Why use an outside recruiting firm when we have an internal one?
By: Courtney Keene:
The foundation of any company is its people. That’s why, when it comes to filling vital positions that will help your company thrive and grow, it’s essential to consistently find the best candidates. While there are many good reasons to use your internal HR department to find top talent, keep reading to find out additional reasons you may be overlooking in utilizing an external recruiting firm.
Internal HR departments are busy
Human Resources are doing 10 other things besides just focusing 100% of their time on recruiting amazing candidates. They’re onboarding, interviewing, hiring/firing, benefits and payroll, training and development, coordinating, planning, etc. Can one really think that you can do all that and be able to invest the time in not only finding/sourcing but following up and successfully placing A+ candidates every time? You can’t do it as consistently and efficiently as a firm can and that’s what we’re here to help you do.
Going after your competitors
How are you protecting your company’s reputation when your internal HR department is reaching out to your direct competitors? I’m guessing your HR team isn’t going to be comfortable calling into your direct competitor to recruit their employees. I not only take a professional networking approach to get a referral or generate interest, but I’m also digging out things about their company that we could use to leverage the competition. They’re merging with another company, new leadership, they’re cutting territories, they’re eliminating that division, etc. We work alongside internal HR departments all the time, we’re here to help not harm.
Overhead costs
I recently had a prospect say “well we need 5 positions filled and with your fee, I could just hire my own recruiter” yes you sure could, but again this is a time consuming, expensive, and important role to fill. Any recruiter who’s worth it will have a nice price tag. And they’ll be worth every penny. So to hire your own recruiter you’ll have to post an ad, field resumes, interview multiple candidates, hire one hopefully, train them, pay them a base + commission, cell phone, laptop, and let’s not forget those affordable benefits! I could go on, but you get it. Why not partner with a proven firm that knows what they’re doing and have them work on the hard to fill roles that your internal team is struggling on? For what this person is bringing to your team/table, it’ll be a drop in the bucket compared to either A. the sales they’re bringing in/managing or B. the amount of stress you or your team won’t be under, not to mention the amount of time that it will free up. Time is money, right?
Open and honest
Sometimes people feel more comfortable and are more honest with a 3rd party recruiter than the actual company. They don’t want to tell you that you have a bad reputation, that they think your pay structure or benefits are subpar, or your manager is unprofessional. They feel like they can share openly with me because of my approach and I make sure there’s a WIFM (What’s In It For Me) in there, too. We also gather feedback after each interview, gauging their interest, how it stacks up against other opportunities outside of yours, and getting truthful feedback at that.
Overall, your guiding principle should be to work with a hiring partner who understands your goals, values, and culture. Also look for someone you feel will do the job effectively, efficiently and most importantly that you see as a reliable partner, not competitor.