The age-old question many of you ask:
Why should I use an external recruitment agency when I already have an internal recruiter?
Certainly, a fair question to ask. I will give you a very transparent and honest answer based on my experience on both sides of the team. I have worked for years on the internal side. First in the public service with provincial and federal governments and agencies, as well as with several smaller organizations, including startups and growth-types of companies. Most recently I was responsible for the recruitment of various roles in Canada, the US and EMEA with a fast-growing technology company. In both instances, I worked with and dealt with external recruitment agencies. I now work on the external side as a talent consultant.
When starting a new venture, most business owners tend to use the people around them to grow their team. Friends, family members, friends of friends. With more success, the need to hire in a more strategic manner becomes more important. Especially once investors make their entrance. That is normally where we come in as most companies have a sudden need to add specialized types of roles and/or several positions are needed to fuel the growth.
But again, why would you need our services when you already have someone in-house that you trust? A couple of reasons why.
First, internal recruiters sometimes have limited tools and resources to be able to reach the best candidates out there. More often than not, they work on a reactive basis (as much as I wanted to be pro-active, that was simply the nature and reality of the role). External recruiters have a solid database of passive talent they can reach out to when needed. We also have a strong local, national and international network that we can go to when required. We know who is thinking of making a move, who could be a great fit provided the right incentive as well as who will waste your time.
Second, and equally as important as the first reason, we work in true collaboration as an extension of your internal team. We are not here to push candidates that are clearly not a fit. Neither are we looking to make a quick buck and move on. We partner with you and your team to learn the ins and outs of your company, your people, your vision and goals as well as your culture to make sure that we represent you accordingly in the market. Candidates have different reasons for looking at opportunities and we make sure they know why you are the best company to work with. Many times, we are asked to help search for a certain role which, after doing our due diligence and asking the right questions, turns out we should be looking at adding a different role. We also tell them when they don’t actually need to hire for a new role.
Our experience and close relationships with several VCs, startups, and growth types of companies in North America allows us to advise our clients on things like what their organizational structure should look like, emerging industry trends, talent preferences re: remote work, growth projections including timelines and cost associated, as well as help introduce them to new opportunities.
We are proud to have earned status as entrepreneurs with like-minded business leaders and appreciate working with companies that are looking for a genuine partner as they grow. So we can do more for them than just recruit. We can be that trusted sounding board when needed.
