What to Expect From Your Recruiter

On the surface, recruiting seems easy. After all, all you need to do is find a person and hire them. Right? I used to think the same thing even though I worked in Human Resources. For much of my career I had recruiters who worked for me, so I didn’t have to get into the details of it. And then, I was compelled to get directly involved in executive recruiting. It turned out that recruiting was complex. It was a lot of hard work, and it also required a great deal of business intelligence.

Soon I found out there were times that I needed to use an outside recruiter. There were some positions that we could not fill without them and they often had capabilities we did not have. And, sometimes the cost of not having a person in a vital position was very significant and we had to move quickly. Over the past 30 years I have run into some recruiters that are great at what they do, and I have met many others that performed terribly. Some I felt were a great asset, while others were so irritating and incompetent I couldn’t get rid of them quickly enough.

Now that I own and operate a recruiting company, I have seen the recruiting process from all the relevant perspectives. I have been a client, a candidate, and I am now involved in recruiting on a daily basis. That holistic perspective is a real blessing and it has shaped how I operate my business today.

What I write here will be quite autobiographical because I think in terms of my experience and what I have learned. I think my story helps others understand. The goal of this article is to share some of the major lessons that I have learned along the way. If I can help someone navigate through the experience of using a recruiter better, it will be worth the time and effort.

In the Beginning

My first job right out of college was in Human Resources was working for a very large sporting goods manufacturer. They were a big name and I had a talented mentor, so things were good. After about a year I was promoted to the Human Resources Manager. Part of that job was recruiting. For us, the hourly jobs were easy to fill and many of the salaried positions we were able to fill with hard work and creativity. However, we had some positions that were very difficult to recruit for. So, I reached out to a few local recruiting companies to see what they could do.

As I interviewed the prospective recruiters, I learned that they all operated differently. In fact, some of the differences were quite substantial. Some listened intently and asked good questions, others were more focused on telling me how great there were. Some had significant business experience, while others had very little. Some talked about doing their homework before starting to search, others did not.

At the time I was also going through very useful training in the area of process improvement. Because of that awareness, I noticed that none of the recruiters I was interviewing were talking to me about a defined process for recruiting. It seemed that most of them were flying by the seat of their pants. As I pressed them, I found out I was right. So, I stopped my discussions with all of them and started over.

Setting a New Standard For Recruiters

As I started over with some new recruiters, I decided that I needed to define what I wanted from them. I know that sounds way too simple, but it turns out that is exactly what I needed. After all, how could I get what I wanted if I didn’t ask? So, I set about trying to define what I needed. I soon discovered that I only knew what end result I wanted, but I was not very aware how to achieve it. In truth, I was a pretty clueless.

When I began to interview potential recruiters, I started off by sharing my list of expectations and my need for a defined process. The reactions were pretty interesting. A few understood and agreed to do what I was asking for. Interestingly, these recruiters could describe their recruiting process to some degree. They turned out to be the most seasoned and intelligent recruiters, and generally had significant business experience.

The other recruiters just acted confused and pretty much ignored my requests. They just couldn’t wrap their brains around what I was doing. And, their attempt to describe their recruiting process was quite ragged. It become obvious their understanding of business and process improvement was pretty thin. Through it all, they assured me they were the best at what they did. Predictably, they couldn’t back up that claim.

Now some clear patterns were starting to emerge. As I started to work with the better recruiters, I steadily began to get much better results. I soon found that it didn’t cost a dime more to work with great recruiters than it did to work with mediocre recruiters. In fact, it costs less when you consider all the hassle it was to work with the mediocre ones. I also learned that the biggest cost of working with mediocre recruiters is that they couldn’t consistently deliver great people. It was always hit and miss.

Here is a simple list of what I told them I expected:

• Share a description of your recruiting process with me
• Carefully study the job description
• Work within the salary guidelines
• Only deliver well-qualified candidates

I thought that this simple list of expectations would at least guide the recruiters to a good end-result. While it was a good start, there was quite a bit more I needed from the recruiters, but I didn’t really understand that yet. I unintentionally let my lack of understanding limit the quality of candidates I was getting. Since hiring well qualified people for higher level positions was the single most important thing I could do for the organization, it was critical that I figure out how to get better results. 

With time one recruiter stood out above the rest. They were much more than just nice and good to work with. They went above and beyond in some pretty substantial ways. First, they learned about my company without me even asking. They also spent time with the hiring manager to make sure they understood what the managers wanted. As a result, they had a much better perspective of the company and the job. Because of this notable difference, and the superior candidates they delivered, I gave them the bulk of my business.

So, I added two key things to my list. The changes are underlined below.

• Have a clearly defined recruiting process
• Understand the company
• Learn from and collaborate with the hiring manager
• Carefully study the job description
• Work within the salary guidelines
• Only deliver well-qualified candidates

Once again, we were able to make some steady improvement. And, once again, I didn’t know there was more we should be doing to acquire great candidates. Notably, I discovered that the most recent list of expectations, and the related activities, only helped us predictably hire good candidates. However, it did not consistently deliver great candidates. As I started to become aware of this problem, I discovered the concept of talent.

To make a long story short, the concept of talent goes like this: Skills can be taught. Talents cannot. Great performance only comes from talent. In my own words: “In spite of what your mother told you, you cannot be great at everything. You can only be great in areas where you have “natural” talent”. Now I was beginning to understand what I felt was the missing link that would help us hire great people.

Now my list changed for the third time: The changes are underlined below.

• Have a clearly defined recruiting process
• Understand the company
• Learn from and collaborate with the hiring manager
• Carefully study the job description and ask smart questions
• Define what talents enable greatness in this job and use it to screen candidates!!!
• Work within the salary guidelines,
• Only deliver well-qualified candidates

I later learned a simple and powerful lesson. I needed to be open to the possibility of paying more than I thought was a competitive wage. I learned that just because my budget called for a lesser wage didn’t mean that was the best decision. Many times I found that paying a bit more enables you to recruit some great people. The incremental cost is often very small compared to the incremental benefit. The critical issue is not what is competitive or “fair”. It is what are you getting for the wage you are paying. The accountants didn’t like my thinking too much, but everyone else did and the superior results were obvious.

One of the most important lessons was that great recruiters have significant business experience. They are more than just recruiters. They know business. They become a trusted business partner. I discovered that if you are trying to recruit top talent, you have to be top talent yourself. Once I understood that concept, I made sure the recruiters that worked on my orders were seasoned professionals.

I also learned that when you work with a seasoned business professional you find that they can successfully recruit in any industry and for any position. Contrary to common belief, it is not industry knowledge that makes a recruiter great. That knowledge helps, but it is never hard to acquire. Greatness comes from talent in recruiters too. I like to say, “If you want to attract a superhero, you have to be a superhero”. Great recruiters can successfully operate at any level.

Subsequently, my list changed for the fourth time: The changes are underlined below.

• Have a clearly defined recruiting process
• Understand the company
• Learn from and collaborate with the hiring manager
• Carefully study the job description and ask smart questions
• Define what talents enable greatness in this job and use it to screen candidates!!!
• Work within the salary guidelines, but be open to candidates who require higher pay
• Only use recruiters who are seasoned professionals
• Only deliver well-qualified candidates

I could add a lot more detail, but I think I have covered the basics. And, I am sure I will add to or adjust my list again as I continue to learn. The more I understand what my clients need, the better the list will get.

To summarize:

1. Recruiting is a much tougher and complex task than it seems to be on the surface.
2. There are very significant differences between recruiters.
3. It doesn’t cost any more to work with a great recruiter.
4. Great recruiters have a carefully defined recruiting process that guides them.
5. If you haven’t defined what you want from your recruiters, you are not getting the best people.
6. Experience and skills are important, but talent is the key to greatness.
7. Seasoned recruiters who are business professionals can successfully recruit for any position.
8. Hiring great people is the single most important thing you can do to ensure the success of your business.

My final suggestion is this: When you are trying to decide which recruiter to use, drag out the fourth list and see how they stack up. If they meet the criteria, it is a pretty safe bet they will be good or even great to work with. If they don’t, you need to make a change. Your future probably depends on it.