Why Retained Search (Part 5)

Reason #5 – Thorough Screening & Qualifications Process

A good retained firm has a robust candidate screening process centered around quality over quantity. Let’s first start with the range of other services, less quality focused, as a point of comparison. When posting an ad one gets flooded with candidates all across the board and we would be lucky if 10% of the applicants were actually qualified for the job.

Non-exclusivity vs. exclusivity

Next, with a contingent firm, since the relationship with the company is non-exclusive, there’s typically a time crunch in the recruiter trying to get the position filled before other recruiters or the company itself. As a result, common practice is for the recruiter to do a keyword search in their database. For example, “Director of marketing.” And submit all candidates with that keyword present in their resume. Not only have they not been vetted, but likely may not know about the position, let alone be interested in it upon being submitted.

Focusing on the best resumes

Now, for retained firms. Here, the recruiter takes the time to pre-qualify every candidate prior to submitting them to you. This way, the legwork is done for you rather than receiving dozens of resumes of varying quality, without knowing who’s both qualified and interested. You know when working with a retained firm, a lot of vetting has taken place before you see the candidate, and they’re given a small handful of highly interested and qualified candidates on a silver platter to choose from.

Background checks

Also, reference and background checks on the final candidate are commonly included in the fee. This is the sniper approach that saves time and ultimately produces the result. You’ll receive five to seven spot-on, pre-qualified candidates, as opposed to 15 to 20 mediocre ones.

Final Word

I hope this video has been informative, and will prove useful. If you have a C-Level hiring project, call us at (925) 600-0903 for an evaluation of your needs.