Getting the best out of your recruitment partners is crucial to a fruitful hiring process. Whilst most companies would prefer to make all their hires internally, as we all know, that’s not always possible. Finding the right staff in incredibly competitive industries, like DevOps, can be hard, so recruitment agencies can be a useful tool in your talent acquisition process. Here are some ways to ensure that you are maximising your relationships with recruitment consultancies and getting the best results.
Arrange a call or meeting to provide a detailed briefing of the role
You don’t want your recruiter shooting in the dark. That’s why giving your recruitment partner an accurate briefing on the role you’re offering is the best way to ensure they’re hitting all your requirements for the candidate. This will save everyone time in the long run.
You can do this by arranging a 30-minute call (or even better, a meeting), giving you time to give as much detail as possible about your role. Ensure you’re covering all areas of exactly what you’re looking for – although if you are speaking to a good recruiter, they should know exactly what to ask. If a recruiter is not properly briefed on the role, then it is likely that both your time and theirs will be wasted on searching for candidates that aren’t exactly suitable. And of course, the more familiar they are with your role, the better they will be at selling it to prospective candidates that they canvass on your behalf. The hiring market is so incredibly competitive these days, so it is crucial that your talent partner has the correct focus for your requirement and is then able to execute the perfect pitch to sell your company when they do find great candidates.
A good initial briefing on the role and your company will ensure that everyone is on the same page. What’s more, this will tell your recruitment partner that you are serious about hiring and start the process off on the right step with plenty of momentum.
Provide prompt and detailed feedback
Making sure you are properly engaged with your recruitment partner throughout the process can be the difference between making that hire or not. Ensure you’re being swift when offering feedback on candidates. There are so many options for candidates, especially in the DevOps market; so as not to miss out on talent, make sure you are not leaving it too long before following up, as candidates can go off the market within a matter of days.
In addition, providing detailed feedback for unsuccessful candidates in the process will help further clarify what it is you’re looking for, ensuring the recruiter has the best idea of what to search for. Providing detailed feedback to candidates who have made the effort to interview with you is also good etiquette and will reflect well on your brand and hiring process.
Think twice about negotiating too hard on recruiters’ fees
You might think - “of course, recruiters are going to ask for an exorbitantly high fee and it is our job to get that rate down as low as possible”. However, if you’re serious about building out a team and getting the best talent on the market, you will ensure that your recruitment partner is satisfactorily incentivised. Finding good people to hire, no matter what the sector, but especially in DevOps, is incredibly challenging and so good recruiters will often demand hefty fees. Whilst most agencies will be open to negotiating, be careful not to drive too hard of a bargain. Recruitment agencies will no doubt be working with multiple clients all looking for the same types of people, especially if they are specialists.
If you successfully manage to drive down their rate of doing business, it may mean that you become less of a priority. Recruiters will naturally send their best candidates to the clients who will be paying them the most first. So, if you want the first refusal on candidates, offering a generous rate to your recruiter can be a great way to gain their priority.
In the same spirit as this, you can also offer a period of exclusivity to your recruiter to incentivise them even more and notch yourself further up their list of priorities.
Selecting the right partner
When selecting a recruitment agency to help you fill your open vacancies, you might want to make sure you are turning towards a specialist. Specialist recruiters will be the most qualified to fulfil your requirements as they are experts in the industry you are looking to hire into. Since they work the same market day in and day out, they will have the best idea of what it is you’re looking for, as well as good candidates already on their books ready to interview straight away.
