Using outside recruiters can be a life-saver for an over-extended HR department. But let’s be honest - sometimes they don’t add anything of value, and they can even make your recruiting life more difficult. Let’s take a look at the 5 signs that you should fire your outside recruiter.
- A superficial understanding of your role. Your recruiter should be taking the time to truly understand the role they are helping to recruit. At the very least, there would be a conversation with the HR contact handling the role and ideally, a conversation with the hiring manager as well.
- Crappy resumes. Nobody is doing you any favors if they are just increasing your overall resume rejection number. You should expect a high percentage of hits, or at least near misses coming from that recruiter, especially if point 1 above has been addressed. Unfortunately, we all know that there are recruiters out there who prefer the “throw a pile of resumes your way and see what sticks” approach. Stout Systems prefers to take the “Prequalify them with a 21-point screening including a high-level tech screen,” even if it means fewer resumes coming your way.
- The “submit and disappear” trick. Ever have a recruiter send a candidate your way, and then when you express interest you can’t get a hold of the recruiter? Yet another reason they need to be fired. This is fluid and fast-moving market at the moment, and when it comes to reeling in a good candidate, there simply isn’t room for delays.
- The recruiter who presents inaccurate salary requirements. Few things are as disappointing as when you present an offer with what you feel is a good salary and the candidate counters with a substantially different amount. Sadly, some recruiters will understate a candidate’s salary expectations in the hopes that you will fall in love with the candidate and everything will work itself out in the end. Well, we all know how that story ends - not well, and a complete waste of everyone’s time. That recruiter needs to be fired.
- The recruiter who can’t keep track of their own submissions. Let’s face it - life gets busy and sometimes a submission will get lost in your inbox. But our experience is that pretty much all of our clients appreciate a “ping” if we haven’t heard back from you after a day or two of submitting a candidate. But what if your recruiter doesn’t even realize that you haven’t gotten back? The only thing sadder than a client losing track of a good submission is a client AND the recruiter losing track of the submission, ‘cuz that fish is going to end up on someone else’s line. If your recruiter isn’t following up with you on a regular basis regarding their submissions, then that recruiter also needs to be fired.
We could keep going here, but suffice it to say that if you are experiencing one or more of the above, then it may be time to look for a different recruiter to help you with your recruiting needs.
Stout Systems is the software consulting and staffing company Fueled by the Most Powerful Technology Available: Human Intelligence®. If you're looking to hire technical talent for your company, please contact us.
