9 Tough Questions for Recruiters

So, how do you look behind the suit? How do you find a recruiter that can really add value to YOUR business?Ask some tough questions:1. Will you play SWITCH?This is where a senior, experienced recruiter comes in and sells you on their services. You brief them on your role, and then you find they are not doing the work. This happened to me a few years ago when I brought a specialist recruiting firm in to work with one of my clients. The junior and inexperienced person had not been at the briefing and only had 6 months in recruiting - and so had no clue about the nuances of a difficult job to fill. What a time waster for my client.Now, once you know this person will be doing the work for you ….2. How long have you been in the trenches?Do you want a newbie learning at your expense? It’s ironic given what they do, but recruitment has a huge staff turnover because recruiters who can’t generate sales don’t survive. This is a problem as employers need advice to hire well - but many recruiters are inexperienced with no time to learn skills.3. What recruiting have you done in my industry sector recently? How many similar roles in my sector?4. What salary will I need to pay to get quality applicants?5. What organisations are likely to have good candidates who may want to move?6. Can I talk to some of your clients about the service you provide?7. Can you show me a list of people working in similar roles?This one really sorts them out! Especially if you don’t give them much notice. However, you cannot expect to keep the list.8. Do you supply a list of all the applicants who apply to the advertisements we pay for? Are you happy for us to speak to some of the applicants?9. Do you provide the applicant’s original resume?Some firms like to retype to ’standardise them’. If they do, insist on the original also. Helps ensure that their retyping is a fair reflection - plus you get to see the applicant’s writing skills.These questions get to the heart of whether a recruiter is experienced and a specialist who can really help you. If they’re not, why are you using them?