Why Should Companies Hire A Search Firm
By Frazer Donaldson
Why use a search firm? Why pay search fees when you can find candidates on your own? Why listen to the owner of a search firm about this subject?!
After being a technical recruiter for private search firms for 12 years, and spending most of 2000 to 2001 in charge of the I.T. hiring for a local upstart, I have seen both sides of the hiring desk from negotiating fee structures, to managing the interviewing process, to building teams of I.T. professionals.
A search firm should be an effective partner for a company's hiring efforts when faced with a tough role to fill, a role that needs to be filled extremely quickly, or if there's tremendous growth at your company.
Before deciding whether or not to use a search firm, ask yourself the following questions:
How well do you know the department with the open position(s)? Its leaders, its responsibilities within the company, its strengths and weaknesses?
How familiar are you with the skills and experiences needed in the ideal candidate? Are you able to interview candidates for these skills?
Will you run an ad in a paper, on your website, a jobboard, or send e-mails to contacts or networking groups? Do you have the time to analyze the many resumes you will receive?
Will you conduct phone screens first, or bring qualified candidates in right away? Will you check the candidates' references before hiring them?
If you have the time and energy to handle all of these tasks to fill an open position, fantastic! However, if you need help, especially if you are responsible for multiple openings, you may want to consider a search firm to complement your activities. Then ask the following questions for the search firm:
Will they interview qualified candidates face-to-face? How quickly can they turn around a job request with quality candidates?
Do they know your company well enough that they almost seem like they're on the "inside"? How well do they understand your business and the details of the job?
Will they work with you on fee structure? For example, will they accept payment in two parts, or lower their fee if you give them multiple openings to fill?
The keys are that time is money, and quality candidates are always in demand. If you have a search firm that you can trust to quickly find excellent candidates, you can stay ahead of your competition in the ongoing battle for top talent.
Why use a search firm? Why pay search fees when you can find candidates on your own? Why listen to the owner of a search firm about this subject?!
After being a technical recruiter for private search firms for 12 years, and spending most of 2000 to 2001 in charge of the I.T. hiring for a local upstart, I have seen both sides of the hiring desk from negotiating fee structures, to managing the interviewing process, to building teams of I.T. professionals.
A search firm should be an effective partner for a company's hiring efforts when faced with a tough role to fill, a role that needs to be filled extremely quickly, or if there's tremendous growth at your company.
Before deciding whether or not to use a search firm, ask yourself the following questions:
How well do you know the department with the open position(s)? Its leaders, its responsibilities within the company, its strengths and weaknesses?
How familiar are you with the skills and experiences needed in the ideal candidate? Are you able to interview candidates for these skills?
Will you run an ad in a paper, on your website, a jobboard, or send e-mails to contacts or networking groups? Do you have the time to analyze the many resumes you will receive?
Will you conduct phone screens first, or bring qualified candidates in right away? Will you check the candidates' references before hiring them?
If you have the time and energy to handle all of these tasks to fill an open position, fantastic! However, if you need help, especially if you are responsible for multiple openings, you may want to consider a search firm to complement your activities. Then ask the following questions for the search firm:
Will they interview qualified candidates face-to-face? How quickly can they turn around a job request with quality candidates?
Do they know your company well enough that they almost seem like they're on the "inside"? How well do they understand your business and the details of the job?
Will they work with you on fee structure? For example, will they accept payment in two parts, or lower their fee if you give them multiple openings to fill?
The keys are that time is money, and quality candidates are always in demand. If you have a search firm that you can trust to quickly find excellent candidates, you can stay ahead of your competition in the ongoing battle for top talent.
posted by LionSearch at
10:52 AM
