Like any successful relationship with a consultant, working with a contingency recruiter will be more productive when each party understands how the other works.

When choosing a recruiter, look for someone with a proven track record within your industry. This person will possess qualities such as intelligence, creativity, honesty, persistence, organizational skills and a sense of corporate maturity. They should also be good listeners and have an innate ability to "read" people.

When to call a recruiter

You will typically call a contingency recruiter when:

1. You have a tremendous urgency to fill a position. Recruiters are often paid to circumvent the time factor.

2. You have a difficult position to fill. You have run ads, offered referral bonuses to employees, checked with competitors, consulted with colleagues and extensively interviewed with no success. In this scenario, the recruiter offers the company a window of opportunity - a "court of last resort", if you will.

3. You wish to be kept apprised of top-notch talent as those talented people surface, regardless of whether there is an opening.

Contrary to popular belief, or myth, recruiters do not "steal" people. That would be impossible. Also, recruiters do not actively recruit from their client companies. That would be unethical. I am reminded of the CEO of a major U.S. corporation who related the following story when asked his feelings regarding recruiters:

"We want our people to use recruiters if they are considering potential outside opportunities because two results are then possible. The employee will find a 'perceived' better job and we will be rid of a discontented person who was obviously not singing our praises to fellow employees. Or they find that nothing is as good as our company and they come back to us a more positive and committed employee. Either of these outcomes benefit our company."

What the Recruiter Needs From You

To help ensure a successful search, recruiters need complete Position Description information:

1. Contact Information. This should include the hiring manager's cell phone number in the event of an emergency arising regarding time-sensitive information or requests. It is also important to return the recruiter's phone calls in a timely manner.

2. Duties and Responsibilities. This can be a "day, week or month in the life" of the position. Include a basic description of what you are looking for. The recruiter may ask you to divide the time into percentages for what is required in terms of administrative, technical and supervisory types of tasks.

3. Salary and Fee. A contingency service charge will be required if a placement occurs. The last thing a recruiter wants to happen is any misunderstanding at the eleventh hour. That is why recruiters are trained to call in at the highest levels in a company and make sure that someone who can approve the fee does so. It also explains why the fee is cleared in both percentage and dollar amounts.

4. Hiring Process. Determine who interviews, where the interview takes place and within what time parameters. Provide a "drop-dead date" that you cannot go beyond and then allocate time as needed to ensure that the recruiter has enough time to find the ideal candidate.

5. Recruitment Information. A recruiter will ask whom the hiring manager wants for this position-in other words, a prospect's name. If this is unknown, consider which companies you respect, including your competitors, that you may want someone from. This, then, becomes the recruiter's target 'extraction' marketplace. This is also where we get the "headhunter" moniker.

6. Chemistry Matching Information. This may be the most critical of the six pieces of job order information because all good hires are based on strong chemistry matches. People hire those people with whom they develop rapport, i.e., people they like, believe, trust and understand. Provide opportunities for the recruiter to speak to key corporate people and conduct site visits.

How a Recruiter "Sells" Your Opportunity.

The recruiter then takes this Position Description information and packages it in what is commonly referred to as the FAB (Feature-Accomplishment-Benefit) sales presentation. This is necessary because their candidate base has to be motivated to consider new career opportunities. The recruiter must constantly be prepared to answer the prospect's often non-verbalized question, "What's in it for me?". In this regard, recruiters find that candidates will move for a combination of five major reasons. These can be remembered by using the acronym "CLAMS":

Challenge of the new position;
Location of the position;
Advancement potential;
Money;
Stability of the company.

In Conclusion

Remember that recruiters do not work in the marketplace of 'applicants' who we consider job hoppers, job shoppers or rejects, i.e., those who are looking at want ads. A recruiter's marketplace consists of 80% of the working population who are happy, well appreciated, making good money and not reading want ads. Experienced recruiters, through their talent, skill and training, motivate them to move for better opportunities. These are what recruiters refer to as candidates. Since they are currently working, and not actively on the job market, they will not have current resumes or CVs. Asking a professional contingency recruiter for a resume for this type of individual will often only slow down the process and possibly cause you to lose the opportunity of visiting with a top caliber individual. Resumes can always be secured at a later date.

Trust that quality recruiters are doing everything possible to cement a strong working relationship with you. They work mainly by word-of-mouth advertising. And if you are not happy with their results, they will soon be out of business. The good ones are always in demand; always profitable and always ready to help you achieve your competitive edge.