When I started a new career as a recruiter, over 20 years ago, I was shocked by what a nasty reputation recruiters had. I had no idea! But then, after talking with clients, it started making some sense.
The first several years of my work as a recruiter, I signed up and took advantage of every opportunity for industry training I could find. At a certain point, most of the training all said the same things, in different ways. The trainers would always spend half their time on sourcing and recruiting technique and the other half on new business development. I could never understand why contingent recruiters spent so much time on new biz, instead of completing the searches they had already started. That lack of successful placements, directly impacted recruiters’ reputation.
Finally, I understood. Contingency recruiters are much more interested in volume and speed to introduction, than developing deeper relationships with their clients and their candidates. It’s because they aren’t getting paid for the time spent, they only get paid when a candidate they introduce gets hired, usually less than 30% of the time . . . They’re always spending almost half their time on new biz dev, hoping for a search that’s easier to fill. Then they’ll leave the first client hanging, with no hire for their need. It leads to a terrible reputation . . . but it makes financial sense!
There are frequently multiple contingency recruiters working on the same searches. The client thinks the more recruiters they have working for them, the better. The reality is that multiple recruiters reduce the quality of the candidates introduced. There’s real value to the recruiter in speed to hire, not quality of hire. Many believe that the more candidates they introduce, the better the chance their client will find someone they like enough to actually hire. Again, not quality of introduction, but quantity of introductions.
In the beginning I had to do contingency search also. I didn’t have a strong enough track record to convince a client that paying me part of the fee “up front” was worthwhile. After about three years, I felt comfortable with only conducted an “engaged” or “retained” search. I had some successes with contingency searches.
I always responded to everyone who’d contact me, because I knew that inevitably, I’d be contacting them again, likely asking for referrals of candidates or clients. I always have made a point of trying to add some level of value to everyone who contacts me, for whatever reason. My goal is to always respond!
Today, that’s paying off when executives I’ve worked with previously or who’ve contacted me, will happily refer me to their employer, for future search assignments. It’s that satisfaction of helping, candidates find their next career step or employers finding that premier performer that increases their capability or capacity. I really do love doing my job!