Which type of bettor are you? In the management recruitment arena, making a chance bet can cost an organization a fortune. You have many options for filling open positions but a successful hire basically comes down to the old adage of “you get what you pay for.”
Offshore, online and heavy-advertising mass recruiters collect thousands of resumes and sort for key words in hopes of making a match. The occasional quick-pick approach may yield a result. Congratulations, your hundred buck subscription filled an empty chair.
The professional recruiter starts from the other end—with the client. Learning your company’s culture and tailoring your candidates to your exact specifications. They rarely pull from a pile of existing tired resumes from serial job-hoppers, instead carefully ferreting out individuals who are currently at the top of their game. Do you want a player that just won MVP or one who just tore his ACL? The seasoned recruiter will not sell you their services; they’ll sell your company’s opportunity to the right people, whose careers could be flying high in their current position. Yes, there’s a fee involved. It may sound steep if you’ve been used to a $10 lottery ticket approach to hiring and walking away disappointed 99.9% of the time. Seek out a professional who is not simply repeating what your HR specialist can do—“Jobs available! LA Denver Dallas NY! 250k ‘at plan’! Send resume.”
The calculated approach to hiring avoids “shark frenzies”—when companies who think employing 10 recruiters on a single search will yield a better result than one or two pros digging deep. Work with your recruiter to define and develop a strict process. Eight-month-long job postings and interview exercises with weeks between process steps alienate the truly motivated candidates you say you’re looking for, and their friends in the business when they ask about their interview experiences. Your brand suffers when you treat candidates like chattel or display arrogance to a qualified candidate who meets all the job criteria: Saying, “Yes, I like you but we need to see more candidates” is like saying, “Hey thanks for the engagement ring! I like you but I want to see who else comes along in the next few weeks before I choose you.” If you ID someone you like, pull the trigger. If not, don’t string them along. Word spreads. A good professional recruiter can help your company define its image and maintain a process that runs like a well-oiled machine. Isn’t that the kind of bet you’d like to make?