4 Reasons to Hire an Independent Contract Recruiter

 Most people are going into business for themselves nowadays and the majority of companies are utilizing their services. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent data shows that more than 14 million Americans are self-employed and 10.3 million workers are classified as independent contractors, which accounts for 7.4 percent of the workforce. And DeWitt, Ross & Stevens law firm reports that 60 percent of all businesses hire contract workers.

Independent contractors specialize in a range of areas from accounting to writing services—and not to mention recruitment.

 A “contact recruiter,” according to a previous Recruiter.com article, is often called a contingency recruiter or headhunter. These workers are recruitment professionals who work on a contract basis. They are the “hired guns” of the recruiting world.

And although this group of experts isn’t usually highlighted in the recruitment world, using an independent contract recruiter can bring an array of benefits not only to your company’s sourcing and recruitment processes, but to your business’s bottom line.

We’re all familiar with the challenges of sourcing top talent. The Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association summed them up very well in its “4 Top Recruiting Challenges for 2013 ” article:

• Candidate Sourcing is Changing: The average recruiter spends 15 hours a week sourcing great candidates, but that amount of time doesn’t always equal quality candidates. Today it’s about selling a possible candidate on the position and the company, not just getting people to apply.

• New Technology: Recruiters must note the huge impact applicant tracking systems and recruitment marketing platforms have on the hiring process and how to effectively use these technologies to hire the best candidates.

• Bridging the Skills Gap:A mere 17 percent of employers are finding candidates that have the skills needed in open positions.

• Creating a Candidate Experience: A 2011 Candidate Experience Awards Survey of 8,500 job seekers revealed that their top complaint was an employer’s failure to communicate their status.

And, of course, we can add many more sourcing issues to the above list…issues that most often negatively impact a company’s recruitment process, amount of quality hires and overall employer brand. Yet, an independent contract recruiter can help alleviate some of these ‘ineffective sourcing symptoms.’ And below are four examples:

Better Sourcing Techniques

Miriam Berger, the president of A Hire Authority®, LLC in Deerfield, Illinois, believes contract recruiters can add value to the hiring process, a Chicago Tribune story reports. The HR professional, who boasts two decades of experience, says:

A skilled Recruiter knows where to post jobs and which networking sites to use in order to locate the best candidates for the position. A good Recruiter can efficiently review resumes, spot “red flags” that Hiring Managers might otherwise miss, and instinctively know which candidates should be presented to the Hiring Manager.

Berger also explains how contract recruiters can offer your business better sourcing techniques because they have the skills to properly assess and select the best candidates. “Experienced recruiters know the right questions to ask, both when evaluating the client’s needs and assessing the candidate’s skills. It’s all about fit, and that’s not something that can be assessed solely by reading a resume,” she says.

Faster, More Efficient Hiring Results

Spending 15 hours per week on sourcing can suck up a recruiter’s time for other tasks and responsibilities. Yet, hiring a contract recruiter can produce not only faster but more efficient results, because unlike a “regular” recruiter, this person’s sole focus and responsibility to is to recruit for your business.

“Contract recruiters can often recruit more effectively than salaried human resources people because they focus entirely on recruiting,” the Recruiter.com article notes. It goes on to explain that because of contract recruiters’ specialty in sourcing candidates, these workers will also be able to produce better quality hires. “Additionally, working for multiple companies allows them to build highly developed candidate talent pipelines. Because you have to show results in a timely manner in order to get paid, employers trust that you will work efficiently to get the position filled. Contract recruiters are outside of the corporate machine and can work without dealing with internal bureaucracy to get results faster,” the article says.

Cost Effective

Every company seeks the most cost-effective route when it comes to sourcing. And Ere.net points out that cutting costs is a benefit of hiring contract recruiters, and a benefit to the workers themselves. As a contract recruiter, you “… cost an organization less than the loaded salary of an employee. You also do not require internal promotions and you pay for your own training. There are no pension requirements or expectations of continued employment.”

Quality Resource

A final plus of hiring an independent contract recruiter is having him or her as a quality resource. Your company can continue using the recruiter’s skills/expertise whenever you need to quickly hire a candidate from a specific area. For example, if you’re in need of a software engineer and you previously contracted a recruiter to hire people from this field, you’ll have a quick go-to source who you already know is efficient and timely. The contract recruiter becomes a trusted resource and tool for your sourcing strategy.

Can you think of any other benefits of hiring an independent contract recruiter? Share them in the comments below!

A special thank you goes out to TheLadders, a Leadership Sponsor of this month’s featured series on Sourcing Best Practices. Please visit their site to understand how TheLadders can elevate your sourcing and recruitment efforts.