Business FAQs

If you need a haircut, you see a hairdresser. If you need to build a house, you see a builder. The same principal applies in recruitment. Recruitment should not only be measured in cost but in time. A regular recruitment process will more often than be extremely time consuming for at least 2 people in an organisation. Writing an advert, posting online, screening all candidates, handling correspondence, telephone interviews, confirming interviews, conducting interviews , confirming more interviews, reference checking , more correspondence , managing offers. And this is before a candidate starts. Even with a well-managed and well run service capturing the caliber and type of person you need is difficult to achieve through one recruitment campaign. A good recruitment company not only adds value to your process, they should also be able to provide links to hi caliber candidates that you probably won’t have captured through an advert. A good recruiter should be well known within their discipline (i.e. Accountancy) within the market place and that’s in part what you should be paying a fee for. If a recruitment company is suggesting advertising and shortlisting those responses then all they are offering is a outsourced service and that is not adding value.

There are many providers out there both locally and nationally but your selection priority should be based on local providers who specifically specialize in the discipline or vocation you are recruiting. If you are in a major NZ city such as Christchurch it pays to use someone with local knowledge of the economy and labor market. You should also be seeking evidence of activity and success within the local market also, so references and proven recruitment activity (i.e. seek) also help. In addition, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’. If you are provided with CVs that match your spec then it should give you more confidence.

If you do not receive CVs in less than 3 working days then they probably don’t have suitable candidates. You can always give someone a day or two extra if they are confident of meeting and extended deadline. The exception to this is if the role is a difficult to source or executive level role where the candidate will be more difficult to source. 2-3 weeks is normally ok in those circumstances Some recruitment companies will try to promote advertising locally which is fine but they need to be able to demonstrate and provide a suitable shortlist before advertising as you are paying a fee for their network and service not their ability to advertise and shortlist on your behalf. You are simply outsourcing the process in those circumstances! P: 021 878 879 E: tania@profilegroup.co.nz

You are paying for a service so the recruiter should be providing a screened shortlist of around 3-5. You may like to see more than that and that is fine as the service should be tailored to your requirements.

Be honest and provide tangible feedback to the recruiter. If someone is evidently not suitable do not waste your time with interviews, unless the recruiter can provide evidence otherwise. It is possible that the specification of the role may be misunderstood so it pays to look at other CVs from the recruiter but more often than not, if they can’t match correctly 1st time they probably wont 2nd time around.

Try keep it too a minimum as recruitment can take up plenty of time. You don’t need to make it even more difficult for yourself dealing with correspondence from 4/5 plus potential suppliers. 1-2 is normally a healthy amount but more often than not it pays to have one recruitment firm who knows your business and you and has evidence of successful delivery of good people.

This is often one of the pitfalls in using multiple agencies. There is no right or wrong in this situation but the easiest and simplest approach is to interview the candidate through the agency who can provide email proof from the candidate they had been contacted 1st as some recruitment companies can often send CV s without notifying the candidate and gaining their express permission – something to be mindful of!

Most recruitment firms offer a guarantee within this period. Check their terms regarding this before agreeing to anything as this tends to be common practice to protect the business when paying for a recruitment service.

Essential:

• Registration of the candidate with relevant completed documentation kept on file
• Proof checking of eligibility to work in NZ
• Every candidate in the shortlist should have been screened in person, with the occasional exception i.e. different location. How can you expect to receive a detailed overview of the shortlisted candidate unless they have been met by the recruitment person/consultant?
• Accurate and timely correspondence to all candidates interested in your company and role
• Reference checks on the preferred candidate– between 1 and 2. It is recommended that you follow up with any reference check taken to confirm the detail for your

Available on request:

• Branded advertising campaign
• Criminal record check
• Qualification check
• Testing and psychometrics
• Interview support and structuring
• Database search if the specific role is difficult to source

This is often a sore subject for some businesses. The cost of recruitment for its entire lifecycle is not cheap. Which is why you have to (wherever possible) get it right 1st time. If you pay below market rate you will receive a below market rate candidate, product, or service. The more senior a role is the higher the percentage tends to be due to the extra work required to source and attract the right talent at that level. With this sliding scale increment in in mind a ‘specialist’ recruiters fee tend to start around 14% of annual salary, with some International corporates charging as much as 20-25%. Wherever possible you can sometimes negotiate a reduction for exclusivity or something else that can ‘sweeten the deal’ for the recruiter. If you feel you recruit on a fairly regular basis there should always be scope to have a preferred agreement in place and this is something worth asking for as can represent good value to business or department that recruits annually or more. In most cases, you should not be expected to pay a fee up front. Always query this.