It might be tempting to fire up your laptop, send out a meeting invite to five or six different recruiters, gather them on a call, and tell them all what you’re looking for in your next hire. Efficient, right? And you might be thinking that you’re not out anything if only one of them comes back with a decent candidate, right? While this all sounds great in theory, working with multiple recruiters can be a bigger headache than it’s worth. Here’s why.
Paperwork
According to Inc.com, the average corporate job opening attracts 250 applicants. Now, because you’re using a recruiter, you won’t have to review that many resumes. Let’s say the average recruiter sends you 5 resumes a week over the course of recruiting for a position. Let’s say you’re working with four or five recruiters. When you do the math, you’re now reviewing a number of resumes approaching that 250 number. And, how many of those resumes will be from the same candidate, just submitted to you by a different recruiter? Additionally, you’re having to track which recruiter is sending you which candidate, and where they are in your hiring process. Are you starting to see why playing the numbers game doesn’t guarantee you’re getting what you want/ need?
Who do you want representing your company/ brand?
A lot of hiring managers when they first start to work with a recruiter forget to ask important questions about how a recruiter will represent their company/ brand. Will they tell each candidate the name of the company that they’re representing or who is hiring? Will the recruiter know enough about culture/ values to paint an accurate picture for a candidate? Will the recruiter tell a candidate what they want to hear about the role versus what the role will actually be like? All of these questions are important to understand and assess when you’re working with a recruiter. Not only do you need to ensure a recruiter knows your company and how the role fits into it, but he or she needs to be truthful about why the role is open, and what a candidate can expect when working in the position. If you’re unsure about how your recruiter will handle any of those common questions/ concerns, you’re not working with the right person. When you’re working with multiple recruiters, it can be challenging to remember who you told what detail about the role/company/culture, and keep track of who you still need to deliver those details to.
Process
How are each of these recruiters planning to find great candidates? If you’re relying on recruiters who only use their databases and personal networks to find candidates, you’re not going to find the best candidates. Great recruiters actively go out and find candidates they haven’t met yet that have backgrounds aligning with your role’s specific characteristics. If you have one, dedicated, focused recruiter that is scouring all available (and unavailable) talent, then one recruiter is all you’ll need. Almost half of U.S. workers — 48 percent — are likely to look for a new job in the next year, according to the American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor survey. The Harris Poll conducted the survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults.; 1,111 were employed. But remember, that doesn’t mean these people are applying to jobs. This is where your dedicated, focused recruiter will deliver you talent that isn’t actively scanning job boards or applying to jobs.
While using multiple firms/ recruiters might seem like a good idea, in practice, developing a relationship with one recruiter that you trust to represent your values and ideals as an organization, and also has an easy, straightforward recruiting process that involves you at a level you’re comfortable with will yield better results than casting a wide net. Even though it might feel like you’re putting all your “recruiting eggs” in one basket, the candidates you’ll get through a recruiter that knows you, your organization, and has a vested interest in being successful on your behalf will outperform multiple recruiters hoping to get lucky enough to find the right candidate. Invest in developing a great relationship with a great recruiter, and you’ll save yourself time, money, and avoid a lot of paperwork.