Technical Recruiters – Knowing your options as a company

Companies in the tech industry share the commonThese concerns are relative and should be examined
problem of hiring talented people. While Fortune 500through the lens of each individual company. For
companies such as Google have the luxury of buildingexample, an organization with only intermittent hiring
extensive internal recruiting expertise, most otherneeds would be foolish to bring on a full time internal
organizations are better served to outsource theirrecruiter to service those needs. External recruiters
recruiting needs. Professional recruiting organizationsoffer the advantage of cost savings for most
offer the advantages of constant contact withorganizations, regardless of their hiring needs. Due to
evolving expertise requirements, existing relationshipsthe range of needs in the market, technical recruiters
with high-value candidates and consistent experiencehave developed different pricing structures to service
with the current recruiting environment. Cost savingsdifferent companies. For example, companies with
in another prime benefit of outsourcing your technicalintermittent job openings for highly technical roles are
recruiting requirements. Given the prospectivebest served by a contingent recruiting model while
benefits of hiring external technical recruiters, whatcompanies with more regular recruiting demand can
factors should a company consider when choosingopt for a recruitment process outsourcing model.
the recruiters that they work with?Some technical recruiters will offer both models to
Expertisehelp better service the needs of their clients.
Experience is critical to achieving success in theContingent recruiting offers the advantage of limiting
recruiting industry. Your recruiting representativesrisk and controlling costs. This model can be a great
require a solid understanding of the specificfit for organizations from startups to larger
requirements for each open job. This level ofcompanies looking to limit the cost of their internal
understanding is especially important when recruitinghiring personnel. Contingent recruiting also offers the
for tech jobs. As only certain candidates will matchadvantage of open market competition. Companies
the job profile, any candidate referred into thedevelop the requirements for a new position and
recruiting funnel who does not meet the technicalseveral technical recruiters compete to find the right
requirements will only serve to waste time. At ancandidate for the role. In contingent recruiting the
even more granular level companies should look forrecruiter is only paid when a candidate is hired and
recruiting organizations that have specific experiencegenerally there are requirements that the candidate
in their technology sector. This strategy will helpmust stay at the company for a certain amount of
provide access to more prime candidates via thetime before the payment is fulfilled. Under this model
recruiters existing network. Be sure to ask whatcompanies should expect to pay approximately 20%
other companies the technical recruiters have workedof each placements first year salary upon meeting
with that might match your company's technicalthe terms of payment. The downside of contingent
profile. Don't be afraid to even inquire about the rolesrecruiting is that companies can fail to establish close
they have placed for similar positions to your openenough relationships with each recruiter to most
jobs.effectively convey their job requirements.
Location is another element of expertise. WhileRecruitment process outsourcing provides an
technical requirements are primary, knowing the layeffective middle ground between contingent
of the land for a certain regions can provide manyrecruiting and hiring an extensive internal recruiting
advantages towards securing the right candidates fordepartment for your company. In recruitment
a job. As an example, when news began leaking outprocess outsourcing an organization will establish an
that Yahoo was approaching dire straits, many localexclusive relationship with a technical recruitment firm.
recruiting agencies began to target yahoo employeesThe pricing structure involves a regular retainer with a
for recruitment. This strategy offered the benefits ofsignificantly reduced commission for each placement.
skilled candidates with demonstrable industryThe recruitment process outsourcing model is a great
experience that were open to new job opportunities.fit for companies with regular recruiting needs that
Local expertise also offers a major advantage duringwant to limit their investment in internal hiring
the pitch process. Technical recruiter with localresources while retaining the advantages of a
knowledge will have more selling points for anystrongly developed rapport between the company
candidates that might be forced to move. They willand their recruiters.
also know of other companies in proximity that mightHuman capital is the driving force behind any
provide a candidate that is already established in theorganization. As a company looking to bring on
area. Knowing local factors, from the weather to localtechnical expertise, external recruiting services
gossip can go a long way to establishing a rapportprovide a valuable service. Knowing your company's
with a rock star candidate.recruiting needs is the first major step towards
Pricingfinding the best technical recruiter to work with your
When it comes down to decision making, manyorganization. Don't be afraid to ask the tough
companies in the hiring process are most concernedquestions and try to develop an understanding of the
about the price of their external recruiting process.process; you might be surprise at the end results.