How do you know if the Recruiter/Head Hunter is any good prior to working with? You don’t want to waste your time with a bad one and there are so many recruiting agencies out there, it seems like a new one pops up every minute, how can you determine which recruiter to work with? With just 3 quick questions you will be able to narrow down the list and cross most potential recruiters off your list.
1. How Many Searches Do Your Recruiters Work On?
2. What is your fill %?
3. What is your warranty/Guarantee?
1. How Many Searches Do Your Recruiters Work On?
This should be an easy question for your recruiter to answer and it should be a range. You are looking for 15-20, 10 searches as a bare minimum and 25 as a max.
Less Than 10 Searches
If they are working on less than 10 Searches it is a good indication that they are very new and do not have established clients. If they have been in business for
sometime but still have so few jobs it says that they are not very good. A good recruiter should be in high demand, they should have repeat customers continually coming back to them and new clients coming in that were referred to them. Whatever the situation, it is a clear indication that you should stay away, you don’t want a new recruiter trying to figure out their craft on your job order. When they are working on your search they are representing your brand and a bad recruiter can ruin your reputation.
Over 25 Searches
Over 25 Searches is a great indication that they have a good following and are very good at business development but it also means they are going to be way too busy for your search. This will vary between industry but for Mechanic Recruiting, A good recruiter can realistically only recruit 1 maybe 2 good Mechanics per day. Anyone can find ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘D’ candidates but if you want ‘A’ candidates or Rockstars as we like to call them then it will be impossible to find more that 1-2 a day. So if a recruiter is working on 30 jobs and they are finding
on average 5-7 candidates per week that means it is going to take them up to 6 weeks just to find you one candidate. If you want to have options and not be forced into hiring the first person they find that means you could be waiting 2-3 months just to get a couple of candidates to interview. When it comes to hiring mechanics that is way too long, having a mechanic position open for 3 months could be costing your company over $50,000 in revenue and close to $20,000 in Profit (see Diesel Mechanic Shop Profit Breakdown at Full Bay) The best recruiters are busy but are also smart enough to turn away business or have a big enough staff that they can ensure each recruiter is never working on more than 20-25 searches at a time.
2. What is Your Fill %?
Ask this question in your first call with a Recruiter. Most recruiters are analytical and obsessed with numbers. They should be able to tell you exactly what their fill % is. If they don’t know that is a problem, it means they are either embarrassed by the number or are not paying attention.
A high number is what you are looking for, no one is going to be 100% so don’t expect that but they should be over 50%. Keep in mind that this is a number that most recruiters are also likely to exaggerate a bit,if it is a nice round number you can bet it has been rounded up and depending on the recruiter you can probably take away 10% from whatever they say. If they give you an exact number like 67% they are either very clever or honest, either way it is a sign you have a good recruiter.
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3. What is your Warranty/Guarantee?
This one is pretty standard, industry average is 3 months, if it is less then that or if they have no warranty then run away. If they offer more than 6 months it is a good sign that you have a confident recruiter who knows what they are doing.
Replacements happen and most recruiters accept that but the best ones do a good enough job screening that they don’t have to worry about too many fall offs and can offer longer warranties.
These 3 questions are a great start to narrowing down if a recruiter is right for you to work with. If you need Mechanics, HVAC Techs or Millwrights you can trust the Rockstar Recruiting Group who specialize in Skilled Trades jobs, have high fill%, max of 20 job orders per recruiter and offer a 6 month standard warranty. Give us a call at 1-833-762-5787 to learn more.
