Would you seek medical advice from a plumber, or, dentistry advice from a mechanic? No, you wouldn’t. What about recruitment advice from a non-specialist recruiter? Embarking on a talent search and growing your team can be a daunting task. It can be costly, time-consuming and a little risky. If you are a startup or an SME the stakes of a bad hire are considerably higher. So why would you want to have a generalist recruiter working on your must fill roles when you can get a specialist recruitment agency to advise you every step of the way
Why Specialist Recruitment?
1 – Specific Industry Knowledge and Insight.
A specialist recruiter will have specific industry knowledge and will be able to add more value to the process in the form of insight.
They will be able to look at your job spec and be able to determine exactly the skills and experience you require from your candidates to propel your business forward.
2 – A Quicker Turnaround Time.
A specialist recruiter will have a network already in place.
They would be able to examine a CV and instantly be able to determine if that candidate is worthy of a telephone interview this makes their own operations that much faster and more efficient when working a recruitment brief.
3 – You Will Have to Screen Less CVs.
Not only that. Specialist agencies can go one step further in determining the suitability of an applicant for a role. They would be able to offer you a robust screening process, using their knowledge to conduct a thorough and rigorous telephone interview prior to any formal recruitment processes, making sure you see only those who are the best fit for your vacancy.
4 – They Will Let You Know if You are Looking for a Unicorn.
Your expectations will be managed. The specialist recruiter will know what skills are most in-demand, how much current contractors are getting paid and whether or not you are are asking too much or paying too little.
5 – They can come to your Rescue
There are certain roles that will always be in demand and that you might always need.
Do you have a Microsoft tech stack?
Do you need a steady flow of paid social experts or UX developers?
The above roles are trick because the contract market is so lucrative for candidates. A specialist recruiter will very often have a network of candidates up their sleeve for you.
A Specialist Recruiter Can Be Your Trusted Advisor.
Expertise suggests a certain number of years spent immersed in the industry, and for this reason, they have probably recruited for a position like yours many times before. Indeed, they have probably been exposed to every job description going!
A specialist recruiter is poised to be your eyes and ears within the market. Immersion within their space will provide them with market insights, that as a layman you may be ignorant to. They will be able to act as an advisor with regard to skill sets and other hiring complexities within the field.
Salary expectation is one such example of this. Skillset and geographical location are just two variables of a long list which can affect how much a professional would expect to be paid for your role, and what you offer could make or break in your ability to fill it.
Again, skill sets and terminology which may be alien to you or even your HR team will be on a par with a mother tongue to a specialist recruiter!
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
It’s not only what you know, but who you know…and your specialist recruiter brings with them an arsenal of contacts and a LinkedIn profile awash with prime candidates amassed from years of service to their craft.
As a result, not only will they be able to wade through your active applications but they will be in a stellar position to approach those passive candidates who may never even see your opportunity.
Not only that, the intricacies that come with specialism will enable them to be able to provide you with candidates, not just applicants…those professionals who have been pre-selected according to skill and job criteria. In short, only those who are a true match for your role and worthy of interview.
Great candidates may also not want to approach you directly. Specialist areas of expertise are small worlds, where people know people who know people. Your specialist recruiter offers your candidates discretion and will operate with integrity, keeping candidate interest to themselves.
In turn, you can ask for discretion from your recruiter. As a result, your role is not diluted across space and its value negated. It remains an exclusive and desirable position, one that your A1 candidate craves.
They are also skilled at candidate interaction. Specialist professionals are highly protective of their skill, and your recruitment partner will have dealt with candidates at every level of sensitivity.
They will be able to act as an objective liaison between you and the candidate, meaning that any difficult discussions regarding salary, benefits or working conditions will have been addressed. Candidates will, therefore, be entirely in the loop over what you are offering, and in theory at least, should be satisfied with your employment package.
All of the above, point to a great candidate experience, and by employing the services of a specialist recruiter, you can be safe in the knowledge that any future employee is being treated with respect, courtesy and professionalism.
A specialist recruiter has an increased level of commitment to the candidates and the roles they represent, due to the passion they have for their field. Candidates do not differentiate between an agency and any company that agency represents, so, for this reason, it is vital that this extension of your team is being viewed with regard and esteem by any future employees.
The Future.
The great thing about securing the hire that ticks all your boxes is that it generally ignites the touch paper. Success breeds success and so the likelihood for the need to further grow your business and team increases. In short, your relationship with your specialist recruiter does not have to end here. The acumen, professionalism and level of expertise they have demonstrated mean that you can trust their partnership in further projects.
In fact, the extended use of a specialist you trust will allow your recruiter inside knowledge of the workings of your enterprise. They will, therefore, be in a position to champion and endorse you to future employees and you can be safe in the knowledge they will ‘sell you’ as a desirable brand.
But…
Businesses come in all shapes and sizes, and are all at different stages of their journey. So what about if you fall at the polar extremes of this broad spectrum? A CEO or an MD of a small business or a startup for example, may be thinking that this all sounds great, but that their recruitment budget does not extend to an agency fee.
What if you are an industry big hitter, with a well established internal recruitment team? Do you still need the services of a specialist recruiter? Yes, you do!
Investing now will save time and money.
Remember all those CVs you received when you first posted your job? Well, your specialist recruiter will not only access and process them all, but they will cherry pick the best 5-10 so you don’t have to. In doing so, this will decrease the burden on a small HR team or hiring manager. The rigorous admin that comes with hiring for a role is taken care of for you.
Your recruiter will deal with interview feedback, scheduling and manage the process from start to finish, all the time ensuring that they are working to best practice guidelines. Not only that, if it is a temporary or contract role you are looking to fill, you can be assured that this will be done efficiently and at short notice.
For a small business, this is especially important. There may not be an HR team at all, and so the hiring process will take precious time to complete; time that could be spent on an all-important day to day running of your business.
With there always being a fire to fight, will it get done at all? Could the growth of your business be being stunted by the fact that there are only so many hours in a day? And if you do get around to it, who is managing your candidates?
Who is answering their phone calls and scheduling interviews? In all likelihood, it is someone who is not being paid to do this. So who is doing their job, while they are otherwise occupied? In short, by employing the skills of a specialist recruiter, you are reducing the impact on your current workforce. They can perform their usual tasks, to their usual standard. Business as usual, and you are safe in the knowledge that your team is growing behind the scenes.
The skill and knowledge the specialist recruiter will bring to your table will also reduce the likelihood, not to mention the cost, of a bad hire. The cycle of hiring, training, poor performance and rehire is broken, therefore reducing the long-term costs of future recruitment practices.
In sum, to approach a specialist recruitment agency is smart business practice. In doing so, you will have access to a wealth of knowledge, contacts, skills and experience you would otherwise be unaware of.
Whatever the size of your business, can you really afford not to? Choosing a recruitment partner, of repute is a task in itself, and one that needs considerable consideration. For advice on this click here for our recent blog post
At Ignite Digital Talent, we are a team of dedicated and tireless recruiters with a passion for providing talent solutions across the digital space. If you need help with your talent acquisition process, or just want to chat about how our services could help to propel your business forward, we’d love to hear from you!
