Lately I have run into several companies that seem confused about my (thorough) process. I attribute this to several factors:

1. There is very low barrier to entry in this field. Anyone can hang a shingle and call themselves a recruiter

2. As a result, many recruiters use a business practice of the “database dump” that has lowered the standards of an entire industry

I thought it would be the perfect time to write a blog about how giving the recruiter good information up front can REALLY save you an immense amount of time overall. Here is why recruiters ask so many questions:

1. There is only 8 hours in a work day. Contingent headhunters work for “free”- we don’t get paid unless you hire one of our people. If we don’t have good information, it makes it hard to do our job. The end result is either no candidates because we have no idea what you are looking for or you get the “database dump”

2. We are here to help you! I am truly my clients’ biggest cheerleaders. I love to see their successes and hope that the people I placed there had something to do with that success. The recruiters that have mastered their craft truly want to save you time and money.

3. Things change daily. I might be working on one “hot” project and another client calls and based on the information provided, I might give the new project more bandwidth. The quickest way to get on the bottom of the “hot” list is to say “I would encourage you to read through the description and work with that”.

4. As with any relationship, good communication is essential. I’ll go back to the “there are only 8 hours in the day”. Let’s say you are my client and you have 2 openings. If I don’t know that Position A has 2 finalists but Position B has no candidates in the mix, I run the risk of spending all of my time on Position A and you are still left with no candidates for Position B. Good recruiters don’t ask for updates to be “nosy”. We just need to know how to set up our day and prioritize our workload.

Here is my advise to all employers to minimize the stress of the recruiting process:

1. Pick 3 solid recruiters to work with. Pick 3 that embrace this industry and have mastered their craft. Do they have certifications? How long have they been in this business? I would recommend having 2 back up recruiters in case your “top tier” recruiters aren’t providing good results. My clients that work with multiple vendors seem to be the most stressed out and frustrated by my questions.

2. Send out a weekly update. Fridays or Mondays are always good days for this. How many candidates have been presented to the hiring manager? How many were selected? Of those selected vs. not, what seemed to be the consistent feedback?

3. Consider an “intake” call. These are very transparent. The vendors get on the phone with the hiring manager and HR recruiter and flush out any and all questions. This will avoid any duplicate questions and streamline the process.

4. With recruiters, the “squeaky wheel gets the oil”. The clients that I am in constant communication with and I know where they are at in the process get much more bandwidth than the opportunities where I was told to “look at a job description” and I only hear from them when they want to schedule an interview with a candidate.