“You’re a recruiter? How do you still have a job?” Believe it or not this is something that gets asked of me quite often. When we go through the awkward conversation that follows this statement I am always told the same 3 reasons not to use a recruiter:

1. Recruiters are too expensive
2. Recruiters are old-fashioned
3. Recruiters don’t know what I want in my new employees

While this may the case for some recruiters it’s not true of all, you just need to find the right recruiter for you and your business. Here are my reasons that the above statements are not always the case:

1. Recruiters are too expensive

There are many ways recruiters charge their fees, the most common being charging a placement fee which is generally a percentage of the new employee’s annual salary, and this can range from 10% to 20% depending on the role. This is a good practice for high-end roles, for example, your Managers, Lawyers, Doctors etc as it can take a long time to find the right person for these roles, however, another way of charging that is becoming more popular is pay by the hour recruitment. This is paying the recruiter a set amount for each hour they work on your positions, I personally think this is great for mid-range professional roles like consultants, administration officers, salespeople because you can either recruit for a single role or do bulk recruitment, hourly recruitment fees can vary from about $150 to $400 per hour and you would pay the same amount per hour no matter how many employees they find you!

2. Recruiters are old-fashioned

If your recruiter is old fashioned then you need to find a new one because it is a new world out there and there are more avenues to finding candidates than just using job boards like Seek. A modern thinking recruiter would be challenging the status quo to find the best way to find the right candidates for you. This could be through a traditional approach such as Seek and newspaper advertising (yes people still look in the newspaper for jobs); or it could be a newer approach, such as using LinkedIn, or other social media campaigns. It’s important for your recruiter to understand where to find your target candidates and what will work best for your location and the roles available.

3. Recruiters don’t know what I want in my new employees

A good recruiter will spend time with you and get to know your company to understand what you are looking for in a candidate. They will take the time necessary to understand the culture of the business to find people who will fit in with your business and team. Try to be as open and honest as possible with your recruiter, if you are not, it makes it harder to find the right person. For example, if your workplace can get chaotic sometimes, then you will need someone who can be flexible and adaptive.

Engaging a recruiter or recruitment agency to assist your business can be a great move as it saves your time and therefore costs. The most important thing to remember when engaging a recruitment agency is to find one that you want to work with long term because even though it may be a while before you need them again, when you do, they will already understand your business and the type of candidates who will work best in your team.