When you are a small employer, you should search for candidates yourself, right? Not according to an Inc. article I read recently by Vanessa Merit Nornberg called These Days, Recruiters are Worth the Money.
Like most small employers, Vanessa had been searching for candidates herself. She believed her reasoning was sound because she assumed the following:
- Working with recruiters was a waste of time,
- Reviewing resumes for the “right candidate” should be done by her as she knew best who to interview, and
- Hiring a recruiter was too expensive for her small budget.
However, the reality of her hiring situation was that it was taking her a very long and frustrating time to find the “right candidate” even though she searched a variety of ways including placing ads on large and specialized job boards as well as on local university boards.
Then, one of her senior staff members suggested she contact a recruiter she knew. Reluctantly, Vanessa met with the recruiter. In the end, she decided to try something different. She signed a contingency recruitment agreement. She would pay the recruiter only if she hired a candidate presented by the recruiter.
The results surprised Vanessa. Within one month, Vanessa hired the “right candidate” from the group of candidates presented by the recruiter. Her experience working with a recruiter changed her hiring strategy. She concluded the following about the experience:
- She filled the position faster.
- She spent less money considering the overall cost of hiring which included the cost of her time to search for candidates.
- The recruiter was able to find the “right candidate” for the position.
While the above is compelling, Vanessa discovered something even more interesting. She asked the candidate she hired why she worked with a recruiter instead of posting her resume on job boards. The candidate replied, “because recruiters make sure your resume gets seen, while submitting via the Internet is like sending your resume into oblivion.”
Bottom line: even small employers benefit from working with independent recruiters to find the “right candidate.”