Why recruiting searches fail

Recruiters are great (can you tell I’m a recruiter). Seriously though when companies need people, people that they can’t find or find fast enough companies call their trusty recruiter, and expect that they will fill the need quickly. Of course sometimes it works just that way…other times…not so much. The question that needs to be asked is why did it fail?

As we know sometimes the company picks the wrong recruiter (your competition), they utilize the wrong search model (contingency vs. retainer or vice versa) or the recruiter doesn’t really work the job. However, increasingly we are seeing companies that are driving the search process over the cliff before even speaking with a recruiter by narrowing the field to a needle in the haystack search.

When I say “needle in the haystack” I’m not talking about a difficult search. We are paid to fill difficult positions with requirements that while expansive are in line with typical industry experience. No I’m talking about requiring all of the typical requirements for the position with multiple industry, organizational or compensation based “outliers”. These “outliers” are skills or experiences that quite simply the vast majority of the market doesn’t possess and that when coupled with the other requirements put a company into a position were the available pool of talent is so small that they really don’t have many options.

So my advice to you if you have a client who is looking to fill a role like this is to be aware of the difficulties and be upfront with them about the realities of the market. If you can’t gain some flexibility, then no matter how good a client they are it’s typically not going to be worth the time, energy or effort to work this search.

By the way: this also holds true for candidates that are inflexible and require more than the market will provide.

Comment by Amber Powell on February 14, 2008 at 1:06pm: Hi Bill,

You have some very good advice and have raised some good points on what not to do if a company is running into this type of scenario. I have many times. However, I am a firm believer that eventually the client will hire from me. In particular, I have a client in the RTP area of NC and they are famous for this. I counter it with pipelining with what they are usually asking for. Almost always they end up being flexible on all of the requirements that they are seeking in a candidate and settle. I would also make sure to ask why the position is open in the first place. I have also seen this type of issue happening with VMO type requisitions where Human Resources clicks a button and then add notes sent over in an email from the Hiring Manager. If you are able to call the Manager and re-qualify the requisition you may find it is not what Human Resources put out after-all.....

Just my thoughts....

Comment by bill martineau on February 14, 2008 at 2:35pm: Amber,

Your right that those strategies can work (and specifically with one or two clients in which you've had success), but I was talking more in general terms about the odds of success over the long term. Because as we both know if you’re working on jobs that are too hard to fill and taking too long you’re losing money by not working more readily fillable jobs.

So as always it boils down to business acumen, and if you feel those positions are the best way to grow your business and make you money that day, then keep working them. However, I'd still keep my eye out for better clients/job orders to spend your time on since as a recruiter time is your only commodity.

Bill
www.thevoiceofit.com