by John Cassidy
President & Co-Founder
Understand the relationship between recruiter and client
A good recruiter wants to achieve the perfect match between client and candidate. It’s also how they make their living and get repeat business. That’s why the best of them are obsessive about getting the brief right and being able to engage honestly and openly with candidates. But sometimes the approach taken by the client can make this more difficult. It’s in the interests of the candidate to understand the terms under which the recruiter is working.
The three most common types of engagement between a recruiter and a client are retained, exclusive, success-based and non-exclusive, success-based. TALTRAN Global is actively engaged in the first two of these categories because we want to commit appropriate levels of resource to secure the best fit between thoughtful, progressive companies and well-qualified candidates with the attitude and skills to make an immediate and sustainable difference
The types of engagement generally work as follows: .
Retained – where the client is working with the recruiter over an extended period of time with a brief that may include multiple-appointments, new structures and even new ventures. Payment is by retainer and usually includes a success bonus. In these cases the relationship between recruiter and client is strategic and long-term and they are may carry out functions normally done by in-house Talent Acquisition teams. Because of the long-term nature of the engagement the recruiter may also be aware of confidential information and vacancies that are not yet public.
Exclusive, success-based – where the client works exclusively with the recruiter on a job-by-job basis with agreed financial terms for filling the position. This approach allows the recruiter to engage in a productive and candid discussion with the client to ensure that the job and its place in the company’s ambitions is fully defined. In turn this allows them to research and approach the best candidates for the role with confidence. For the candidate it means that they will be working with a recruiter who can answer their questions, is in close communication with the client, and who has a strong incentive to make an appointment where both sides are satisfied.
Non-exclusive, success-based – where the client is working with a number of recruiters and rewards the one that is able to fill the position. These types of search are often a sign that the client is looking to cast a wide net but that the role is not considered important enough to invest time or money in detailed engagement. The non-exclusive search is less attractive to external recruiters because their chances of being rewarded for their work is diminished and they are unlikely to be able to offer candidates good service. Even the best candidates may miss out because of timing issues. For these reasons TALTRAN Global does not engage in non-exclusive searches.
When a candidate understands the nature of the relationship between a client and the recruiter they can assess whether they want to be part of a broad-brush process or a more targeted approach. Either can work but the former carries more risk that time and energy will be wasted.
