If your time is money, start saving with a recruiter

Our goal is to get our clients to a place where they're prepared to replace our services with their own accounting talent. We recently helped a client create and fill a position and would like to share some thoughts on the value of using a recruiter. 

It’s important to keep three points in mind: 

1. Do you need a recruiter to find talent for this particular position? If this talent needs to be hunted because they are currently highly employed and not looking for work, or they are strong enough talent that they get daily recruiter calls, you may not reach them with a passive posting on LinkedIn. The candidate’s time is money too — if you don’t use a recruiter, you may be less likely to reach this pool of highly qualified prospective employees.

2. The recruiter’s goals are to make you happy and possibly secure you as a long-time customer. To keep you singing their praises, recruiters will invest their time in finding you talent that fits well with your organization and stays with you for an extended period of time.

3. Consider finding a recruiter that specializes in the talent you are seeking (an organization that focuses on accounting, IT or sales team talent, for example). 

Hiring a recruiter should be about finding the right talent and saving time, but many business owners baulk at the cost. Let’s break it down…say you used a recruiter to hire an $80K accounting leader for your organization. You should expect to pay the recruiter a service fee that ranges from approximately 13-20 percent of your new talent’s annual salary. The fee may seem like a lot of dough, but think of all the work the recruiter will do: 

• They move the process along – imagine how many roadblocks you’ll put up to drag out the search to 8-12 weeks.
• They critique your job description. After all, recruiters want to make sure they get the right talent for your needs. They’ll help you promote the company, and clarify different roles and responsibilities.
• They will challenge you on whether you are hiring the right person for right now. If you are posting a job for a staff accountant, and you really need a Controller, they will talk it through with you. 
• They get to know you and your organization and develop a great insight into the right personality fit for your team.
• They have a wide variety of channels to share your open position.
• They do the resume vetting for you — we all know that the majority of resumes you receive are never quite right for the job.
• They have great people skills and know how to weed through the baloney and difficult personalities of the candidates they meet with.
• They set up interviews — no more telephone tag for you!
• They handle the uncomfortable situations like salary negotiations or telling unsuccessful candidates, “thanks but no thanks.”
• They help close the deal, and can also run background checks (albeit often for a fee). They can also check references, though this is a step you may want to take on yourself.
• If you negotiate for it, they’ll give you a 90-day replacement if your first choice doesn’t quite work out. 

While we don’t believe that all positions are ripe for a recruiter, we want you to focus your efforts on running your business. And unless your business is recruiting, consider getting some help in the areas that can help you grow faster. Hire the experts when you need them.