What’s Your Recruiting Firm’s Value Added Proposition?

Big database?  No.  Established firms all have big databases.

Industry experience?  No. While an insurance organization will certainly be best served by an insurance recruiter, is that the recruiter’s value proposition? It shouldn’t be.

Can your recruiting firm articulate and communicate the value that they provide to you? A recruiter value proposition means that they have a real understanding of you and your markets. 

A recruiter value proposition means that they are:

• Saving you time
• Reducing your cost per hire
• Reducing your risk per hire
• Simplifying the process
• Enhancing your company’s reputation in the market

Here are some specifics you should consider that creates a value added proposition when you are looking at engaging a recruiter.

• Do they operate on a team approach? An environment where recruiters are encouraged to work together on your searches. This philosophy ultimately magnifies search capacity as well as results for the client. Recruitment firms will save you cost and uncertainty while optimizing your search’s reach.
• Do they have active networks? Let’s face it, most internal recruiting strategies are reactive. It produces candidates interested in engaging when an opening occurs. Specialist recruiting firms, however, are proactive. Recruiters are constantly developing a network of talent.  Experienced recruiters nurture long-term relationships with skilled candidates and track these candidates throughout their career.
• Are they skilled at writing effective job postings? Often recruiters copy & paste your job description as a job posting. Job Descriptions are just that.  They are not meant to serve as a marketing piece.  A job description must tell a story and capture attention.  It must move the reader to action.
• Do they have the ability to engage the right industry professionals in dialogue? It’s harder than ever to get a return phone call or an email response. It takes credibility and the right presentation to create action. It’s a discussion, not a sales pitch.

Consider how a recruiter presents their value proposition when selecting a recruitment firm to work with.  It will speak to how well they can represent your firm in the market.