Lies, Damn Lies and Recruitment OTEs

Recruitment’s a tough industry to work in. It might pay well, but the money is relative to the bullshit that we wade through and the actual value that we deliver at the end of it.

The good recruiters that is - there’s a few bad apples out there that do kettle candidates for a payday but this isn’t about them.

Speaking to recruiters on a daily basis, it seems agencies have become quite creative with how to financially safeguard themselves at the expense of their consultants.

Half the problem is a lack of clarity and this article is an attempt to expose the financial reality of what you’re being sold.

The Dangers of Thresholds

Thresholds are a levy placed on recruiters that forces them to pay off the cost of their desk before they even think of unlocking their commission. In my humble opinion this should be scrapped. Recruiters deserve to earn a percentage of the revenue they generate for the business. If you are going to charge someone to ‘run a desk’ then let them run it how they see fit.

Some agencies will even roll your threshold through into the following month, so if you fail to balance the books one month your thresholds will start stacking. Seriously, how can you do this then look your consultants in the eye? How are they meant to earn any decent money? Oh, wait..

Then there’s the big hitter among thresholds, that prevents the most junior consultants from earning any commission until they are consistently hitting two placements a month. A ￡15k threshold to junior consultants sitting on a 20k basic salary is just unfair.

Solution:

Thresholds can work for both businesses and consultants, but only when they’re managed right.

They should be calculated against your monthly salary and there’s no excuse to have a threshold that’s more than three times your monthly basic.

Incentivise your thresholds and tie to your targets, this way your consultants are encouraged to fill their back pockets and grow your bottom line.

Beware of On Target Earnings!

So many agencies win candidates on a financial fantasy. I’m not saying it’s impossible to hit ￡100k in your first year of billing. People have done it… it’s just highly unlikely.

How many prospective recruiters fully understand the commission structure and what ￡80k OTE would translate to in terms of realistic targets?

Solution:

Always ask for a working breakdown of the commission structure so you can understand if you’re being led up the garden path. Many businesses will have their own commission calculators, or you can source one online to check your monthly billings against.

You could also look to see if there are people in the company that are proven examples of achievable OTE.

The Right Basic Salary

What’s your market value as a recruiter and what salary benchmarks should you be measuring against.

If you visit my website https://www.stirlingcroft.com/candidates.html you’ll find your standard job specs married against the realistic salary expectations at different stages in your career.

As a disclaimer, let me point out that this was collected through my own research and time spent as an internal recruiter.

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If you’re not moving forward in recruitment then you’re standing still, or worse, going backwards. Everybody’s entitled to an annual salary review, not just an agency’s top billers. The reality with a lot of you is that you are being massively underpaid. It’s time to change that.

Do not despair, I have a number of clients who believe that the more they invest in their consultants the more money they’ll make for them. Give me a call, or drop me a message to start the conversation.

M: 07375671155

T: 02038928539

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www.stirlingcroft.com