Firms who are contacted are required to complete an extensive form that does little to evaluate or assess the worthiness of the firm to provide service delivery. Although he didn't voice this, I don't work for the firm so I am not encumbered by chain of command or the need to be conciliatory so I will ask the question: Whose human resources are they managing--his or theirs?
This scenario is not unique to this firm.
A state government contacted me two months ago about entering their vendor program. I completed thirty some odd online forms, submitted notarized documentation and then asked, "OK, where is the work for me?" Their answer, "Oh! We're just the vendor management program. We have nothing to do with that!" Huh?
If they are trying to help him, they should at least report back on their contact with his recommendations . . . and they don't. When he has asked the recruiter whether they have been contacted, the typical answer is, "No." So, let's assume you do want to evaluate and assess potential recruiters, what can you ask them? Don't just Google for a business name like "Sales Bananas" that suggests an expertise.
Here are some things to do:
1. I am of the opinion that you can't ask them directly how much experience they have because it is too easy for a beginner to lie and say they have more experience than they have. Instead, ask them, "Where did you go to school? When did you graduate? With what degree? What did you do upon graduation?" Continue through until you have the chronology of their experience. Some may still get through lying, but you will catch others. By all means, if you are in human resources, ask your managers with whom they have had a good experience and what made it good. Then contact them!
2. Do you belong to a trade group? An industry association? A medium where you speak with others doing your job at another firm? Ask them for their contacts. The specific person, not the firm. If you contact the firm in general, you may wind up with the rookie of the day to work with. Why should you break them in?
3. Do you need a specialist or a generalist? There are virtues to working with both. A specialist ostensibly knows the specific type of work you to have done. A generalist can cover a broad arena removing the necessity of you working with many different firms and breaking them all in.
My own history involves extensive recruiting in technology since 1972 but, in 2002, clients asked me to work in different sectors which led me to many new fields. In 2006, I even filled a position for a wood procurement specialist for a liquor company (to purchase hard woods for the casks their liquor was aged in); it was a search like none I had done before but intrigued me (frankly, I thought it was a fun job and took some time and filled it).
Like the mutual fund advertising ads said, "Past performance doesn't guaranty future returns." Ask questions like:
1. Tell me about some of the searches you've done in the last year? (Ask this question BEFORE you tell them about the positions you have open in order to preclude them from repeating back your job as one they just completed).
2. Is your firm a multi-office operation? Does it do local, regional or national searches? At what scale does it operate? Scale may be important if you are trying to find a resource for 2000 positions as part of a ramp up. Multi-office operation may mean that your contact person may get help supporting your work in Timkuktoo or not; many recruiters only work on their own assignments, preferring to keep 100% of commissions instead of half. As a result, your contact person with the 50 offices may not get as much support as it sounds.
3. What can I expect of you? What steps will you take to locate, assess and refer someone?
4. What is your firm's practice about recruiting from a client? What is a client company to you? Who are your current clients (and this, who is off limits)
Since entering this field what seems like a hundred years ago, I have seen how firms do nothing to evaluate and assess the firms that will supply their talent and then wonder why they don't like the results they get. It's like hiring someone who you never interview. Does that make sense to you? Of course not. Yet isn't how you have accepted working with many vendors?
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com
© 2007 all rights reserved.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.
To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.
If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).
