Top 6 Tips – How to identify the right recruitment partner.

For organisations with no dedicated recruitment or talent-sourcing function, it is often a necessity to reach out for an external recruitment partner to help with finding the best people. But with significant fees associated with recruitment and a lot riding on hiring decisions from a business point of view, it is important to choose a recruitment partner that best suits your culture and needs. Below we have outlined our Top 6 Tips on how to identify the right recruitment partner.

1- Are they in your space?

Lets begin with the basics. Rather than calling the first business that pops into your head or the multinational business that markets their services in every space. Make sure that the recruitment business you choose to partner with is working in your space. An award-winning agency recruiting for marketing superstars won’t necessarily have such a great network of IT professionals for instance. Or do you want somebody that knows your product inside out? If this is the case then you should research and find the recruitment business that operates in your industry and that understands the challenges of your market, maybe has an understanding of the technical qualities of your product and speaks daily to the type of individuals that you might want to recruit. Whatever the case may be, our tip is, get specific and do your research.

2- What are their screening methods?

If you are recruiting for customer or client-facing roles such as project management or Business Development, the candidates’ communication skills can be equally as, if not more important than what is on their CV.

For this reason, many companies in these industries enlist the help of recruiters so that they can take some of the guesswork out of an interview and will pre-screen candidates for softer skills before submitting to the client. If this is a reason that you are looking for external help, make sure that pre-screening candidates, whether in-person or by phone, is part of their process.

3- Do you agree on the process?

Different recruitment businesses work in different ways and to different timelines. Before committing to one or even a couple of businesses it is essential to find out about their ways of working and whether this aligns with your internal process.

For instance, how do they submit candidates? Is it through a portal or by email? Every company has processes and procedures that are individual to them, so it is important to ensure that your chosen partners process mirrors yours as much as possible to allow for seamless recruitment.

4- Do your cultures align?

You’ll be working very closely with your chosen businesses, partnering to develop attractive job specs and adverts, regularly providing feedback to make sure there’s a pipeline of the best candidates, so it’s absolutely key that your cultures and outlook match and that you like the consultants.

You’ll be much better placed to have frank and sometimes difficult conversations if you gel well with your recruitment partner, and having a similar outlook on what makes a good candidate from a communication point of view means the consultant is able to screen for the types of soft skills that you yourself look for in interview. Remember, your recruitment partner should be an extension of your management team and so hold similar viewpoints on recruitment matters.

5- Are they coming up with the goods?

The recruitment business you have chosen to partner with might say all the right things and align with your company culture but are they highlighting the right candidates? Are they working to your agreed timelines?

Are they eventually successful in placing the right candidate? If not, they might not be the right partner for you. It may be useful for you to choose two recruitment businesses to work with in the beginning. Maybe one performs better than the other, you can always reward this business with exclusivity on the next project.

In most industries, it is now all but essential to work with a recruitment partner to help with complex and ever-changing recruitment needs, so it’s important to treat them as you would any key supplier.

Having a hands on approach could be key to your recruitment partner consistently adding value to your organisation. 

6- Do they come well recommended?

Well, this might seem like an obvious thing to say when partnering with any supplier, but do they come well recommended? Do they could have good reviews and testimonials from past and existing clients? The best case scenario here is that you see that an industry friend has left a glowing recommendation. Most of this information can be found on their company website. Client feedback is so important, it shows their consistency, professionalism, and evidence that they deliver.

I hope that you find these Top Tips helpful.