Recruiting Information, Resources and Jobs

A Contract Recruiter is an experienced, hands-on recruiting professional working on an hourly rate in defined term (ex. 6 month) or open-ended (ex. month-to-month) contract engagements. Like other consultants, Contract Recruiters work assignments on-site at corporate offices as an integrated team member, off-site from the recruiting firm/staffing agency office or virtually according to client preferences.

Often considered synonymous with Recruitment Consultant, the term “Contract Recruiter” is preferred by most contract recruiting professionals because it conveys the fully hands-on nature of the work they perform. As in other professions, some of the most highly skilled and knowledgeable corporate and agency recruiters become contractors (consultants).

There are considerable knowledge, skill and performance differences between individuals in the recruiting profession. It is common to express these differences by classifying Contract Recruiters in three basic “levels” (”junior level”, “mid level” and “senior level”). These “levels” usually only refer to years of experience and do not necessarily reflect a Contract Recruiter’s actual knowledge, skill, environmental relevance, business exposure or performance capability.

While there are no standards to support these references, they are used commonly by the recruiting and human resources community. One way to equate years of experience with a level designation is:

1. Junior Level (1-3 years recruiting experience)
2. Mid Level (3-7 years recruiting experience)
3. Senior Level (7+ years recruiting experience)

Most companies hire “senior” or “mid” level Contract Recruiters to handle heavy duty sourcing, screening and full-cycle recruiting. In some cases, companies hire “junior” level Contract Recruiters to assist with heavy process task load and to help coordinate the recruiting effort.

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A Recruiter by any other name is a Recruiter. A Contract Sourcing Specialist is a professional Recruiter with a proficiency and focus on candidate sourcing methodologies and practices. Whether called a Contract Recruiter or a Contract Sourcing Specialist, these experts are hands-on recruiting professionals working on an hourly rate in defined term or open-ended contract engagements. Like other consultants, Contract Sourcing Specialists work assignments on-site at corporate offices as an integrated team member, off-site from the recruiting firm/staffing agency office or virtually according to client preferences.

Sourcing involves deep web research, ATS/database and web resource data mining, leveraging referrals and multiple channel identification methods (including professional associations, networking groups, social network connectivity, etc.) in the pursuit of prospective candidates for individual or recurrent job openings. Common references associated with the tasks performed by Contract Sourcing Specialists include: names sourcing, discovery of “hidden” talent, prospective candidate identification and contact, candidate development, talent pipeline generation, talent pool development, talent channel development through networking and referrals, resume review, screening and competitive intelligence.

Most Corporate Recruiters are far too busy trying to keep pace with an overwhelming stream of job applicants for multiple requisitions while juggling a heavy task load to support the demands of the typical corporate recruiting process. A Corporate Recruiter must be focused on working with qualified candidates and maintaining strong communication with both candidates and hiring managers. There is almost never enough time for the typical Corporate Recruiter to step outside the confines of the highly reactive process created by posting jobs on internal and external job boards. This is where the dedicated Contract Sourcing Specialist comes in.

Human resources and recruiting experts agree that the best possible person for the open position is not likely to be encountered by posting a job on a job board. It happens from time to time, but it is not probable. Commonly referred to as “passive job seekers” and “hidden talent”, there is a huge potential candidate pool that always exists outside of the typical posting/response recruiting effort. The hamster wheel effect caused by multiple open job requisitions and a seemingly infinite job applicant flow prevents most corporate recruiting departments from ever really approaching this candidate pool. A focus on sourcing is the key to transitioning the bulk of the recruiting effort from reacting to “available and interested” to a more proactive search for the “best possible candidate”.

Contract Sourcing Specialists are not second tier information generators. “Contract Sourcers”, as they are commonly titled in the recruiting arena (we are anticipating that “Sourcer” will become an official word in the new English dictionary), are proactive talent scouts and are often the first point of contact with prospective candidates in the recruiting effort. Using the telephone, email, instant messaging and web-based communications, Contract Sourcers can initiate thousands of contacts with relevant professionals in order to identify high performing recruiting targets. Sourcing is recognized as one of the most important functions in the recruiting process and is the heart of every highly successful talent-building recruiting effort.

In addition to proactive candidate sourcing measures, Contract Sourcing Specialists are often deployed to handle the front end of job applicant flow in a corporate recruiting environment. The expertise of a Contract Sourcer can contribute to identifying and screening qualified job applicants. By handling a large volume of job applications and resumes and by providing the first level screening, a Contract Sourcing Specialist can significantly impact the speed of the recruiting process and ultimately, the time to fill job requisitions and the cost per hire.

Contract Sourcing Specialists:

1. Communicate in mass to relevant potential talent
2. Identify hidden or passive high performing industry talent
3. Generate a continuous pipeline of talent for recurrent positions
4. Open alternate channels and networks through which hidden or passive talent can be attracted by an opportunity
5. Increase candidate quality and quantity
6. Expedite recruiting processes by handling resume reviews and job applications in large volume
7. Contribute to the reduction of time to fill and cost per hire

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A reference distinction is sometimes made between a Contract Recruiter and Recruiting/Recruitment Consultant (we’ll use “Recruitment Consultant” in this post) when the work assigned to the contractor is not focused on the hands-on sourcing and recruiting of job candidates, but is more strategy or process related. A Recruitment Consultant is a recruiting professional working on an hourly rate in defined term or open-ended contract engagements. Like Contract Recruiters, these consultants work assignments on-site at corporate offices as an integrated team member, off-site from the recruiting firm/staffing agency office or virtually according to client preferences.

A Recruitment Consultant is usually hired to impact the fundamental work elements of the recruiting effort. The work often involves assisting in developing new sourcing strategies, recruiting strategies, process optimization, implementation of metrics-based recruiting management, employer branding, selection of web assets, ubiquitous web-based recruiting strategies, selection of ATS or RMS tools, networking, talent channel development, building employee referral programs, candidate relationship management strategies, creating compelling job descriptions, working with executives and other business leadership to convert a greater understanding of their recurrent needs to recruiting efforts that will net stronger results in acquiring the talent they need.

A Recruitment Consultant could be a Project Manager leading a team of Sourcing Specialists in a sensitive competitive assignment such as the development of competitor organization charts for the purpose of targeting individuals with key competitive hire potential. In most cases, Recruitment Consultants provide broader marketplace and competitive intelligence, strategies, plans and architecture derived from sourcing and recruiting efforts.

Recruitment Consultants differ from Organizational Development Consultants and HR Consultants in that they are typically laser focused on the strategic and tactical elements of recruiting that will net results in quality and quantity of hires. Although many different titles and references exist, Recruitment Consultants are often simply referred to as “Contract Recruiters” and are sometimes called “Talent Acquisition Consultants”, “Recruiting Consultants”, “Hiring and Selection Consultants”, and more.

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Nearly all Fortune 500 companies engage Contract Recruiters on an ongoing basis or intermittently. Many other large, medium and smaller size companies also use Contract Recruiters.

Most companies hire Contract Recruiters to:

1. Meet growth related hiring demand for fast growing or expanding companies, handle spikes in hiring needs.
2. Handle multiple, time sensitive, critical hires.
3. Take on the front-end sourcing necessary to handle high requisition loads or impact candidate quality.
4. Start a recruiting department or initiate a recruiting/staffing capability with a growing company (first hire).
5. Fill in for a temporary full-time Recruiter (ex. medical leave).
6. Inject expertise and bring “next level” capability to improve the performance of an established recruiting/staffing function.
7. Find the right individual Recruiters and the right team blend (contract-to-hire).
8. Work specific projects to support HR and business unit recruitment, selection and hiring objectives.

Contract Recruiting resources fill critical gaps in corporate recruiting horsepower and provide the scalability means for companies that prefer to adapt in real time to hiring demand.

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When you are faced with making multiple critical hires under the pressure of limited time, a Contract Recruiter may be your best solution.

Companies in size ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups regularly utilize Contract Recruiters as a cost-effective, well-managed way to accomplish short and mid range recruiting objectives. A skilled Contract Recruiter can represent a very strong value proposition for your company and bring a wealth of benefits.

Benefits:

1. Mitigate your risk in adding additional recruiting positions by opting to hire a Contract Recruiter on a short-term assignment.
2. Reduce third-party search costs when you encounter a surge in hiring demand. A Contract Recruiter is likely to provide equal or better results than a search firm at less than half the cost.
3. Increase or decrease the size of your recruiting team size on the fly.
4. Experiment with the size of your team and determine the optimum number of Recruiters needed to provide outstanding delivery for your hiring managers.
5. Bring in new ideas.
6. Bring aboard a highly experienced Recruiter who would otherwise exceed your salary parameters on a full time hire.
7. Observe varying levels of expertise among a wider group of Recruiters and develop performance benchmarks.
8. Determine the right blend of recruiting team members. Use the contract-to-hire option to help ensure that you ultimately hire the right full-time team members.
9. Add temporary expertise when making selection and hiring process or system refinements such as the implementation of a new ATS (applicant tracking system) or RMS (resume/recruitment management system).
10. Increase your internal “client” satisfaction by providing greater support to hiring managers under pressure to make critical hires.
11. Create your own internal RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) in real time, without the long term commitments and organizational impact complications.
12. Develop an internal search firm capability. Adding both sourcing and recruiting proficiency, you can implement a talent pipeline generation capability internally for key recurrent positions.
13. Unbundle your process to increase performance and hiring manager satisfaction. Hire a team of one or more Contract Sourcing Specialists to handle the sourcing function and maximize candidate quality/quantity while allowing your full-time Recruiters more time dedicated to hiring manager relationships and support.
14. Fill a potential performance gap when one of your recruiting team members takes a leave of absence.
15. Elevate your candidate experience (a key to both hiring and retention successes).
16. Meet “crunch time” objectives, executive and departmental priorities and project deadlines without a loss in recruiting performance. Hire a Recruitment Consultant to assist in employer brand development, job description templates, candidate attraction strategies, competitive recruitment tactics, sourcing strategies, etc.
17. Modernize. Get cutting edge. Hire a Recruitment Consultant to help leverage the latest technologies and tools, Web 2.0 marketing, blogging and social networking proficiencies to maximize your company’s ability to compete for top talent.
18. Add specialization and focus. Bring visibility and awareness to key recruiting initiatives within your department such as diversity recruiting.

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Some tips on making the right Contract Recruiter selection:

1. Define your specific recruiting needs including the number and type of positions that need to be filled.
2. Establish a time table (days-to-fill) expectation with hiring managers and other stakeholders.
3. Estimate the length of the contract assignment, required work hours and work location (on-site/off-site) requirements.
4. Determine who the Contract Recruiter will interact with and report to in the course of their work (HR, recruiting leadership, across business units, executive level).
5. Determine the type of Contract Recruiter needed
   Example types:
   • Technical recruiter
   • Non-Technical recruiter
   • Executive recruiter
   • Industry specialization
   • Experienced corporate recruiter
   • Experienced agency recruiter (specialized)
   • Combination corporate-agency recruiting
6. Determine the communication skills that will best meet the functional needs of your recruiting assignment, corporate culture and hiring manager preferences.
7. Determine the level of Contract Recruiter needed (junior, mid, senior).
8. Determine if there is specific emphasis or expertise needed in one or more of these areas:
   • Research
   • Sourcing
   • Screening
   • Recruiting (full cycle)
   • Strategy, system, process and workflow development
   • Selection and hiring
   • Process coordination
9. Discuss cost options and company/department budget related preferences with the contracting agency or agencies you’ve chosen.
10. Evaluate the Contract Recruiter applicants/agency submittals and select contractors you wish to interview.
11. Complete your internal interviewing, selection and hiring process.

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Two common questions facing Human Resources professionals and other business leaders:

1. Is it time to hire our first Recruiter?
2. Is it time to add another Recruiter to our staff?

The circumstances that most commonly invoke these questions are:

1. Hiring demand consistently exceeds the capacity of the existing HR/business unit staff to handle the effort.
2. Need to establish a new recruiting department.
3. Need to expand or improve an existing recruiting department.
4. It has become apparent that dedicated recruiting may positively impact the quality of candidates interviewed.
5. An unexpected, immediate spike in hiring demand due to business growth or planned expansion.
6. Bottlenecks in workflow caused by system or process limitations drive the need for more staff.
7. A competitive or strategic plan involves a direct focus on the quality of talent.
8. Development of specific recruiting initiatives, like establishing an internal search capability.
9. Decision to decentralize or specialize the scope of individual recruiters creates need for additional staff.
10. Overall workload demands have caused diminishing results and low recruiter morale.

The decision to add a full time Recruiter to your staff may not be an easy one. Conflicting departmental interests, headcount or budget issues may impede the decision making process. Adding a temporary resource is often just the right concession and the right low-risk immediate decision to satisfy all interests and get the work rolling.

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Specialized search firms can be an effective resource for bringing qualified candidates into the hiring process. Unless retained, however, a search firm will probably be working with you on a non-exclusive contingency basis. While true that you only pay a fee if you hire, the relationship you have established with the search firm is likely to be “arms length”, at best. It really doesn’t matter that the contingency search firm is on your Preferred Vendor List. You may not have an effective relationship with the search firm and your vendor processes/communications may have created more distance than constituency.

In a contingency search relationship, the best specialized firms presenting candidates to you will likely be presenting the same candidates to your competitors. The limitations and disadvantages caused by this low relationship, no exclusivity approach should be understood as possibly having a negative impact on the desired outcome. The contingency search firm may be working on your behalf, but their efforts are not aligned with your best interests. It is even possible that a search firm working at “arms length” in a contingency search could be working to your disadvantage and to the greater benefit of your competitors. In the majority of the contingency search firms, the greatest motivation is to place a candidate. It doesn’t necessarily matter with whom.

Unless you and your company have created and maintained strong relationships with specific search firms, you may experience difficulty getting key positions filled within time deadlines. The high cost of search fees and the protracted time lines created by the working relationships may create the need to evaluate other supplemental recruiting options.

Hiring a Contract Recruiter is likely to be your best results/lowest cost/best experience option for hiring multiple critical positions. A Contract Recruiter is a fully dedicated resource working for you, as assigned, in the relationships (recruiting, human resources, hiring managers) you designate. You establish priorities, manage the work effort and monitor performance. The work produced by the Contract Recruiter is owned by your company, not a third-party firm. The contract recruiter’s focus is devoted exclusively to you and they are working exclusively in your best interests.

Contract Recruiter:

1. Focus is devoted exclusively to you.
2. Most often works 40 hours/week on-site in a dedicated effort.
3. Works collaboratively with your organization and becomes part of your team.
4. All work (candidates, process, information) is owned by your company.
5. Can represent a huge cost savings to search firm fees.

Search firm:

1. Working numerous searches with numerous clients.
2. May spend less time on your search than competitor searches.
3. Is an “arms length” vendor - less contact/communication/control.
4. Reveals nothing of work effort to the contingency client.
5. Is the highest cost method of hiring multiple position.

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