run hard, or go home
run hard, or go home

The role of a recruiter

I just read a post out on the Internet which was written barely a year ago which does a pretty good job of explaining what the value of a recruiter is in your overall search strategy and then goes on to explain the difference between a contingency and retained search recruiter.  Check out the post at your leisure.

Cheryl Lynch Simpson advocates for retained search in the end exclusively and in doing so glosses over some basic facts.  There is not inherently greater value in retained versus contingency, each has it’s place, features, and role.

Retained firms establish arrangements with clients where they are given an established amount of money up front for a single position or series of agreed upon roles.  Often times these roles tend to be more senior where the candidate pool is smaller and the ultimate deals  are more complicated to put together.

The needs of a VP of Engineering making close to $200K in annual salary are far more involved then those of a $75K staff programmer.  When looking for a VP role and above, sometimes even a Director and above depending on the size of the organization, the staffing professional could spend a lot of time and never identify the right candidate.

Retained search is about placing a value on your time up front and safeguarding one’s investment and selling that to the client.  Consequently, working with a retained search firm does not guarantee any more allegiance to you as the candidate then it would if you were working with a contingency based firm.

What I have found to be true in staffing is really common sense.  It’s all about the relationship: integrity, trust, and the mini-contract.  If you are dealing with an ethical and respected professional they will always be honest about what they can do for you, candid about what they can not, and clear to establish an next step in the relationship so as to manage effectively your expectations.

Always be ready to objectively assess whether a given professional is doing right by you and treating you fairly regardless of what their background.  Work with those professionals that consistently meet the mini-deliverables and arrangements that you make between each other and be cautious of those that too often let things slip.  Remember the age old saying, Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me.

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