When you hear the word RECRUITER, what do you think? What do you feel? What taste do you get in your mouth?
I’ve asked this question before and the answers aren’t great. I’ve heard it all from: slimy, shady, money hungry, scam….and the negative list of words continues on.
There are certainly recruiting firms out there that are all of these things, BUT most are actually the opposite. In the face of what we call at eQ a “Talent War” – acquiring great top-performing talent is growing to be a more difficult task every day. In fact, last year CEO’s rated Talent Acquisition and Management as the 3rd most important on their list. And this year, it rose to #1. With the Baby Boomer generation retiring, and the Millennial’s stepping into the shoes of people who have moved up or out of organizations, acquiring, growing, and retaining talent is projected to be the MOST important as we move towards 2020.
A strong and trustworthy talent acquisition agency can be a great partner to help you find the BEST talent on the market. Here are 5 reasons why hiring a firm to help YOU find the right talent should make it to the top of your list:
1. You should focus on what you do best:
We’ve written about it time and time again – CEOs and leaders are NOT hiring experts. In fact, many have no clue how to find and hire the right people. Hiring a Talent Acquisition Partner is no different than hiring an accountant. You surely wouldn’t attempt to do your own taxes right??!
2. Put your internal corporate recruiter to the test:
If you haven’t used a recruiter that specializes in talent, how will you ever know that your corporate recruiter is worth it? Use a Talent Acquisition Partner to compare the depth of candidates, time to hire, and ultimately assess your ROI on your internal recruiting strategy.
3. Keep up with your competition:
Regardless of your size, there are always bigger, better companies who have greater “pull” and resources in getting top candidates. By using a Talent Acquisition Partner you have a better chance of seeing those top candidates. Recruiters will introduce great candidates to you regardless of your size; because, at the end of the day, they are trying to make the perfect match (and size rarely matters in this case).
4. You don’t have time. Period:
Recruiting is time consuming and costly. Costs include: job postings, applicant tracking tools, the time associated with the recruiting process (which is massive!). Consider the back-and-forth phone calls, the exchanging of hundreds of emails, the coordination of the interviews…and that’s even before you spend an average of 5 hours interviewing each candidate. If you are even remotely attractive to candidates, you could have hundreds of resumes to manage. #toomuchtimeneeded
5. Speed:
Recruiters spend their ENTIRE day working with candidates….candidates from all industries, all levels, passive lookers, active job seekers, etc. They have their finger on the pulse of who’s who, and what great opportunities are available. Typically, they can turn better quality candidates FASTER than you can in your dreams.
There are probably 10 more reasons you should consider outsourcing the interview process to a Talent Acquisition Partner, but these 5 are probably enough for you to pick up the phone and stop wasting your valuable time doing what you aren’t good at.
Misti Aaronson is the Executive Vice President and a partner at entreQuest. She utilizes her talents and expertise from working with countless organizations to help businesses grow through expert talent acquisition, growth methodology and development of their teams.
