Just Tell me the FEE!!!!!

I am venting right now. I am thinking about working with a 3rd party agency on a position that has been very difficult to fill. I reached out to 2 agencies via email (they've contacted me in the past) to simply ask what their fee agreement is.

Why can 't they just email me with the fees? I don't want to chat for 20 minutes about your agency. I don't even know if I am going to work with you. I just want to know the darn percentage IF I decide to use your services. If I decide to use your service, then we'll chat.

I've worked with 3rd party agencies for years. I don't need the sales speech, why you are the best, etc, etc. Just tell me the darn fee.

Ok, I've vented. Thanks!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on October 31, 2012 at 12:44pm

Tiffany - sorry w/ hijacked your thread w/ our Seattle talk :)

Glad you found someone that can help out... but Jerry does make an important point. Unless there is a REALLY GOOD REASON to go below standard 25-30% (or in some cases 20%) I would be very concerned about the level of support and attention I'm really going to get from my TPR partner. Even if they agreed to work with me at 18% and it's a field they're strong in, why on earth would they send me the "best" candidate knowing full well they can send him or her to my 25% paying competitor? Just food for thought.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Branch on October 31, 2012 at 2:18pm

I just feel it's over priced and I've had recruiters negotiate contracts with me at rates lower than 25-30%. No, the quality of candidates weren't poor. At the end of the day, get an order, make a placement and get paid or get no order. It's up to the agency to decide what they want to do. If poor candidates are submitted, they won't be placed with me and you still won't get paid.

At one company, I negotiated 15% for non-exempt, 18% exempt, 20% IT and Director and above. Those same agencies that were charging us 25-30% and up agreed to our rates and we continued to do business with them. It wasn't worth them losing our business all together.

For this job, it's a one shot deal, and I probably won't use an agency again (or at least the same agency) any time in the near future. My current org doesn't have enough volume on a consistent basis.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Schultz on October 31, 2012 at 7:49pm

I have gone below with startups who show good promise and have a product that we can understand. (Venture Recruiting). We usually take a stock grant (not in lieu of fees bc then you pay tax on it) as well. And usually I end up wall papering the bathroom with the worthless paper. But whenever we take on a search, we always show our best people, regardless of fee. If you don't want it, don't take it.

Amy Ala said:

Tiffany - sorry w/ hijacked your thread w/ our Seattle talk :)

Glad you found someone that can help out... but Jerry does make an important point. Unless there is a REALLY GOOD REASON to go below standard 25-30% (or in some cases 20%) I would be very concerned about the level of support and attention I'm really going to get from my TPR partner. Even if they agreed to work with me at 18% and it's a field they're strong in, why on earth would they send me the "best" candidate knowing full well they can send him or her to my 25% paying competitor? Just food for thought.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Miller on November 1, 2012 at 11:59am

Hi Tiffany,

I was wondering if you would be able to tell me the size of your organization, the industry, and how large your HR department is?

I was an HR Director (department of 1) for a retail apparel company with approximately 400 employees that rarely, if any, used an outside agency for recruiting due to the expense.

Thanks,

Michelle

Tiffany Branch said:

I just feel it's over priced and I've had recruiters negotiate contracts with me at rates lower than 25-30%. No, the quality of candidates weren't poor. At the end of the day, get an order, make a placement and get paid or get no order. It's up to the agency to decide what they want to do. If poor candidates are submitted, they won't be placed with me and you still won't get paid.

At one company, I negotiated 15% for non-exempt, 18% exempt, 20% IT and Director and above. Those same agencies that were charging us 25-30% and up agreed to our rates and we continued to do business with them. It wasn't worth them losing our business all together.

For this job, it's a one shot deal, and I probably won't use an agency again (or at least the same agency) any time in the near future. My current org doesn't have enough volume on a consistent basis.

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Permalink Reply by Raphael Fang on November 1, 2012 at 12:00pm

If I got an email from a company asking for the fee, I will just reply with our fee structure. It is obvious that the company is going to look at price before anything. ALWAYS gives what people ask.