A sales-focused recruiter or service-focused recruiter – you choose!

The purpose of recruitment is quite simple – it is about finding the right person for a specific role. The challenge comes with who you choose to find the right person for your business.

There are two types of recruiters – sales-driven recruiters and service-driven recruiters.

You will typically find sales-driven recruiters in medium to large recruitment firms. It is no secret that these recruiters are paid a low base salary and the rest is based on commission from meeting sales targets (placing people in jobs). The speed of the placement is paramount and the general quality of the service delivery can be lacking at times. The quality of the candidates may be lacking as well because there is no time to do due diligence on their suitability to the role. And at the end of the process you are presented with a large fee.

If you feel that you have received good service and you needs have been fulfilled, you will be prepared to pay the expected fee for the placement.  Where people see value, they will pay for it. But unfortunately service expectations are not always met and this is the consistent complaint from businesses that they are paying excessive fees for minimal service. 

Last year, I came across a business that must have been so disappointed by recruiters that they decided to turn the tables and offer to pay the recruitment fee monthly over 12 months. If the employee left after 5 months for example, they would stop paying the fee. The problem with this payment structure is that it takes away the responsibility of the employer to properly engage the new employee and be responsible for loyalty and retention.

Service-driven recruiters are typically found in small and boutique recruitment firms. They have the capacity to act more like an HR partner. If you want service from your recruiter, you should be expecting the following:

•    Initial discussion to understand the role and the culture of your workplace;
•    Design of the job advertisement and sign-off;
•    Promotion the job advertisement via various job channels;
•    Receive and sort applications;
•    Conduct initial phone screening;
•    Conduct Face-to-face or Skype meetings with shortlisted candidates;
•    Submission of shortlisted candidates for review;
•    Organise interview schedules;
•    Sit in on interviews if required;
•    Conduct formal referee checks.

Is your current recruiter doing the above recruitment activities for you?

Look at other recruitment models as well such as www.recruitloop.com. Recruiters via this service charge a rate per hour for their recruitment service – this can save businesses thousands of dollars.

Kate Sykes runs both www.careermums.com.au and Lift Recruitment (www.liftrecruitment.com.au).