As you are in the process of hiring top candidates this year, it is critical to know what to look for in a search firm if you decide to use one.
Top 5 Things to Look For in Evaluating a Search Firm
- Look for a specialty firm that has a history of placing ethics & compliance professionals rather than a firm that caters to many career areas.
- When interviewing a search firm ask them for references on companies and ethics & compliance professionals they have worked with.
- Make sure the search firm will have a single point of contact to interact with so there is consistency in delivery of quality service.
- Insist that the search professional for your account has real world experience in ethics & compliance prior to becoming an executive recruiter.
- Ask if the search firm is active and visible in the ethics & compliance community. I.e. are they a well recognized authority on ethics & complianc?
Remember, when you use a search firm that encompasses all 5 criteria, you have the greatest chance of hiring the best candidates.
Advantage of using a search firm
- A good firm will provide more qualified professionals than networking and job boards because 85% of the qualified candidate pool is not actively looking for a new job.
- A search firm will cost less than using your own resources when you factor in the true cost of time of all the internal professionals inclusive of HR and the hiring authorizes who will devote time to screening unqualified professionals.
- A search firm will bring you the talent you need quicker than your own sourcing because the recruiter already has a contact list of hundreds of people that meet your specific criteria.
- When confidentiality is important a search firm is the only way to go.
