Is Rec2Rec a waste of time?

Sean Gannon from Finn Grace (http://www.finngrace.co.uk) outlines the advantages of using a specialist Rec2Rec consultancy.

Transcript

1. Rec2Rec Recruitment A waste of time or a great benefit to your recruitment process
2. Rec2Rec – Should I work with a Rec-to-Rec company •  Rec2Rec, Rec-to-Rec, Recruitment-to-Recruitment, R2R…This sector of recruitment has so many names. Simply put, we find new career positions for recruitment professionals. •  To anyone outside the recruitment industry, it may appear to be an odd concept but the sector has grown and matured along with the recruitment industry itself. James Caan says in his autobiography that everyone in the industry thought he was crazy when he first suggested the idea. However, it very quickly it became one of the biggest profit centres for Alexander Mann. •  If, as professional recruiters, we believe that we add value to the recruitment process then shouldn’t utilising a great Rec2Rec consultancy be an automatic choice? •  In this article, we cover reasons why a Recruitment Consultant and a Consultancy would use the services of a good Recruitment-to-Recruitment company.
3. Why would a recruitment consultancy use a Rec2Rec? •  As a recruitment company, why on earth would you use a recruitment-to-recruitment consultancy? After all, as a recruitment organisation, it would be a professional faux pas to use a Rec2Rec. Wouldn’t it? •  The fact is, there are a number of very sound business reasons why a recruitment consultancy would use a Rec2Rec company to source new staff. •  Candidates rather than applicants – We all know just how many mismatched candidates apply for any advertised role. From the sublime to the ridiculous, it can be such a time consuming process to wade through applications. A good Rec2Rec consultancy will present you with just the most relevant people that they have spent the time filtering and assessing to ensure that you save time. •  Passive Candidates - The best recruitment consultants are not typically available on job board databases nor do they usually apply for a new position. A good Rec2Rec will constantly be networking, searching and speaking to the best recruitment consultants in the market. This puts them in the best position to represent them when they are looking for a move. •  Reputation Protection – You may well like the calibre of recruitment consultants at a direct competitor. However getting a reputation for poaching staff is not an ideal marketing move. Utilising a good Rec2Rec can protect your reputation and use them to approach the top achieving consultants at your competitors on your behalf.
4. Why would a recruitment consultancy use a Rec2Rec? •  Experts in working with recruitment professionals – While you may be the market leader in your sector and an amazing recruitment consultancy, chances are you are not dedicated to constantly sourcing the best recruitment professionals. The very reason why your company specialises in a niche market is the very reason you should work with a good Rec to Rec company who do the same. •  Save Time, Make Money – It’s the premise that all recruitment companies work under. Its simply saves you a huge amount of time to source candidates from a specialist. The investment in a strong billing consultant will pay back many times over when the consultant starts to build their desk and start invoicing. •  Recruitment Network and Industry Knowledge – By tapping into the knowledge base of a Rec2Rec company you will have access to great industry knowledge and an extended network. By asking their advice on your offering you can make sure to attract the best consultants in the market. This can be in the form of salary surveys through to the latest benefits offered by your competitors. •  Focus! – Utilising a Rec2Rec will leave you free to concentrate on your own business and cause minimal interruption to your workload. A good Rec to Rec should work in sync with you to minimise disruption.
5. Why would a Recruitment Consultant use a Rec2Rec? •  So you are a great recruitment consultant. You know the job well and see yourself as a recruitment professional. If you are so good at recruitment, why would you use someone else to get you a new position? •  Knowledge of the market - You may know your direct competition but with thousands of recruitment consultancies, you may not be aware of the best companies that are looking for your experience and more importantly which ones would suit your personality and ideal management style. A good Rec2Rec will present you with the right opportunities based around everything you tell them that you are looking for. •  Your time is too valuable! – If you are a professional recruiter, you are busy enough with managing a desk, making placements and doing deals. It’s not an effective use of your time to research prospective companies. By working with one or a select number of Rec2Rec companies, they can present you with the best possible options for you and manage the process while you continue your success in your current role. •  Assistance in moving sector - So you have been in accountancy recruitment for 3 years and although you have loved it, you would now like to move to legal recruitment to make use of that Law Degree. A Good Rec2Rec will know the right companies in that market for you to meet and be able to guide you through the process at each stage.
6. Why would a Recruitment Consultant use a Rec2Rec? •  Salary and Package Negotiation – We all want a great package from our employer. As a direct applicant, it’s not always easy to find the whole scope of benefits available as well as the salary that you may be able to achieve. Using a Rec-to-Rec consultant to manage the package negotiations as well as the introduction should get you the best deal. They will have been advised of the full scope of benefits for a potential employee at the job spec stage. You never know what you might get! •  Interview Help – This is a huge benefit for working with a recruitment consultant. No matter what sector you are in, you will spend time with your candidate to ensure they are prepared for an interview and ask the right questions. While you may be very good at sending a management accountant out for interview, the questions and answers expected at a recruitment interview are quite different. Your Rec2Rec consultant should be able to guide you through not only the questions you may be asked and the questions to ask but what works well with a specific consultancy. Some interviewers in recruitment like to be closed at the end of an interview while others don’t. By having inside knowledge will help you to make the right impression. •  Here is a list of potential questions you may be asked at a recruitment interview: http://www.finngrace.co.uk/recruitment-consultant-interview-questions/
7. Finding the right Rec2Rec to work for you: •  As with any recruitment sector, Rec2Rec has a wide range of companies. Some are truly focused on Recruitment-to-Recruitment while others have it as an additional service within their brand. •  There are those that cover the whole of the country and even have offices in locations such as Dubai and Australia and those that just cover their own city. Working with a Rec2Rec is the same as doing business with anyone. It typically comes down to the people involved and the service that they deliver. Of course it can be hard to tell from first impressions but here are some thoughts that may help: •  Is the company purely a specialist in Recruitment-to-Recruitment? A dedicated company will have a strong network of clients, candidates and industry knowledge that will be very useful. •  What is their website like? Recruitment companies are very much a communication-orientated business but so many forget that the web is their shop window. A website can tell you a huge amount about a recruitment company. Not all Rec-to-Rec companies publish jobs on their website as in a candidate driven market, they may be working on too many to manage all the adverts. •  How do they source their candidates? If you are looking for a new recruitment consultant, you want to hire the best possible candidates. These are rarely available on the open market and tend not to apply to job adverts or exist on databases. A good Rec2Rec will have a network of passive candidates that you can tap in to. •  As a job hunter, ensure that your details stay with the consultant unless you specify that they can speak to a company on your behalf. You don’t want your CV sprayed out into the industry!
8. Conclusion •  Rec2Rec is simply like any other professional sector within recruitment. There are good and bad companies (and consultants). As a Rec-to-Rec consultant, I truly believe in the benefit of both consultancy and candidate using a company like ours. I believe that we add value, save time and benefit both parties. •  To find out more about our company and how we can help, visit http://www.finngrace.co.uk, call the office on 01275 568 669 or out of hours on 07903 798 755.