Many companies today post their open positions on internet job boards to attract talent. While this may appear to be a cost saving option, internet job boards may not always be the most effective way to fill a position. Posting a position is easily accomplished, however, managing the responses from the posted opening can be difficult. If your company does business with the Federal Government, you may be regulated by the OFCCP. If this is the case, you must track any responses to jobs posted on these boards.
Another option for your company may be to hire an internal recruiter to assist in recruiting and retaining top talent within your organization. These recruiters are typically a part of the human resource department within the organization. If your company is growing, adding an internal recruiter may be beneficial. However, depending on the amount of company turn-over or growth you experience, you may need several internal recruiters to do the job right!
An external recruiter or outside vendor of recruiting can also be a great solution for your company. External recruiters have the ability to recruit from competitors and typically can access qualified candidates in a short time period. External recruiters also assist with prescreening, interviewing, and negotiating offers. Depending on the services you desire, contingency or retained and the type of candidate to be recruited, working with an external recruitment firm may prove to be the best investment of your time, money and energy.
As an HR Director or Manager of a growing company, you may find yourself asking the question, “When do we need to utilize the services of a recruiter or executive search firm?” In today’s economy we are all forced to tighten down on spending and consider each dollar that we spend. The decision to utilize a recruiter for a particular search should include these key considerations. First, do you have an approved requisition within your company to hire this position? Sounds crazy, but often companies reach out to recruitment firms to fill a position that has not solidly been approved by appropriate management.
Secondly, how vital is the position to your organization? Does this position need to be filled within a specific time frame? If the answer is yes, then using a recruiting firm to assist you in filling the position quickly would be beneficial to your bottom line.
Thirdly, have you exhausted your own resources? This statement also may sound absurd, but the last thing a recruiter working on a commission only basis wants to hear is that you filled the position internally.
A recruiter is someone trained to solicit individuals with unique qualifications for positions within a corporation, non-for-profit organization, sports team, etc. To find individuals with these unique qualities, recruiters spend many hours researching their particular industry, networking, qualifying and establishing relationships. Relationships are what sets a recruiter apart in the industry.
So, back to the original question, “When do we need to utilize the services of a recruiter or executive search firm?” The answer is simple. Use a recruiter when you need to fill within a certain time frame and the open position requires a candidate with unique skill sets.
As a Human Resources or Talent Acquisition partner in your organization, you are more than likely faced with a barrage of calls, e-mails, brochures, etc. from agencies vying for your business.
The rhetoric is the same in the medical sales arena, “We have had great success in finding…blah…blah…blah, and that’s where the ole *7 (delete) command happens in the voice mail system.
Why? It’s because you’re hearing from another vendor with an unsubstantiated claim trying to obtain your business. This type of “cold call” has long been the norm for those of us in the medical sales recruiting industry. Unfortunately, in the previous example, there was no value or need, which initiated any action on behalf of your organization, the potential client company.
I’m not saying that the above solicitation is bad; we’re all just trying to make a living in today’s tough medical sales economy. What I would venture to say is that the impactful nature of those calls is just not there. It appears the recruiter has made no review of your company’s website and no possesses no “baseline” knowledge of your organization or its products or services.
My point is this…to be great at recruiting in the medical or pharmaceutical sales market; a medical sales recruiter must have a solid medical and sales background. An understanding of the marketplace and knowledge of current changes in reimbursement or other relevant trends is critical. I guess at this point your question might be, “How can I expect you to help me if you don’t understand my needs in medical sales?” (more…)
