Low recruitment fee trap
Liam Dobbin
Managing Director at Wilsonhalligan Recruitment Recruiting Yachting's best Captains
Many will read this as a moan at agencies’ fees, but this is an actual conversation I had this week with a yacht Captain.
Captain: We have some vacancies currently and were recommended to speak with you. Can you match the fees of these two other agencies were working with?
Liam: Sorry, I’d like to work with you but reducing our fees by 30% is not fair to our other clients and we really value what we do.
Captain: So, you don’t want my business?
Liam: It's not that I do not want your business. If you have two agencies already, why do you need a third to be involved?
Captain: The other agencies have yet to send me any great or even good options. I now need to cast the net wider for crew.
Liam: Maybe they are sending their best candidates to yachts they will get a higher fee from??. They are a business after all.
Captain: (stunned silence)
Captain: So, you send the crew to yachts you get higher fees for??
Liam: The recruiters do want to help you get great crew members, but they are also sales and commission driven. Pushing fees down yes saves you money but you do not compete with other yachts paying higher fees.
Captain: Ok, I’ll pass this to the Owner that we need to go back to the agencies and increase the fees to get the best candidates.
Liam: (stunned silence)
Good luck to the agencies that we’ve just put the fees up for.
Yes, I made a pitch, and we will be working together.
Engine Cadet || Vehicle Mechanic???? || Offshore/Onshore Marine Engineer Trainee.
2 年Thanks for sharing Liam Dobbin My name is Orlu Victor I'm a maritime scholar and I have a diploma in Marine Engineering with distinction from stars maritime Academy here in Nigeria...i'm interested in an opportunity in the yacht industry as an Engine cadet/Engine Trainee. Dear Sir; this opportunity will give me the right technical knowledge and experience I need in my career pursuit; hence I've both my Stcw and medical courses/cert and I'll be grateful if I'm been considered thank you even as I hope to discuss my skill further with you, thank you and remain blessed bless??????????
Chief Officer | Lecturer | Founder - 101 Maritime
2 年I often think the problem here is that the owners team often don’t see the value in using a recruitment agency; it’s a difficult topic to navigate as the difference in results and ROI are not tangible or even visible until a few months have passed since the crew member has arrived on board.
Hospitality Expert — Residences & Yachts — from construction, refit, retrofit to operations
2 年That’s a great conversation. Glad to see that a dialogue was possible. Quality comes with a cost, either no references checks or no guarantee or refund policies are typical the shortsighted costs when cutting the prices from client side.