The natural home for high-performing recruiters

The recruiting industry is undergoing change; the question is how to best position yourself within it and maximize your earnings potential. Older methodologies and their related business models are often clinging to life support; their market share is being challenged. The comfort of larger company infrastructures has been undercut by layoffs, “security” is not what it seemed, and individual earnings potential is more limited. How should a truly top-performing recruiter respond?

One common answer is to start your own business. You have been able to land clients and you know how to fill jobs, why not capture 100% from this? For a select few, this can be an answer, but for most, it isn’t. As a “single shingle,” you are limited by your available time; there is a natural cap on what you can produce without leverage. You underestimate the upfront cash to establish core infrastructure for scale. There is a lack of socialization, which can be surprisingly important. More frustratingly, a disproportionate share of time is now siphoned into your “back office” activity. Things that you took for granted, such as basic accounting, agreements, collections, insurance, marketing, brand recognition, compliance, timesheets, employment law, maintenance of an ATS, and many more, consume more than you previously thought. You start to realize that the systems and processes you were previously in were not all "smoke and mirrors."

Finding jobs and then filling them creates a non-stop wheel of work that very few single shingles expand out of. They become limited in their own time and cannot leverage the impact of a team that can serve mid-market to enterprise-level clients at a deeper service level. For many reasons, the vast majority of those starting their own business find an inherent limit on their earnings (typically in the $2-300k range) and often quickly recognize that it isn’t the best answer, or they are operationally capped on their time and cash flow.

The next option is, of course, to simply switch to a similar firm, but the results are surprisingly similar. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” is a typical experience. You get a base salary and 50% commissions, but return to where you were before with limited commission upside and in yet another old-school agency model with a different letterhead.

There is another, different choice out there…

Frederick Fox has introduced a new business model in the industry that seeks to disrupt existing market assumptions and provide the maximum earnings sweet spot for high performers.

We only hire seasoned agency recruiters with the skill and confidence to work on commission only. If that’s you, then you start with the highest commission rates in the industry, and there is a track to 100% commissions if you assume a leadership role.

In a leadership role, you also receive equity ownership in the company, which protects you against a sale and entitles you to income distributions from the team you lead. We have shared costs, but they are the lowest in the industry and tightly controlled. We have a top-tier tech stack and offer training on how to use it.

It is actually a great time to join; we are at an inflection point. While others are losing share, we are gaining. We have fully built out our back office to include an in-house contract shop, but because of our rapid growth, we remain, in many respects, in the Wild West formative stages. As a culture, we are simply a community of like-minded recruiters who are irreverent, apolitical, and dedicated only to the benefit of the team and our individual results within it.

Frederick Fox (www.frederickfox.com) offers the best path for high performers in the recruiting industry. If this interests you and you have confidence in your ability, contact us. Others who have are now part of the team.