How to get the Best Service for the Best Price from your chosen Recruitment Consultancy

One of my major frustrations in life is that I haven't chosen my friends particularly well. Don't get me wrong, they are a lovely bunch, but I just wish that more of them were HR Managers, HR Directors or people that, at the very least, recruited HR staff. I like to think that I would then be able to get them to use me as their recruiter of choice.

Unfortunately, that isn't the case. However, I take some solace in the fact that they seem happy to ask me (regularly) about the various bits of recruitment that they are doing in their jobs.

One of the questions I get asked regularly is "I would like to work with a proper Recruitment Consultant but they'll charge the earth won't they?" After umpteen times of talking about this, I've realised that I'm developing a standard answer that I could develop into, hopefully, a useful blog for use by all.

All successful negotiations start by working out what your opposite number wants out of the process, and it is no different on this occasion. You want excellent service, a hassle free recruitment campaign and not to have to pay through the nose for it.  Trust me when I tell you that the recruiter also wants a hassle free recruitment campaign, an opportunity to work professionally and confidence that at the end of the process they'll be paid. Trust me again when I say that they'll likely drop the fee well below their standard rates if you can offer those things.

Offering hassle free recruitment

Any good Recruitment Consultant should be making time to take a really good brief from their client, to understand in some detail the nuances of the role and then really invest time and effort into engaging with the prospective candidates. They should then only be submitting candidates that really match the brief. That's what you want them to be doing, and that's what they want to be doing.

What is frustrating as a Recruiter though, is at the end of that process when the client says something along the lines of “I'm not sure about them... I don't like the CV much... Not my cup of tea... No thanks”. Forgetting that I had the same reservations until I spoke to them and they then really wowed me. For whatever reason, they've taken an aversion to a CV, and in so doing, and without necessarily meaning to, they've called in to question my work ethic and attitude.

So instead of that impending frustration how about offering the follow enticement.

”I want to give you a detailed brief, make sure you really understand what I am looking for, and then for you go out to your networks and find me the three best candidates for the role. When we talk through the shortlist, I may have questions regarding those candidates, but I fully expect to interview any candidate that you put in front of me.”

Incidentally, what that also does is put pressure on the Recruiter to do a good job. They'll be a lot less likely to send you someone miles off the spec because they'll be terrified of looking like a joker after the first round of interviews.

Offering professionalism

Your offer/enticement above already shows you have trust in the Recruiter and value their professionalism, so you're already well on your way here. However, there is more that you can do.

What can be frustrating as a Recruiter is when you take time to talk to the candidates, give them the brief, talk to them about the recruitment process and submit their CV, and then nothing. Silence. Followed perhaps two weeks later by “Sorry we've appointed internally/from another avenue/not at all*(* delete as appropriate)”, or other similar goalposts being moved.

So again, think how appealing the following sounds.

”This role is all signed off. We have set aside Wednesday as the day to talk through the CVs, we've scheduled X as our first interview day (Oh, and yes we have confirmed that the interviewers could do early morning, lunchtime and later afternoon times). We'll give feedback the day after, and we're looking to arrange 2nd and final interviews for the following week”.

Offering confidence in getting paid

Most Recruiters work on a contingency rather than a retained basis. So this means that whenever you engage them on a project you are in effect asking them to work for free and back themselves that they will get a successful outcome that they will get paid for.

However, there are a lot of ducks that need to be aligned before the Recruiter can be 100% confident that they will be paid for the work done.

• Is the role fillable? Is it paying enough? Are the essentials and desirables realistic?
• Are you prepared to interview the right people and be flexible with your interview dates and times?
• How competitive is the recruitment campaign? Have you engaged with any and every recruiter you've ever spoken to? Are you going to be selecting from a long shortlist of 20 CVs?

And that is before having the will they/won't they worry about offer and counter-offer.

I've been a Recruiter for a while now and I like to think that if I am given a decent brief, and the role is realistic, then I should place two-thirds of the roles registered with me. I base that target on being one of two or three recruiters working on the vacancy.

However, you can make the assignment even more appealing by saying the following.

”I am leaving this role with you and you alone for the next two weeks. Although, I would ask you not to mess me around. If you think you're struggling to find the right people in the first week for whatever reason can you let me know?”.

Immediately rather than having to worry about potentially working for free the Recruiter will think “If I do my job properly here there is no reason to think I won't get paid”.

And you benefit here too!

• Instead of getting off the phone from an OK candidate and thinking “They seemed nice. Ticked a lot of the boxes. I'd better send them across before someone else does”. The recruiter can take time to compare and contrast against all the applicants and then shortlist their three or four best candidates. The exclusivity you've offered means that the Recruiter is not just passing on CVs they're genuinely adding value and doing the selecting for you.
• Instead of a candidate getting a call from three, four or five Recruiters, all telling them a different tale, they get a call from one. Your Employer Brand is protected and reinforced. They get one introduction to your role and your business and if they doubt it or have questions one person can reassure them. The exclusivity you've offered means that the best candidates get the role sold to them rather than a potentially confusing message. There is less of a chance of you missing out on the perfect candidate.
• The reality is that asking three agencies to submit their three best candidates does not create some stellar shortlist of nine superstars to select from. Instead what happens is the Recruiters fight to ‘own’ the three best, and the others are often makeweights or options sent to ‘muddy the water’. Taking time to engage with and brief one supplier to send their three best candidates will still see you presented with the three best candidates without wasting time on two or three makeweights. If you really want nine candidates then ask your chosen provider to send you their best nine.

So the question was...

How can I get the best service for the best price from a proper Recruitment Consultant?

And the simple answer is; find a recruiter you trust and say the following:

”I want to give you a detailed brief, make sure you really understand what I am looking for and then for you go out to your networks and find me the three best candidates for the role. When we talk through the shortlist, I may have questions regarding those candidates, but I fully expect to interview anyone that you put in front of me.

”The role is all signed off. We have set aside Wednesday as the day to talk through the CVs, we've scheduled X as our first interview day. We'll give feedback the day after, and we're looking to arrange second and final interviews for the following week.

”I am leaving this role with you and you alone for the next two weeks. Although, I would expect you not to mess me around. If you think you're struggling to find the right people in the first week for whatever reason can you let me know?”

And then...

”However, budgets are a bit tight, and I need you to work to much less than your standard rates. I need you to work to x.”

I am sure you'll be amazed at how many times the Recruiter pauses, might negotiate a bit with you but then says “OK”.