A flourishing client / recruiter relationship doesn’t always last forever – especially when an executive team decides that they are going to work their own internal network/s in an effort to source & secure new hires without the assistance of an outside professional.
When you look at the decision to bring your search efforts in-house what are you really doing? This is an important decision to make, thus so are the details:
- First lets start by recognizing the importance of an internal HR department; what could be worse that conducting 2 phone interviews & flying a candidate in to meet with 6 interviewers for 45 minutes each to subsequently find out that the candidate is ineligible for employment because of some unforeseen circumstance? Process is important, and a good HR team can organize one well.
- Secondly let us think about what a good professional recruiter does for the client. To start: they make at least 110 calls a day. A lot of their time is spent in disguise battling through phone trees and receptionists to get to the right candidates. They work evenings, nights and weekends – only to get hung up on and told to buzz off at least 70% of the time. Once they do speak with a candidate that is open to suggestion a good search consultant will begin a very detailed process of managing expectations on both sides, from start to finish. It is 2015, and the truth is that anyone can find good people to call on LinkedIn; but it is a search expert that seeks to be an authority in the delicate process of passive candidacy and leaning professionals at the top of their respective fields into new positions.
- A third and final thing to think about is networks. In short: one should recognize that each individual’s network is different than any other. To state the obvious: a professional search expert spends 50 – 60 hours a week cultivating a network specific to a very certain set of criteria. You’re looking for a server-side oriented web applications developer in the NC Greater Triangle Area? Please call me. You need an engineer in Cleveland, OH? I’ll give you the number to one of my colleagues- specific to the nitch you’re in.
In closing – this decision should always come down to people. What are your challenges and who has the right skills and network to overcome them? This should be the premise that guides decisions specific to structuring a hiring process. You might need to become a part-time expert in search yourself – to find the right search expert.
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Ryan M. Pinney is a Technology Recruiter and Strategist specializing in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill areas of North Carolina. @_RyanPinney