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The Tough Questions Recruiters Face Managing a community of search professionals enables me the opportunity to speak with anywhere from 5 to 25 recruiters on a daily basis. I'm often questioned about the industry, yet do not always feel qualified to provide answers and/or don't have a solution. I'd like to share a few of the tough ones that have arisen regularly over the past couple of months as I'm sure there are likely others experiencing the same issues. How is the market these days? I find this one tough to swallow! It's similar to, "How is the economy doing?" Generally speaking, some industries/sectors are striving and some are diving and one's opinion is typically a reflection of the market(s) they are in. During my years as a Recruiter, I always considered myself amongst the most knowledgeable individuals within my specialty as that is what justified my fees. If you harbor any doubts about the sector you service you need to get busy because let's face it, you are the specialist! That may appear to be a bit blunt but the market you service is your product and if you don't have a feel for its pulse then who does? Your clients and their competitors are directly responsible for market shifts so ask them, or perhaps their analysts, where they/their industry's projections are headed. Like most other split-networks, RecruitersCafe is comprised largely of independents and recruiters employed within small to medium sized firms. This cross section by no means will provide a true representation of the entire search industry, but I can confirm that visitor traffic, registrations and most importantly job postings have increased steadily over the past couple months. The downward spiral witnessed in Q3 & Q4, 2001 seems to be reversing and Recruiters seem to be quite a bit more optimistic in general. If you peruse industry publications regularly you'll notice that articles and commentary relating to business development have become quite popular with publishers. Whether you view this as a good thing or not is up to you, it is an indisputable fact the focus is currently on solution and growth. Are recruiters still billing at the same rate they were in better economic times? I recently reviewed an article in this newsletter that reported the heads of many multinational retainer firms are showing concern over fee discount trends. Search firm executives believed that clients in many sectors are pushing for discounts in reaction to firms dictating standards in the supply challenged market of the late 90's. The payback, they claim, has lead to some creative and unprecedented fee discounting. I'm not aware or convinced that independent recruiters or recruiters from smaller firms can execute such a hard line with clients. I understand that the economy has slowed in many respects but has the quality of your efforts eroded along with it? Lowering fees will not help you get out of a rut and generally signifies desperation. If you can find it within yourself to lower fees you're really going to have to dig deep to get them back. No one has actually told me they've "had" to lower their fees. I've only heard third-party accounts (rumors) of fees being slashed. Many of the "bandwagon" Recruiters will naturally be pared away similar to those who jumped into the stock market. It's probably a last gasp effort, they drop their fees dramatically. The true, long term relationship Recruiter will continue to provide the same high standards of service and deserves consistent remuneration. What's hot? Let's face it, while some high growth industries like IT have cooled off (deep freeze) and left many recruiters paddling upstream many others are riding high. There are some traditional markets that have kept chugging along at a steady pace like pharmaceutical, biomedical and health care. I've heard a few stories from recruiters that recently latched onto markets they never knew existed or didn't think were profitable like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) and Call Centers. There are also some traditional sectors experiencing new growth like real estate and property management that are being given second consideration from many. Often it's a function of the company as much as the industry. It's easy to externalize and lay blame on the factors affecting our industry. Source out the winners and align yourself with success and growth. Manager, RecruitersCafe |
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