Vacancy Clearing, a UK-based recruiter networking organization, reported that as many as 1/3 of all Fortune 500 and Fortune 10,000 companies are signed up with Bounty Jobs. That is a big number. If this is a trend that continues, the world will look very different for international recruiters in the years ahead.
If you are not tuned into Bounty Jobs, the concept is simple and also alarming. Employers come and place their job openings on the Bounty Jobs site. Recruiting organizations visit the site and bid to work the jobs that are posted there. The bad news is that the candidates submitted may become the property of the employer, recruiting partners are working in competition with many other recruiting organizations, and employer fees are typically reduced from the industry “norm” of 20-25%. If you are successful in making a placement, the fee is collected by Bounty Jobs and the recruiter introducing the successful candidate gets paid after the rebate period is past and about 4 months after the deal was done. Oh, did I mention that the recruiting organization gets only 75% of the deal?
The solution is not all that complex, but it is not as easy as going to a website. If all international recruiters invested some time in developing more recruiting partners, it may minimize the “lurking evil” that is taking hold in the industry. There are thousands of recruiter networks. Join a recruiter network on LinkedIn or online today; they are free and offer peer support on many issues. Reach out to recruiting partners and make a connection. There are split-fee networks like TEAM in the UK and NPA, The Worldwide Recruiting Network, working globally. These organizations facilitate split fees. Splits are typically a 50% fee model where you determine the percentage for a candidate and maintain “ownership” of your relationships with candidate contacts. You also develop relationships that produce more than one deal. Recruiting partners can help smooth the ups and downs of your business model in a way that allows you to maintain margin and work on a cooperative and healthy basis.
Reach out to a fellow recruiter and minimize the “lurking evil.”