15 Pitfalls New Recruitment Agencies Should Avoid
As a growing business, you’re bound to make mistakes and learn from them. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could learn from those who’ve made them before you? We asked fifteen recruitment professionals to share some common pitfalls they’ve seen. Here’s what they had to say.
What pitfalls should new recruitment agencies avoid?
1) Thinking the client is only working with you and nobody else. Be aware that there are many alternatives at similar prices and the client may try them out. —Eric Lipkind
2) Failing to document candidate feedback. This feedback can be critical to future placements but often gets overlooked. —Marnie Pertsinidis
3) Commoditising the value you bring to customers. Once that process starts, it leads to a race to the lowest possible pricing. Different strategies apply to different customer bases.
Form partnerships that help solve problems beyond employment transactions. What higher-level problems can you solve? What can you do more efficiently? What can you do more effectively at a cheaper total cost? —Billy Davis
4) Failing to follow up with candidates. It happens far too often! —Kat Thompson
5) Not keeping up with technology! We’re always asking about new developments with our technology providers, beta testing opportunities, and new tools we can leverage. If you want to stay ahead of your competition, you need to keep up with new technology. —Lauren Schuman
6) Focusing on your own activities at the expense of your client. When we lose sight of our client’s expectations, our activities, while great, may not properly align with our client’s expected outcomes. In order to ensure your team is on the right path, you need to always have a quality metric to counterbalance it. —Royce
7) Contacting and submitting the same candidate. It can be avoided by having good notes in your Recruitment CRM. —Robb Lucas
8) Telling your recruiters to mass email or mass Inmail your candidates. This is a good strategy for getting volume out, but it often results in horrible branding and doesn’t actually get you the best candidates. Recruiters should look at every point of contact they make with a person as a way to brand themselves. It’s worth the time it takes to ensure that they make a good solid first impression. —Radhika Arora
9) Relying on metrics as a gauge of employee performance without the proper context. Some reqs and much easier to work while others are very difficult, which will impact the raw numbers from a recruiter. Metrics are useful but they shouldn’t be your only method of evaluating recruiter success. —Gregory Carathimas
10) Forgetting to call candidates back! Communication is key, and keeping them informed throughout the process builds trust. —Erika
11) Letting qualified talent fall to the wayside. Use tasks, appointments, and reminders to keep in touch with the people your business depends on. —Matt Brosseau
12) Failing to share process documentation to share with new employees when onboarding them. —Donald King
13) Failing to communicate. Communication is key. Implement weekly meetings to discuss issues your team is having and brainstorm solutions to them. Your team can focus on working together, while still be competitive with each other. —Scott Yoder
14) Losing touch with good candidates. —Adam Lewin
15) Lacking expertise in the niche or industry you serve. With today’s technology, any recruiter can quickly familiarise themselves with the industry terms, required qualifications, and identify “who’s who” pretty quickly. Offer your clients something they can’t get at any body-shop! No one gets into the inner circle by cold calling. You must participate and have a presence in the industry you serve. —Jessica Rader
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