Unemployment is up to 8.5%, do you really need a search firm?

In today's market, why would a company use an executive search firm to find qualified candidates?  The country is in the middle of a recession, the unemployment rate is at 8.5% and budgets are paper thin – what kind of value could a search firm possibly offer? Truth be told, an executive search firm is not always going to be the best bet for a company's search, it would be foolish to state otherwise.  But, every company could find value in building a partnership with an executive search firm.  Let's explore some of the benefits to working with a search firms:

1. Recruiting Passive Talent is More Challenging

During a downturn, the passive candidates that employers want to hire typically retreat into the perceived security of their existing position within their current company rather than incur the risk of changing jobs.  In order to gain access to this talent, organizations need to rely on agencies that have a strong database of relationships with Sales Professionals in their respective industries.  Recruiters have been building relationships with this talent for several years, in some cases, and will be able to devote substantial time to understand their career goals, which often drives their ultimate employment decision. 

2. Dealing with Volume. 

In a market where driving revenue should be a Sales Manager's #1 priority, many organizations are putting their Sales Managers in charge of the entire recruiting cycle.  What they will soon find is an AD posted for less than a day will yield hundreds of candidates.  Is this volume really such good news?  In the era of the online job seeker – applying to a job is as easy as a point and click of your mouse, people are playing the numbers game with their job search applying to anything and everything.  Hiring manager's inboxes are flooded with a large volume of candidates, a very small fraction of which have one if any qualifications for the job.  Working with an agency ensures that you are not spending countless days/weeks weeding through stacks of unqualified candidates. 

3. Diversify your recruiting approach to ensure you are seeing the best of the best. 

Why wouldn't you work with a contingency based firm?  You will only pay a fee to them if the candidate they find you is better and more qualified than those you find using other resources?  Change nothing with your current recruiting plan.  Instead, work with a firm in addition to what you are doing on your own.

4. Prepare for when the market recovers

Only a cynic would say that the market will not shortly begin to correct itself.  When that happens, there will be a rush for talent.  Companies that have maintained good relationships with talented agencies will have the upper hand to hire talent on the upswing of the market. 

If you are a hiring manager reading this Blog we would love to know what your thoughts are when making a decision about resources you will use to hire.  Sure, we are an Executive Search firm, so we may be biased….  What are your thoughts?