Using Recruiters

Use of recruiters is informed by your strategic objectives combined with a basic understanding of how they work. Typically people in a job search are looking for permanent, full-time employment. However there are some who are looking for just part-time work, or temporary situations. With these objectives come different kinds of recruiters:

Objective >>	Perm, Full-time	Part-time	Temporary	"Temp to Perm⁽³⁾"
Types of Recruiters V
Direct Hire Firms⁽¹⁾
Staffing Agencies⁽²⁾

(1) Can include: Executive recruiters, "Headhunters", Staffing recruiters
(2) Where employee is typically employed by the staffing agency
(3) Persons seeking Perm, F/T employment may use Staffing agencies as an intermediate strategy to acquire Perm, F/T positions by hoping Part-time or temporary situations can lead to permanent, F/T opportunities.

Direct Hire Firms come in two basic varieties -- retained recruiters, where the recruiter is exclusively retained by a company to aid them in their search, and contingent recruiters, where recruiters don't have a "for services" contract with a company, but get compensated only if they bring in a candidate that gets hired. Generally speaking, retained recruiters are typically hired in executive recruiting, while contingent recruiters operate on some executive recruitment but more often in managerial ranks below the executive level.

Type

Retained

Typical Assignments
Titles/Salary

Director, VP,"C-level" & Up / 150K+

Operating Characteristics

Work on some sort of services performed contract basis for clients (i.e. hiring companies) on an exclusive basis (in other words only that search firm is retained by the client).
Many of their search assignments are unposted jobs.
Are paid on a contract basis for services provided.
Will do a lot of upfront screening of candidates for client, providing them with a short list (3-6) of 'best fit' candidates.
Generally, they are much more interested and incented to get the best fit for a companies need.
They will often accept your resume in their data files, but will only call you when they have a search assignment for which you'd be an attractive candidate. "We'll call you, don't call us" is their typical posture.

Contingent

Sr. Mgr & Below / $150K and below

Usually not on contract basis, or on exclusive basis. This means other recruiters can bring candidates to client as well.
Can "shop" the candidate to other hiring companies as well.
Generally more interested in making a placement (i.e. getting a candidate hired) then longer term interest of the hiring company
Usually happy to get your resume so they a can start pitching it for various openings, both posted and otherwise, that they may know about.

Recruiters can be specialists or generalists. As specialists, they may be focused by functional area, say exclusively in marketing, finance or IT. They might also be specialists by company in that they may have close working relationships with companies, affording them a stronger familiarity with their internal culture. Finally, recruiters might specialize by industry, such as Consumer Packaged Goods, Financial Services, Health Care, Non-profits, Higher Education etc.

Conversely generalists are usually broad-based and not exclusively anchored along any one dimension.

So what does all this mean for you? Know that not all recruiters are the same and that some might be more suited for your needs vs. others. The recruiter that your friend or colleague had success with may not be the best choice for you. Read more on how executive recruiting works here.

The Riley guide has an extensive discussion on recruiting considerations (and a list of recruiters).

Determine if the position you're looking for is primarily served by Retained or Contingent recruiters.
Once determined...
- Recall if there were any recruiters of this type you've worked with or had conversations with in the past
  - Maybe you were a hiring manager and have a working relationship with one already
  - Maybe you've fielded calls from a "headhunter" or two and passed along some names
- Ask colleagues if they know of any and/or have had positive experiences with them.
If you get good references for more than one recruiter, it may be advantageous to engage more than one.
When some names begin to surface, check them out on Linkedin (that doesn't mean invite them as a connection, just read their profile). Search the Linkedin Answers section for their name also to see if they've weighed in on certain open forum questions. And search their names in Google.
If there is a particular company or list of companies you're strongly interested in seeking opportunities with, try to contact someone you know in the company to see if they know of recruiters that the company typically uses. If that doesn't work, check recruiters' websites as they often list companies they have made placements with.
If possible, ask any colleagues you may have in HR departments where you have worked or now do. They may have some names to get started with.
If you are in a particular industry, ask people in that industry and/or check industry trade publications or industry websites where jobs might be posted to see which recruiters seem to be most active in that field.
Of course, you can search on Google to generate a target list of recruiters by using a search term that includes key terms related to your target position.

Example search terms could include:
- "Health care search firms"
- "Health care recruiters"
- "Hispanic search firms"
- "Financial recruiters"
- "IT search firms"
- "Teacher search firms"
Visit websites that help in filtering recruiters
For executive recruiters consider the top firms first
-> Survey results of people in the field by Vault, Inc
Before partnering with a recruiter, interview him/her. Inquire about their specialties, business size, references etc.


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