If so, you are not alone. As recruitment professionals, we fully understand why companies are reluctant to use external recruitment resources, especially if they’ve had reasonable success recruiting on their own in the past. When companies decide to use a third party for recruiting, they do so for three major reasons; time savings, recruiter expertise, and acknowledgement that getting the “best fit” hire for the position is critical.
Decision makers often jump to the conclusions that 1) outsourcing recruitment is too expensive and 2) they give up control of the process. We would like to dispel both of these misconceptions along with some others in our 10 Myths about using third party recruitment firms:
Myth #1: All recruiters operate in the same fashion.
There are many recruitment firms who operate on quotas, employing untrained recruiters who make a living forwarding resumes to clients on a contingency basis in the hopes that one may click with the client. This is not recruiting and this approach gives professional recruiters a poor reputation. This practice is what we refer to as resume forwarding. However, it often works on unsuspecting companies who don’t know what to expect from a professional recruiter. This practice is expensive for the company and leaves the end result very much to chance.
Myth #2: Recruiting is essentially a coin toss and you can’t determine if you’ve made the right decision until you’ve observed the person on the job.
By using advanced behavioral interviewing techniques and detailed reference checking, professional recruiters can predict, with almost 100% certainty, whether a candidate will meet the company’s expectations, both technically and behaviorally. This method, to a large extent, takes the gut feel out of the process. Where appropriate, we will conduct interviewing workshops for client company management teams as part of the recruiting assignment, so they have the tools they need to make solid selection decisions. See our 10 Step Recruitment Process
Myth #3: A recruiter can’t possibly know my business well enough to be able to determine the “best fit” hire for my company.
A highly skilled recruiter will begin every assignment by taking the time to deeply understand not just “what” your business does but, as importantly, “how” you do business. A seasoned recruiter should be able to describe the job and the company’s behavioral environment, its culture as well as or better than those working in the business.
Myth #4: I can post my position on a job board and have a large group of resumes from which to make my selection.
True, job postings on Monster or Workopolis will attract many applicants. However, with current unemployment levels and the variation in quality of responses, you will spend significant time (days) screening resumes from the posting. Occasionally, you may find a match but then other recruitment/selection parameters come into play; selection techniques, interviewing skill levels, job skills, past behavior and successes, compensation expectations, commuting distance, detailed references, fit, management style, etc. Having access to resumes is only the beginning of the process.
Myth #5: With the current economy, there are plenty of good people in the market which makes recruiting very easy.
In fact, the opposite is true. Because there are so many current job seekers, it is more difficult to sort through the hundreds of applicants to narrow down to the ones that best fit on paper. In a tight market, it is often easier to hire. Also, even though there is no stigma these days to being unemployed and there are highly skilled unemployed people on the market, many companies have used the economic situation as a means to weed out poor performers, so you need be careful who you select.
Myth #6: Doing my own recruiting is cheaper.
While it may appear to be somewhat cheaper if you do it yourself, it is almost 100% true in all cases that the hiring manager does not have the same skills as a seasoned trained recruiter at TGS Recruitment Solutions. Simply stated, there is no substitute for experience when it comes to candidate sourcing, interviewing and selection. We are talking about quality here. A high performing candidate can be more than 300% more productive than an average candidate. Many smaller companies may never actually have the luxury of employing a truly outstanding performer and may be satisfied with a much lower performing employee, simply because the frame of reference is missing. The reason qualified professional recruiters charge what they do is because they are providing the company with a quality/high performing candidate. The difference is huge, especially in growing companies, and the benefit to the company is increased as time progresses. The old adage is very true here – you get what you pay for. Don’t be fooled. Just as importantly don’t be fooled by the many recruiters who charge the same rates but don’t handle the assignment professionally.
Myth #7: If the person hired by the recruiter doesn’t work out, I’m stuck with the problem.
Professional recruiters guarantee their work and work very hard and diligently to uphold their reputations. So, it is very important for a professional recruiter that the placement be successful, otherwise, they haven’t delivered as promised. TGS Recruitment Solutions will ensure you are 100% satisfied, nothing less. We are also experts in performance management and are more than willing to help client companies in this regard.
Myth # 8: The more I can negotiate down the fees, the better for me.
Be very careful here. This is a huge misconception. Professional recruiters don’t take shortcuts that allow for deeply discounted rates. Firms that do this are forced to cut costs in other ways, usually in terms of fewer interviews and less time spent in the screening process, both important areas requiring appropriate attention. TGS Recruitment Solutions offers a 10% discount to Associations who have licensed the HR Power Centre for their members.
Myth # 9: I can always hire someone and then get rid of them in 3 months without severance pay if they don’t work out.
This is unquestionably the most expensive and riskiest way to hire someone. Productivity loss, training costs, staff disruption, and of course the costs associated with repeating the process all add to the expense of this approach. Terminating without severance or termination pay is not always legally possible either, so be careful and informed if this is your plan of action. This approach also sends the wrong message to other employees that the company doesn’t respect people. Avoid this practice at all costs.
Myth # 10: A recruiter may force a candidate on me who I may not be comfortable with just because they meet all the criteria.
A professional recruiter would never convince you to hire anyone. Hiring managers need to be just as comfortable with the candidate as the candidate is with the opportunity and the Company. The information resulting from a professional behavioral interview and detailed reference check will be sufficient to be able to make a very informed hiring decision.