Make Your Recruiter A Partner to Maximize Success

When you have a hard to fill position or an important role that you need filled quickly a recruiter can be your best solution. We always recommend using a niche recruiting firm, (for Rockstar Millwrights, HVAC Techs or Mechanics, Rockstar Recruiting is your best bet – totally non biased opinion.)

If you have decided to enlist the help of a recruiter we recommend that you jump in with two feet. To have success working with a recruiter you will need to partner with them. Too often there is an adversarial relationship, often this can be a recruiter that is just trying to make a deal or an HR contact that is begrudgingly using a staffing agency because they were told they had to.

Both of these set up a transactional relationship, placements may happen but to have real success you want a Partnership Relationship where both parties take the search seriously and are working toward a common goal.

Here are some areas things that you can do to ensure you are getting the most out of your recruiter.

Collaborate

It is rare that you get to quote Vanilla Ice but the first step to having a successful recruiting partnership is to “collaborate and listen.” This applies to both parties. As a client, before you give the recruiter the job req information, talk to them about what you have already done on the search.

If you have already run job ads, let your recruiter know where you have posted jobs. Some employment agencies (not Rockstar) rely heavily on job ads. If you have already run ads on Indeed and Zip let them know, there is no point in them just duplicating your efforts.

On the flip side, feel free to ask your recruiter what strategies they will be employing to find your candidates. Make sure you are comfortable with what they are going to be doing. They are representing you and you want to make sure they represent your values.

As your recruiter shares a strategy feel free to chime in and offer suggestions. There may be tactics that neither one of you comes up with on their own but collaborating you can come up with some great ideas. For example, not long ago we were tasked with finding a Mechanic who would also be responsible for creating Social Media content. While sharing our strategy I mentioned that I would spend time on Youtube looking for technicians that had their own channels and would also search for Auto Mechanic Blogs and try to recruit some bloggers and vloggers. The client thought this was a great idea and even suggested some blogs and video channels that he liked so I could get a good idea of the style they are looking for. This proved to be a successful strategy and the role was filled with a Rockstar pretty quickly.

Honesty

This again goes both ways. If you can not be honest with your recruiter and if they can not be honest with you the process will not go smoothly. Sometimes this can be a bit awkward or uncomfortable but it is better than wasting time.

Clients, here are some things you will need to be honest about:

Why is the position open?
- This gets skipped so often and is crucial.
  - If it is for growth that is great, let us promote that.
  - If it is because the last person had attendance issues we will make sure we bring that up in the screening.
- I had a client not long ago that had been through 3 managers in the past year for one location. They were good enough to be honest with me that each candidate had been terminated for violating their drug and alcohol policy. This was important as during the search several candidates mentioned that they were not interested in the role because they had seen it advertised multiple times and assumed there was a revolving door. As I was able to explain the why, they got more comfortable with the role.
What are the challenges that you have been having filling the role?
- Save us some time here. If all of the candidates you have previously considered have not worked out for similar reasons, pass that feedback along so we can target the search appropriately.
How long has the role been open?
What is the urgency?
- If you don’t fill this role in the next 30/60/90 days what are the consequences to your business?
What do you really need, what is a nice to have
Are there backgrounds, training, experience etc. that your hiring manager favours and some that they look down on?

Recruiters, here are some things you need to be honest with your client about:

Their reputation in the industry
- If you don’t tell them they will never know and will not be able to fix it. I have worked with many clients who had brutal Indeed and Glassdoor reviews from disgruntled ex-employees. These reviews were scaring off potential candidates until we took some steps to fix them. For advice on getting ahead of bad reviews – (https://www.rockstarmechanics.com/your-shops-online-reviews-are-killing-your-recruiting-efforts/)
- If you are telling them about bad feedback, back it up – send them links directly to the reviews they are getting.
The real feedback you have been getting
- Share your interview feedback, this is important and will help both sides be successful. There are often little things that can be adjusted if someone knows about it that can lead to a better experience.
- I had a client years ago where the HR Rep would wait outside the building to greet candidates as they came in. She thought she was being friendly but it actually came across as creepy, this was adjusted.
Compensation analysis
- If your client is too far off on money they need to know, you know what their competitors are paying, this is valuable information they require

Communicate

Communication is key and speed of communication is just as important. Good candidates do not stay available for long, when we send you someone we expect feedback within 24hours. The longer it takes for you to get back to us the less we feel the search is important and the less attention we give to it.

Be detailed in your feedback, if you are passing on a candidate that is fine, just tell us why. A lot of clients are hesitant to provide too much detailed feedback because a lot of recruiters have a bad habit of turning every piece of negative feedback into a fight. If this is the case, find a new recruiter!

For the rest of us, if you provide feedback as to where the candidate came up short, we can redirect the search and make sure future candidates are a closer match.

Manage Your Expectations

Good recruiters are hunters and fishers. If there are no fish in the lake then it doesn’t matter how good we are, we won’t be able to catch anything. Also, if you are looking for a big fish, you have to have the right bait.

Everyone wants a Rockstar but your budget can only afford average tech you need to expect that. Talent, training and experience comes at a premium. Good candidates are working and are unlikely to make a move unless it is at a higher rate.

Know what you offer, know what you need and set your expectations accordingly.

Maximize your chances of success while working with a recruiter by collaborating, communicating, being honest and managing your expectations.

If you need to Hire Rockstar Mechanics, HVAC Technicians or Millwrights please reach out at info@rockstarrecruiting.ca or give us a call at 1-833-937-3546. We will take your search way beyond the job board to find you the Rockstars that you need.