No. 3 - éric Larouche presents: the 7 secrets to choosing your headhunter

*HDH = Headhunter

INTRODUCTION

There are more than 500 employment agencies in Montreal and more than 1,300 in all of Quebec. This gives you a population of thousands of human resources people ready to find you a job! Much like real estate agents, there are many ways for clients or candidates to choose who they want to work with. Believe me, dear readers, you should ALL apply this. Whether you are an employer or an employee!

7- THE REPUTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT AGENCY

It may seem tempting to deal with the giants of the recruitment world and think that this will increase your chances of finding the perfect candidate or the dream employer. Nothing could be further from the truth! A HDH works a bit like a small business. A traditional HDH will do its own recruitment, business development and web presence. In the industry, we call this a "360 recruiter". So the size of an agency has no direct link to the performance of your HDH. The big recruitment companies obviously have big marketing and operational budgets, so more tools. The database or candidate search software they use is often much better than their competitors with less resources. The application of its advantages in daily practice is far from proven and certain. The important thing is that your hunter offers you a personalised service and impeccable ethics, no matter where they work!

6- WEB PRESENCE

Welcome to 2022 ! Your HDH's web presence has become essential today. Always check out their company website as well as their LinkedIn or Facebook profile. Ads on job boards should be complete and concise. LinkedIn is obviously the flagship for tracking your HDH's progress through the days and weeks they work for you. Remember that if web activity is low or non-existent, so must be your client/candidate portfolio...

5- EXPERIENCE

There is no perfect recipe here. You can have someone with a Bachelor's degree in HR who has an excellent understanding of the trade they are recruiting for, as well as someone from the trade who changes their vocation to recruitment. Ideally you want a HDH with the same or similar experience to your recruitment area. I have spent my life in operational management and sales, so I recruit operational managers and sales. I would strongly advise everyone to ask your HDH what life experience they have or what other clients they have worked for. You may not have all the answers, but you will have a better idea of who you are dealing with. Little train goes a long way!

4- SPECIALISATION

The best headhunters are those who know their business inside out. Know how to ask the right questions. There is nothing wrong with asking your HDH what sector they recruit in and what kind of job they can do. We are almost all generalists. To survive, an employment agency worker needs to have several strings to his or her bow. Variety in the hunter's recruitment path is fine, just make sure there is a logic to it. Someone in "executive search" should not be advertising for "legal secretaries"... simple logic.

3- THE MOTIVATED SALESPERSON-HUNTER

Recruiting in Montreal is certainly the roughest sales business in town. Those who last in this field develop several qualities, including the ability to explain what they do well and, above all, the drive to work in the field for the long term. Unfortunately, some hunters become "graduate" salespeople and forget the most basic fundamentals of a mutually beneficial recruitment partnership. Choose for experience & expertise, not for the sales pitch. Dynamism is good, realism is better!

2- CHEMISTRY

It is a fact of life that people who marry generally have excellent chemistry. Staffing is somewhat based on the same principle. If you feel that you have a real synergy with a HDH, there is a great chance that your association will be successful. I mentioned above that experience is important, but a "junior" can be just as effective because he or she will want to "work their butts off" for you. There is a big question of perception, but if you don't have a natural chemistry with your HDH, I suggest you skip it. People greatly underestimate this point and yet the whole recruitment process, client and candidate alike, is about trust and communication. No long-term business relationship can be sustained without these last two elements. I will come back to this in a future article...

1- KNOW HOW TO SHOP AROUND

Knowing how to shop around for a HDH is crucial. The entire HR population in general is easily accessible on social networks. You can thus get a general idea on all the above points. Of course there are no absolutes, some excellent headhunters do not have a large web presence. However, they are missing out on a great opportunity to be seen. Don't forget to study their background! This will save you a lot of time! Search engine optimization is obviously a great way to find the right person. Don't be afraid to interview a few different HDHs, your path should be clear!

CONCLUSION

To have a successful business partnership, you need to have the right cards in your hand. The 7 "secrets" written above can help you choose the right person. Remember, the only thing that matters is the degree of trust you have in your HDH and vice versa. Without trust, respect and seriousness on all sides, no result is possible...

Feel free to leave me your comments or to share!

I look forward to hearing from you,?

éric Larouche Adm.A.?

Founding President