Eight reasons you should be using a third-party recruiter

When your software or technology company is hiring, there’s always that temptation to go it alone. By listing your open positions online, offering current employees a referral bonus, or relying on word of mouth, it seems like you can get those positions filled quickly and inexpensively. But those DIY hiring strategies can backfire, in the form of your lost work time and hours wasted interviewing the wrong candidates. Worse yet, you may end up with a bad hire who is painful and expensive to ease out of your organization. That’s where an external recruiter comes in.

At Search Consultants, we’ve identified eight strategic advantages that we provide our clients: let’s take a look.

1: External recruiters cast a wider net. A good recruiter’s contact list includes not only active candidates—those who are currently seeking new positions—but passive candidates as well; candidates who could be convinced to leave their current position for the right opportunity. Recruiters also have insider information about their candidates, in the form of evaluations from past assignments, feedback from hiring managers, and more.

2: External recruiters have deep networks. Sometimes, you need hidden talent. A third-party recruiter has those “ninja skills” to find candidates who are unlikely to respond to an online posting; recruiters are speaking with and advising candidates even when they’re still waiting for the right opening.

3: External recruiters can tap passive candidates. This is critical, especially when you’re hiring for high-level positions. Often, candidates who are considered “top talent” want to work with a trusted advisor. They don’t want to waste time on someone who doesn’t understand and respect their industry expertise; they have zero time to spend on opportunities that aren’t the right fit. Perhaps more importantly, they want to be discrete, and may not be actively searching at all. In those high-stakes searches, an outside recruiter be your secret weapon.

4: External recruiters work on fewer job assignments. Let’s face it; your in-house hiring staff are probably already overloaded. Or you don’t have enough hiring staff, and you’re patching this together in your nonexistent free time. A professional recruiter concentrates on a few assignments at a time, for superior results.

5: External recruiters understand the nuances of the job description. You know what you’re looking for in a candidate. But it’s often difficult—or impossible—to capture all of those requirements in a job description. External recruiters understand those subtle factors, and will talk to you about them—how you see this new hire fitting in to your corporate culture, and into the dynamic of the team they would be joining, for example.

6: External recruiters work with your hiring manager. We know that your hiring manager’s success will be measured by the success of your new hire over time. As an external recruiter, our role is to help every member of your team—existing and new—succeed. So we’ll work in close partnership with anyone within your organization whose performance depends on your new hires.

7: External recruiters focus on results, not on looking busy. By definition, external recruiters are paid on commission, not on salary. We’re rewarded for finding the right person, not for filling the position as fast as possible—with the wrong person—or for cutting the cost-per-hire as low as possible. Evidence shows that recruiter-hired employees outperform their internally-hired peers in the long run. And we know that you—and your hiring managers—care most about long-term performance.

8: External recruiters are also career advisors. We’re committed to taking the long view; making sure that our candidates are joining your organization for the right reasons, such as career growth and professional development. We know that there are other incentives in play; many candidates are also looking for higher pay, a shorter commute, a better work-life balance, or faster payment of commissions. But we also see ourselves as trusted career counselors to our candidates, and we ask the hard questions before they accept a position, so that you’re not left to clean up the mess left by an unsuitable candidate later.

Using a third-party recruiter is always a leap of faith. We know that you need a firm that understands your corporate culture, and the demands and constraints of the position you’re looking to fill. At Search Consultants, we’re committed to building meaningful relationships with our clients, and with the candidates we place. Most importantly, we deliver results—highly qualified candidates who fit your needs—while you continue focusing on what you do best.

Contact us today to discuss your needs and how we can help you grow in a strategic, sustainable way. You can reach us by e-mail at info@searchconsultantsinc.com, or by phone at 919-590-9855.