want to happen is any misunderstanding at the last moment. That is why recruiters are trained to call in at the highest levels in a company and make sure that someone who can approve the fee does so.

How a Recruiter “Sells” Your Opportunity

The recruiter then takes this Position Description information and packages it. This is necessary because their candidate base has to be motivated to consider new career opportunities. He has to act as your brand ambassador. The recruiter must constantly be prepared to answer the prospect’s often non-verbalized question, “What’s in it for me?”

In this regard, recruiters find that candidates will move for a combination of six major reasons: -

1. Challenge 2. Location 3. Level of the position 4. Advancement potential

5. Compensation 6. Stability of the company

In Conclusion

Remember that recruiters do not work in the marketplace of ‘applicants’ i.e. who we consider job hoppers, job shoppers or rejects. A recruiter’s marketplace consists of 80% of the working population who are happy, well-appreciated, making good money and who do not have a readymade resume. They attract professionals of uncommon ability - individuals to whom companies might not otherwise have access. Experienced recruiters, through their talent, skill and training, motivate them to move for better opportunities.

Since they are currently working, and not actively on the job market, they will not have current resumes or CVs. Asking a professional recruiter for a resume for this type of individual will often only slow down the process and possibly cause you to lose the opportunity of meeting a prospective top caliber employee. Resumes can always be secured at a later date.

Trust that quality recruiters are doing everything possible to cement a strong working relationship with you. They work mainly by word-of-mouth advertising. And if you are not happy with their results, they will soon be out of business.

The good ones are always in demand and always ready to help you achieve your competitive edge, recruitment targets and partner the whole process.



Lucille

Kimberly Schenk asked:


Recruiting is a wide open industry offering a variety of niches for anyone interested in this exciting field. I suggest new Recruiters learn about the entire process of recruiting before deciding where they fit best. Understanding how full cycle recruiting works will always provide an advantage even if you end up in a position that handles only one facet of the process, like interviewing candidates.

The rewards for mastering the skills needed to perform all the steps in the recruiting process are without limit. After learning all the steps in recruiting, if you find you really excell at sourcing or obtaining searches, or some other aspect, you can specialize in your strength without damaging your income potential. It’s a beautiful world.

Here are some options for working as a Recruiter.

Contingency fee Recruiters, Executive Recruiters, and Head Hunters are all names for the same type of Recruiter. These Recruiters are paid a fee when their client (the employer) hires their candidate. These Recruiters get paid after their candidate starts work.

Contingency fee Recruiters are known for their ability to access 100% of the candidate marketplace (vs. the 20% reached by ads). They have the skills to approach the ‘happily employed’ pool of candidates. Utilizing 100% of the marketplace elevates their ability to make great matches. 85% of employers responding to surveys rate “Head Hunters” as providing the best caliber of candidates. Executive recruiting fees traditionally are 15% - 30% of a candidates’ first years salary. These Recruiters most often work on commission only.

Contract Recruiters work directly for an employer with multiple positions to fill. Assignments can last several weeks to over a year. Contract positions can turn into permanent positions. This segment of the recruiting industry is growing rapidly. It’s a perfect alternative for good recruiters who don’t want their own business. The Contract Recruiter doesn’t have to worry about overhead, advertising, technical difficulties, office supplies, etc. The average compensation rate is $25.00 to $75.00 per hour. Some positions pay more, a few pay less. It’s a great value for employers. The lower cost per hire justifies the healthy hourly rates.

Staffing agencies attract candidates by offering to find them jobs. They tend to focus on numbers. If 20 people respond to an ad they try and bring all 20 in for an interview. Staffing temp jobs often leads to permanent hires. They’re all about activity; high volumes of candidates, job orders, interviews and placements. Their recruiters are used to a fast pace, high volume, high energy atmosphere.

While some staffing companies specialize in high level professionals, like computer programmers, the majority of staffing firms’ bread and butter’ accounts are support staff positions. While there are many payment options it’s typical for staffing Recruiters to receive a salary (or hourly rate) with bonus incentives for performance.

It’s worth noting 98% of companies have used staffing agencies. They have a reputation for turnover rates of 50% to 90% for Recruiters with less than one year experience. Lack of training and unrealistic expectations contribute to the turnover. As candidates become more sophisticated, they resist old fashioned “control” tactics many of these agencies use.

Corporate Recruiters work for a specific employer and are often part of the HR Department. They are paid a salary, usually. For many, the security of having a regular, dependable paycheck is of greater value than the higher annual earnings Executive Recruiters enjoy. I know of Corporate Recruiters who are nothing more than clerical slaves and make 24k to 35k a year. They have had no real training as a Recruiter. I also know of Corporate Recruiters who make between 75k and 115k. It’s all about skill level and ability, in my opinion.

Retained Search Firm Recruiters are known for getting their fee up front. They’re paid whether or not they deliver a perfect match candidate. They tend to charge the highest recruiting fees. There has been a steady decline in the companies who use these firms because of the internet and the high caliber candidates contingency fee Recruiters provide.

Once one acquires the necessary recruiting skills, there are further options. Work from home, or independently, with other Recruiters in an executive suite setting. Or work with a boutique type firm of co-workers who wish to make multiple placements at a high rate of speed because of their shared skills and the synergy such a group offers.

Whatever option suits you best is the best path to follow. There is no substitute, however, for understanding the basic principles of the recruiting process. I urge you to invest in your career as a Recruiter and obtain the training needed to jump start your success.



Veronica

Kenneth Peck asked:


Not very! You might find that answer surprising, considering I am the president of a recruiting software company. We have been producing recruiting software for 25 years. I have also spent 25 years as a recruiter in the very competitive Los Angeles market.

I talk to a lot of recruiters every day who are trying to decide on recruiting software. There is a variety of recruiting software products out there and it seems as if a new one pops every other day. The ERE has a running Discussion group, “Finding The Right Recruiting Software”, where recruiters can ask questions and get advice from each others regarding recruiting software. I get emailed discussions daily from this group and almost every time someone mentions software that I have never heard of.

I get the feeling that many of these recruiters I talk to every day are on the wrong track. They are looking for the secret potion that will turn either themselves or their firm into a super star of the recruiting industry with the slickest resume database and applicant tracking features around.

I maintain that if you take a good recruiter or recruiting firm and make them use bad recruiting software, they are still going to be successful. Conversely if you take a bad recruiting firm and make them use good recruiting software they are still going to be a bad recruiter or recruiting firm.

When I was still recruiting during the day and writing software at night I worked elbow to elbow with fellow recruiters. I used to criticize the recruiter who was always fussing with the computer and their files. Do you know why? I’m guessing you think it is because I am so arrogant that I did not want to listen to anyone else’s ideas. You are wrong, although I do like my own ideas! The real reason, however, was that I knew this recruiter was never going to be successful and we would lose money. Time after time, year after year for 15 years, I found that the recruiters who focused on the recruiting tool and gimmicks rather than execution failed. Someone once told me that Vince Lombardi, a very successful football coach, had only about 6 plays. The success was all in the execution!

The recruiter who focuses on the execution of the client and applicant call and is always thinking of ways to improve the call is going to be successful. How you identify this type of recruiter is the subject for another article.

So, why have I spent half of my life writing recruiting software and trying to make it better? Because I love my work and the creativity of it and I know I can give a really good recruiter an edge. I know the recruiting firm will be successful with or without me but I can make a difference. I truly enjoy working with successful people and the rewards and appreciation mean so much more to me.

What makes good recruiting software? This depends on the recruiter or recruiting firm and their business model. There are a number of good recruiting software packages but fundamentally the software must be extremely easy to use, it has to focus on the execution of the client or applicant call and it has to gather information through, what I like to call, the natural process of recruiting. If the software gathers information naturally and easily it will feed into the critical element of recruiting, marketing!

Recruiting software must compliment or follow the natural process of recruiting. Notice I did not say the software must be intuitive! You might ask what exactly is natural? If your applicant tracking, staffing or resume database software requires you to perform tasks that you would not ordinarily do then you must question the recruiting software. Now, I have to admit that everything you do as a recruiter might not be considered natural.

Natural or not, the recruiting process can be simplified into a few basic steps.

1. Get a job order by calling clients and recording the calls for future marketing and follow up.

2. Research a database or databases for applicants or referral sources that would be a good fit for the job order.

3. Call identified applicants and record calls.

4. Determine the applicant(s) to present and present the applicant(s) to the client.

5. Track the interview process to the point of hire and the applicant starting to work for the client.

That’s right, only 5 steps! This is what is so alluring to people thinking about recruiting as a career. But any experienced recruiter will tell you that each of these steps demands a fantastic amount of skill, resources and marketing to be successful.

The job of executive search software is to make sure that each of these 5 steps can be performed without any wasted motion. Note that my emphasis is on saving recruiters time and is not on features. I cannot begin to count the features I have reviewed and discarded. They looked like a good idea at the time but simply could not stand up to the daily grind of a recruiter.

I have always said that I could take six seniors majoring in IT from any university and come up with a recruiting system in about 6 months. It would then take me about ten years to make it really work for a recruiter.

I think everyone would agree that there are many ways to perform the 5 steps. But I like to think of them performed in an ultimately natural process. We only give in grudgingly to the limitations of computer code making the recruiter do something besides talking to a qualified applicant or client.

So what would be the ultimate? Have the recruiter sit next to a phone and be told or shown who to call and be informed of the full nature and objective of the call. Have all the information available that might be needed for the call without doing anything but talking. Then when this call is finished all the follow up information regarding this call is recorded without any effort by the recruiter. Then the recruiter talks to the next client or applicant. This is the ultimate goal of any applicant tracking, staffing, recruiting software or whatever else you want to call it. This is what I like to call the natural process of recruiting. To me anything else takes away from the effectiveness of the recruiter.

For example, if using a resume database or any recruitment tool causes the recruiter to stop at the end of the day to ‘feed’ the database just to keep the rest of the executive recruiters, management and himself/herself informed then the recruiting system is not natural. The recruiter had to perform a task not related to talking to an applicant or client. The recruiter had to run back behind the lines, count noses, inform and organize for the next assault because the army was in disarray. What if the recruiter miscounts?

Notice I have not said a thing about features, even though I have spent half of my life writing them and continue to write them with all the excitement I had 20 years ago. A feature is only valuable if it suits the way a recruiter or recruiting firm works. Also, be careful that you do not get so dazzled with a feature that it takes you off of your successful game. The feature must be an enhancement to what is working for you right now. This is very hard to see and really can only be determined by using the product. Be careful of demos as they can be very misleading. A long trial period is best.

If the recruiting product fits your natural style and it is a proven product with a good track record then you are almost home. Almost? Yes, if the product does not allow you to focus on using the database of information gathered for a powerful and deliberate marketing program then keep looking. Marketing is everything in recruiting!



Brenda