Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to build a team. Contract recruiters are an effective way of finding talented individuals for your company using the services and resources they already have available (and no work required on your end!). Contract recruiting firms are a great way to find the best in-demand talent. They can help you find candidates with skills that match your needs, and they will work on your behalf to ensure the process goes smoothly. Many HR professionals are familiar with the stress that comes with unexpected attrition, leaves of absence, or hiring fluctuations. The desire to fill an unfilled post swiftly might throw the HR department into a frenzy. Recruiting often requires the department to redirect resources away from other critical core responsibilities. At a fraction of the expense of onboarding a permanent recruiter, a contract recruiter delivers the knowledge and skills required to overcome recruiting difficulties swiftly.
Hiring a Contract Recruiter: The Easy Parts
The good news is that finding a competent contract recruiter won’t be difficult. For various reasons, many seasoned professionals are opting to go their way. As a result, the talent pool is brimming with highly qualified and experienced contract recruiters, whether for creating professional networks, independence, or flexibility.
JazzHR, for example, is an applicant tracking software that makes the collaboration process simpler. Candidate sourcing, offer letters, and automatic onboarding are all aided by the program. JazzHR is a great tool to use if you’re hiring a contractor. The program allows for collaborative recruiting and does not charge per user. On all of its plans, you receive unlimited users. Hero, the most basic plan, is just $39 per month. You may subscribe to higher levels to access an infinite number of available jobs.
If you’d like to test out JazzHR before committing, you may do so for free for 30 days.
Hiring a Contract Recruiter: The Difficult Parts
The most challenging element of this procedure may be determining which form of contract recruiter you need. Contract recruiters are divided into two categories. The distinction between a contract recruiter and a contract recruitment agency is sometimes blurred. A contract recruiter is an individual recruiter you employ as an independent contractor or freelancer to work exclusively for your company. They are not full-time workers and are often paid hourly salaries with no benefits and have a contract term restriction with the possibility of extension. There are also contract recruiter companies that will connect you with a contract recruiter that is a good fit for your company’s needs. These recruiters are agency workers, and you are one of the numerous accounts they oversee and send resumes. The agency as a whole, not the individual recruiter, will have a contract or agreement with your organization.
Steps to hire a contract recruiter:
Step 1: Choose the sort of contract recruiter you want to hire.
It’s not always clear which kind of contract recruiter is the best fit for your requirements. When making that decision, keep the following three things in mind:
- First, take into account your financial situation.
It will be more expensive to use a recruiting agency. A freelance recruiter may be the best option if you have basic recruiting requirements and a limited budget. These recruiters often have a ready pool of applicants and an extensive network of contacts to help you fill your open positions.
- Consider the position’s intricacy.
The pool of recruiters available to you when you hire a contract recruitment firm is one of the benefits of doing so. It may be worthwhile to pay more for high-level employment. The agency may divide the recruiting process into sections and assign the appropriate recruiter to each stage. Having a team of recruiters working on your open roles, all of whom have worked in your field before, may be beneficial. For example, a junior recruiter may be assigned to the early stages of the process, reviewing resumes for the appropriate qualities. The summaries may then be sent to a more senior recruiter for interviews and an HR business partner for compensation negotiations and offers.
- Consider the project’s scope.
When deciding between a freelancer and a recruiting agency, your scope of work will eventually guide you in the appropriate route. The contract recruiter may just be needed to identify and interview applicants before passing them on to your in-house recruiting manager. In this instance, a freelance recruiter will suffice. However, if you need numerous jobs filled quickly and need the recruiter to help onboard new workers, employing an agency may be worthwhile. Of course, you may hire a freelance recruiter to handle the whole process for entry-level, temporary, or contract jobs. Remember that employing a freelance recruiter may need interviewing and meeting with multiple candidates before deciding who to hire. Agencies in your field are usually simpler to deal with, and you may work with numerous agencies at the same time–after all, you only pay if they place a candidate with you. Hiring an agency has no upfront costs, but their price is always more than that of a freelance recruiter. To determine the best alternative for you right now, compare your scope of work to the recruiter’s abilities and expertise.
Step 2: Determine the Contract Recruiter’s Qualities.
One of the significant advantages of employing a contract recruiter is that it frees up time for HR representatives to focus on their primary responsibilities. Recruiting and onboarding new employees may rapidly become full-time jobs. It would be a shame if HR were drawn into a recruiting process that you had outsourced for a good cause. Hire a contract recruiter who has the expertise to conduct the complete task professionally to avoid this from occurring.
- Understanding of the market
The recruiter’s understanding of your sector is an excellent place to start when considering a suitable match. A recruiter with experience in your field will already know where and how to find the prospects you need. They’re also up to date on industry trends and may provide new perspectives on your recruiting procedure.
- Metrics-oriented
You want a contract recruiter who is metric-obsessed. It’s not simply about the number of workers a recruiter can find. Other factors to consider are how long the recruit remains how well they integrate into the business, and work happiness. You can trust a recruiter who works with cold, complex data to bring in qualified applicants.
- Experience
A qualified contract recruiter should be able to demonstrate industry expertise. Look for other businesses that the recruiter has worked with that are comparable to yours. What was the percentage of those that succeeded? What are the opinions of prior clients on the recruiter? If the contract recruiter has a good track record, there’s a good possibility they’ll be able to match your employment requirements.
Step 3: Interviews
On paper, you can only learn so much about contract recruiters, therefore choose applicants for a face-to-face interview. You may be required to pay the recruiter whether or not the post is filled in certain situations, mainly if you employ a freelancer. As a result, you should take extra precautions while screening applicants to ensure that you get the best individual for the position. If you’re working with a recruitment agency, you may either skip this stage or meet with the principal account manager you’ll be dealing with. You don’t pay an upfront fee with an agency; you pay when a candidate is working. Agencies are given a markup on hourly salaries for contractor jobs. Steps three through five will be skipped if you deal with a hiring agency. After you’ve decided which agency to partner with, you’ll review and sign a contract with them, and they’ll begin working on your available jobs right away. Step six comes after you’ve signed an agreement and given them the open positions. However, if you’re hiring independent contractors, you’ll want to meet with them and make sure they understand your sector, organization, and requirements.
- Make preparations ahead of time.
Before interviewing contract recruiters, you should gather important information. Prepare thoroughly to achieve a smooth interview process. Some of the details you’ll need include:
- a summary of your company’s services
- The open posts’ job title and description
- The workplace’s location
- FThereare prerequisites for skills, education, and experience. for the vacant opportunities
- Additional criteria may include medical or physical tests, background checks, or skills testing for available jobs.
- There is a salary range and an hourly pay range for the recruiter.
- The recruiter’s working hours and timetable
This material comprises what the recruiter needs to know to perform their job and what they may anticipate from working as a recruiter for your organization.
- Interview the candidate
Please inquire about the success rate of their placements. This one measure may reveal a great deal about a recruiter’s abilities. Inquire about the applicants’ success rates, especially in scenarios similar to yours. You could recruit due to quick and unanticipated expansion, for example. Find out if the recruiter had dealt with a similar situation before and what happened.
Other questions to ask during an interview include:
- How long have you been recruiting for this industry?
- What has been your most important professional achievement?
- How will you protect the organization’s sensitive data?
- How do you make sure that non-compete clauses don’t constrain applicants?
- Have you ever had to deal with a conflict of interest? What steps did you take to resolve them?
- What is the nature of the contract?
- What do you charge, and how do you set it?
Non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements are two types of non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements. In contract recruitment, non-disclosure and non-solicitation agreements are commonplace. You must ensure that secret information does not leak to competitors or other businesses. Make a complete non-disclosure agreement with your recruiter and discuss it. A non-solicitation agreement, on the other hand, prevents the contract recruiter from poaching your personnel once you’ve hired them. It might be a red signal if a contract recruiter refuses to sign any of this paperwork. Choose the applicant you believe would best fill your vacant roles with qualified candidates.
Step 4: Make a Work Statement.
Because your recruiter is working on a contract basis, having a well-defined Statement of Work is more vital than ever (SOW). This agreement aids in the fulfillment of both parties’ commitments. A precise scope of work also raises the likelihood that the contract recruiter will satisfy your needs.
- Make a list of your most important goals.
Consider what you want the contract recruiter to do and write it down. The following are some examples of possible recruiting goals:
- Identifying a certain amount of qualified applicants for each position
- Increasing the rate of retention
- Increasing employee satisfaction
- Attracting and retaining elite talent is a challenge.
- Recruiting a varied group of applicants
- Improving the hiring quality
- Increasing the efficiency of the recruiting process
- Creating a powerful employer brand
Consider prior issues in your hiring procedure before entrusting the job to the contract recruiter. They’ve likely dealt with similar problems previously. TBA as detailed as possible about your recruiting goals to make it easier for the recruiter to meet your expectations,
- Determine particular recruitment responsibilities.
Your hiring goals determine the tone of the recruitment process, and particular recruiting duties form the foundation of your scope of work. Consider everything you’d want the recruiter to do on your behalf. Consider the number of unfilled jobs to be filled, the timescale for doing so, and the priority for doing so. Early on in the process, consider the scope of work. Recruiters have been known to choose CVs at random to meet a tight deadline. In addition, if they are stressed for time, some will not even read the cover letters. Give your contract recruiter enough time to screen the prospects thoroughly, and you’ll be pleased with the results.
- Details of reporting should be worked out.
Although contract recruiters operate independently, they nevertheless need your organization’s help to achieve their goals. Introduce the recruiter to their boss, the HR staff, and any other individuals with whom they’ll be working. Make it clear to whom the recruiter reports and what their objectives are. Designate a point of contact for the recruiter to contact any difficulties, questions, or concerns. This should ideally be the same person to whom the recruiter will pass over the contract at the end.
Step 5: Set the Contract Recruiter Up for Success.
A strong relationship between the contract recruiter and your firm is critical to securing excellent personnel. However, you can do a few things to make the recruiter’s work easier and make the most of their skills and experience to find the best prospects for your vacant jobs.
- Bring on a contract recruiter.
You may depend on your standard onboarding procedure to smoothly integrate the recruiter into your company. Begin before the recruiter’s arrival by ensuring that they have all the necessary tools to do their duties. The available resources are a desk, website approvals, login rights, a voice mailbox, email, access to your recruitment software, recruiting marketing materials, telephone lists, and interview space. HR should be proactive in ensuring that the recruiter gets up and running quickly.
- Introduce the recruiter to critical members of the team.
Facilitate face-to-face interactions between the recruiter and the individuals who will be working. Assign a recruiting manager to assist with the transfer of the recruiter if feasible. There’s a good chance they’ll have many questions, so having someone to turn to will make the adjustment simpler. The meeting might be a casual breakfast or lunch where the contract recruiter can meet the staff and learn more about them.
- Establish a meeting schedule.
Recruiters that work on a contract basis are noted for their freedom. Although the average recruiter is content to work mostly from home, on-site visits are unavoidable. In addition to interviewing applicants in the office, face-to-face meetings may be required for brainstorming sessions, sourcing ideas, and client updates. A weekly on-site visit with the contract recruiter will initially assist in keeping things on track. If and when it makes sense, you may lessen the frequency of the meetings as the recruiting process proceeds. You may encounter some opposition at first. Your supervisors are busy, and contract recruiters like to work autonomously. Reiterate how important these meetings are and only schedule them as needed. You may delegate the scheduling of the sessions to the recruiter and management.
- Assemble a list of recruiting metrics that everyone can agree on.
Discuss which metrics you’ll be measuring with the contract recruiter. When developing important recruitment KPIs, including your managers and stakeholders. The following are some examples of fundamental recruiting success indicators:
- Per position, the number of job advertisements
- For each job, the number of cold calls made
- For each post, the number of CVs that were evaluated was calculated.
- Per position, the number of telephone screens
- Number of planned interviews
- The number of interviews carried out
- The total number of offers
- The total number of rejections and acceptances is calculated as follows:
Discuss how frequently the contract recruiter will report on these metrics with you. Also, decide how and what format you’ll write on the hiring process.
Step 6: Continue with your recruitment efforts.
Even if contract recruiters aren’t your direct employees, your working relationship requires some follow-up. It’s important not to go too far in the direction of micromanagement. Contract recruiters are aware of this fact and want to work with you. Recruiting firms are in the same boat. They want to work with you and need your input to make sure they’re sending the proper candidates your way or where they should pivot if they aren’t.
- Continue to provide feedback.
Most recruiters want to hear how well they’re doing and whether their expectations are being met. Continuous input on what’s working and what needs to be tweaked can benefit your working relationship greatly. This feedback is reciprocal. Contract recruiters have their methods for finding, interviewing, and hiring new employees. Please use their knowledge and experience to speed up the recruiting process. Setting up frequent feedback sessions will aid in spotting errors early in the hiring process. These meetings don’t have to be in person. In most circumstances, a brief phone call or email will be enough. Any significant complaints may be scheduled for face-to-face discussions. It’s not only about the recruiter when it comes to receiving feedback. Ensure you provide them feedback on the resumes and applicants they offer you. If the applicants aren’t a good match for the vacant job, provide prompt feedback on why they weren’t a good fit and where to concentrate for better-suited individuals (skills, experience, personality, etc.). This input is priceless and saves time for all parties involved.
- Extending a helpful hand
TYourrecruiters must grasp your purpose, values, and corporate culture. to get a holistic image of your firm. However, it is unavoidable that they will not be aware of all that transpired during your early chats. The contractor, for example, may be unfamiliar with your company’s management style, objectives, or business divisions. Therefore, when requested, be willing to provide a hand or provide instruction. This is when having a single point of contact to address any queries that may arise comes in helpful.
- Remove any potential stumbling barriers.
The contract recruiter’s task is crystal apparent when the scope of work is well stated. However, challenges such as workplace politics, unexpected recruitment pauses, and abrupt shifts in objectives arise. Keep the recruiter and any interested parties informed if the process hits a snag. Also, prepare ahead of time to eliminate any roadblocks that might make the hiring process more complicated than it needs to be.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a contract recruiter cost?
A: The cost of a contract recruiter for a specific job can vary greatly depending on if that person is local or not. With many recruiters being based online these days and some companies that sometimes offer discounts for using certain recruiting agencies, it’s also possible to find more affordable options.
Does it cost money to hire a recruiter?
A: No, it does not cost money to hire a recruiter. Recruiters typically charge by the hour for their time and services rendered.
What does a contract recruiter do?
A: A contract recruiter is someone who works for a corporation but only has to work on an as-needed basis. As such, they can provide the company with more flexibility in their hiring process and contact them when it comes up that they need new talent.
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