Will LinkedIn Recruiter Make Executive Search Firms Obsolete?

Lately, I've been hearing from a lot of corporate recruiters who say that they've been using the LinkedIn Recruiter tool to find and recruit candidates. Many of them claim that it has saved them a lot in search fees. Does this mean the end for executive search firms is near?

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Permalink Reply by Daren J. Mongello on December 19, 2012 at 1:01pm

Nick: So here's just a suggestion: some of your future clients (like Amy A. maybe?) could be on this board.....so think if you want to be known as someone writing " The clients are stupid."

It's OK...I get it....you're learning your way.
Been there....done that. :)

-DJM

Nick Leigh-Morgan said:

I can certainly see a situation where Executive search firms go bust though use of executive search consultants remains the same. I'll explain the contradiction........

I can think of an example of someone I know who worked for a search firm, realised that anyone with access to Linkedin could do his job so he left, set up on his own and charges a simple day rate ($750) to search Linkedin, find the right candidates, phones them up, sell the job.....etc etc. Basically doing what he did before but instead of charging 25% with a typical fee of $25k, now the client gets charged about 8 days work or $6k.

So what I expect will happen is that tons of search consultants will just go and set up on their own and undercut the companies they used to work for whilst matching or exceeding the earnings they used to achieve.

Think about what Linkedin has done. The whopping fees search firms charged were 'justified' on the basis that the research element was the most labour intensive. Now you can get a list of relevant people in seconds which anyone with a basic understanding of recruiting could do. The clients are stupid. They know this so already they're asking...."you're doing less work so cut your fees or I'll use this independent consultant who charges much less.....actually we'll go and use him anyway"...or words to that effect.

Put it this way, I wouldn't buy shares in a search firm right now. Linkedin might well put them out of business. Not today, not tomorrow but over time they're going to lose out.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on December 19, 2012 at 2:13pm

The research element is the most labor intensive....? I wish I knew that before I started staring at this list of Web Devs it took me 10 minutes to come up with. I thought getting them on the phone or getting them to respond to a cleverly written email would be tough. Followed of course by uncovering motives, discovering culture fit, close close close.... then scheduling interviews, trial closing hiring managers... keeping everyone moving forward... hoping that outside forces don't do anything to mess up my deal.

Nope. It's name gathering. That's the hard part.

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Permalink Reply by Daren J. Mongello on December 19, 2012 at 2:35pm

Snark.

Amy Ala said:

The research element is the most labor intensive....? I wish I knew that before I started staring at this list of Web Devs it took me 10 minutes to come up with. I thought getting them on the phone or getting them to respond to a cleverly written email would be tough. Followed of course by uncovering motives, discovering culture fit, close close close.... then scheduling interviews, trial closing hiring managers... keeping everyone moving forward... hoping that outside forces don't do anything to mess up my deal.

Nope. It's name gathering. That's the hard part.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on December 19, 2012 at 2:53pm

that's my nickname here at the office :)

Daren J. Mongello said:

Snark.

Amy Ala said:

The research element is the most labor intensive....? I wish I knew that before I started staring at this list of Web Devs it took me 10 minutes to come up with. I thought getting them on the phone or getting them to respond to a cleverly written email would be tough. Followed of course by uncovering motives, discovering culture fit, close close close.... then scheduling interviews, trial closing hiring managers... keeping everyone moving forward... hoping that outside forces don't do anything to mess up my deal.

Nope. It's name gathering. That's the hard part.

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Permalink Reply by Daren J. Mongello on December 19, 2012 at 3:09pm

That's funny...I originally wrote "You go, Snarky!"

Amy Ala said:

that's my nickname here at the office :)

Daren J. Mongello said:

Snark.

Amy Ala said:

The research element is the most labor intensive....? I wish I knew that before I started staring at this list of Web Devs it took me 10 minutes to come up with. I thought getting them on the phone or getting them to respond to a cleverly written email would be tough. Followed of course by uncovering motives, discovering culture fit, close close close.... then scheduling interviews, trial closing hiring managers... keeping everyone moving forward... hoping that outside forces don't do anything to mess up my deal.

Nope. It's name gathering. That's the hard part.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on December 19, 2012 at 6:17pm

That would have worked too. :)

I think at the end of the day all recruiters (those who get paid to fill positions) agree that - regardless of what side you're on, LinkedIn is a tool - LinkedIn Recruiter, while being a pricey tool, is still just a tool used by recruiters. The process doesn't change and some companies want or need an executive search firm to manage that process. That is all.

What's really crazy is me and this Daren guy actually AGREE.... :)

Daren J. Mongello said: