There has never been more demand for third-party recruiters to assist in hiring hard to fill roles. This isn’t simply because organisations suddenly decided they want to spend more of their budget on recruitment fees, it’s because skilled and technical talent is very hard to find at the moment. Specialist recruiters are here to make these hires possible.Â
While working with a recruiter is a great option at the moment, keep in mind that many will be working at near-capacity, often even needing to turn away new work.
There are a few small things you can do to set your recruiters up for success in this environment, and ensure you stay their top priority.
So, what can you do to make sure this recruitment partnership gets you the best candidates?
1. Provide a clear, in-depth brief
Ensuring that you and the recruiter are on the same page is of paramount importance when it comes to the brief about your ideal candidate. The recruiters will be representing your organisation, and the opportunity, to candidates that are fielding multiple job offers at any given time. So they need to know as much as possible. Honestly, you can not share too much with your recruiter.Â
What’s your culture like? How do you celebrate big wins? What are the promotion opportunities for the candidate? What’s their manager’s management style like? What greenfield projects will the candidates be working on? What makes previous candidates succeed or fail in this role? Would you be open to candidates from other industries with transferable skills?
Think about what skills are absolutely non-negotiable and which are simply nice to have. At the same time, don’t get bogged down with a laundry list of unrealistic requirements.
The extra 20 minutes spent providing this detailed brief is going to save you so much time in the long run. You can easily waste double that amount of time on a telephone interview with an unsuitable candidate that was presented to you purely because you didn’t provide the recruiter with more of a detailed brief.
2. Build a strong relationship
Get to know your recruiter. Better yet, let them get to know you and your organisation. You wouldn’t engage an architect without first showing them around your land so why wouldn’t you share more about your organisation with someone that’s been tasked with finding you someone transformational for your business?
Candidates are the recruiters’ clients just as much as you are, so top recruiters will be very thorough in matching the right organisation for their candidates. How you treat the recruiter will reflect on how they view your culture and the respect you’re likely to show to new employees, so actions do matter.
Building a level of trust with your recruiter is also important, and this includes things like sharing the circumstances surrounding the role. Is this a new role being created? If not, was the previous employee laid off? Did they choose to leave the organisation? Were they promoted?
The true cost of recruitment is dealing with a wrong hire and the disruption that this brings to you and your team. So, be open about what’s under the hood so that you’re not trying to replace the candidate again when they figure this out for themselves. Being transparent with your recruiter about the role will help to ensure they find the right candidates the first time.
3. Maintain open communication
Effective communication goes both ways. Ensure that you stay in regular contact with your recruiter. If you have a busy schedule, it’s sensible to plan calls in advance and dedicate time to the recruitment process. Let them know your preferred communication method and frequency, then take it from there.
Give timely advice on the candidates that you receive. Whether they are the right fit or not, let them know why so that they can continue to target the right talent, or adjust their search based on who you’re looking for.Â
4. Understand their perspective
Recruiters want to fill the role just as much as you do, and in this market, some hires will certainly take longer than usual. There is a lot going on behind the scenes with candidates being unresponsive, weighing up other offers and still dealing with their day-to-day roles, so often the communication between recruiters and candidates can only take place in the evenings and on weekends.Â
If you’re looking for a recruiter to carefully curate a shortlist and only send you the top couple of options then this is what they can do for you. Conversely, if you want them to flick across any and all relevant candidates, let them know that too.
If a recruiter has two similar roles that they are working on and one employer is treating them like a true partner, whilst the other has adopted the master and slave mentality, it’s easy to tell which organisation and supporting culture will get first dibs on a top candidate. The way you engage a recruiter is a reflection of your organisation’s culture, so it’s important that you also put your best foot forward.
5. Take on board the recruiter's advice
The recruiter that you are working with is a specialist in the field. If they weren’t, then you wouldn’t have been able to select them through TalentVine.
Listen to what they have to say, whether it’s current market advice on candidate salaries, what to expect from certain candidates or general insights. Does a Frontend Developer with five years of React experience need to have a Computer Science degree from 2005, when React didn’t even exist? Probably not, so take your recruiter’s advice on board with the understanding that they deal with dozens of these roles each month.
When you partner with a recruiter, you’re not just paying for the legwork. You’re paying for access to their specialist knowledge of the field and experience in hiring that’s been built up over the thousands of interactions with similar clients and candidates. Their job is to know the recruitment industry and place a candidate that will last in their role, so considering their advice will help keep the process smooth.Â
To conclude
Recruiters are in high demand at the moment. There are more roles for recruiters advertised on LinkedIn than there are for Developers. Even if you partner with the best, they can only work with what they’re given. In order to see success when working with a recruiter, we find that being an active participant in the process will save more time in the long run. Being succinct, trusting, available, understanding and adaptable are just some of the ways you can set your recruiters up for success.Â
Working with recruiters is still one of the most efficient and effective ways to hire. Find the top recruiters based on reviews, ratings, and metrics on TalentVine.
