You need to hire a recruiter? Questions you need to ask!

Recruiting excellent talent is becoming more and more challenging.  Choosing a professional recruiter can sometimes be a challenge as well.

For those of you who are uncertain about using a third party recruiter here are some questions you may want to ask:

1) What do you know about the industry, my business and the people I need in my business?

You want to feel confident that the recruitment firm has the insight and the contacts to be able to find the right people for you!

2) Can you provide examples/references of similar work??

It doesn’t matter whether they have made placements in your particular industry – it matters more that they can access “chemistry or fit” along with specific skill sets required for the job

3)What is your process?

If the only thing they do is fire away resumes… that’s not a process you want to become involve with!  Where is the value added?

4) What KPI’s do you measure your success…?

Making the placement isn’t the only measure of success.. let them tell you what else is important along the way to a successful close!

5) Do you offer other services such as salary, career advice, market trend report?

Most good recruiters have excellent “market intelligence” that you can obtain just for asking – no charge!

6) What organizations does your firm belong to?

If they are serious about their profession, they will be members of professional groups.  Enough said!

There are more questions that will come out as you have discussions with various firms but if you ask these, you are off to a great start!