Adding a new member to your team can be time-consuming. Plus, hiring decisions must never be taken lightly. Think realistically if you have the expertise to find great talent to join your business.

If the answer is no, consider hiring a recruiter. After all, it’s their job to find the best people available. They’re equipped with the means and experience to fill positions as efficiently as possible.

Why Hire a Recruiter

Not sure about whether you should leave the recruitment process to an expert or not? Before we delve into how to hire a recruiter, let’s look at the why.

• They let you focus on core business activities, e.g. developing and marketing new products.
• They improve effectiveness since they’re familiar with handling passive candidates and more.
• They increase the quality of hires as they know what to look for.
• They cost less than training someone in-house as they already have the experience.
• They are well-practised in assessing who’ll work harder and stay in the startup for longer.
• They facilitate your organisation’s growth by handling a higher volumes of roles.
• They may coordinate recruiting with on-boarding for a smoother transition into the team.

An unexpected benefit of having your own recruiters is that candidates tend to be more comfortable with them, as opposed to direct employers who might not understand their line of work and thus make them an offer that’s too low.

Don’t wait to encounter a problem with filling important roles before hiring a dedicated recruiter. Know how to hire one as soon as now.

How to Hire a Recruiter

Recruiters provide value by helping your business find and hire great talent, but not all of them are great. So, how do you tell the good from the average?

Make it a priority

As someone who puts others’ needs before your own, you probably want to fill other roles before this one. You might presume that you can handle the hiring until then. However, this means juggling your main tasks with recruitment.

It’s smarter to place this at the top of your priority list. By doing so, you’ll be able to help everyone else faster. Having a dedicated recruiter ensures that every position is filled as quickly as possible. It takes the load off for all parties involved.

Treat it like others

Remember that it’s the same as every other job that you’ve hired for. Applicants may know more about recruitment technology than you, but they don’t know your business nor your specific needs. Only you can tell who fits into your company culture, for instance.

Prepare for the interview as you would for any other role. Define the attributes that make for the ideal candidate in your eyes. Write down the questions you’d like to ask and the assignments you want to give. Make a checklist of recruiting to-dos.

Check their knowledge

You want a person who has deep expertise of your industry and an informed perspective of the hiring environment. In some cases, they have to hire for technical fields so they also need knowledge of these positions to find the right candidates.

If possible, get a professional recruiter who’s connected to passive job seekers who are willing to change roles for you. The global economy has been unstable lately so skilled candidates like to weigh their options before they decide. The right recruiter can sway their choice in your direction.

Look for these traits

There are certain things that every good recruiter must have. Some of these may seem too much but they are what makes for a great hire.

Adaptable – It’s common for growing companies to change gears often so pick an individual who’s flexible enough to adjust their plans according to new needs.

Discreet – Recruiters work with compensation data and other confidential information so they need to be trustworthy and responsible.

Dedicated – Give them insight into where you want your business to be in the next few years and enable them to become more of an administrative support.

Proactive – It’s extra important for a recruiter to be able to act fast and snag top talents before your competitors can.

Considerate – In addition to your startup’s success, your recruiter needs to care about the needs of the team and the applicants as well.

See their references

Ask to see the list of clients that they’ve worked with in the past. Take the time to read any reviews or testimonials they’ve received. The ideal candidate has an impressive track record that they prove through other people’s words.

Normally, they include their references in their resume. If not, request for these when you’re at the stage of gathering their information. Give those people or companies a short call to enquire how the applicant was when they were with them.

Examine their network

The best recruiter has cultivated a network of job seekers. This is done by placing many of them in reputable roles and staying in contact with them afterwards. They can build rapport with those in the employment market.

This is what helps recruiters fill positions at a faster rate. They already have people in mind that they’re planning to refer to you so you won’t have to recruit from scratch. Their talent pool alone is worth all the money that you pay them.

Give them homework

Unlike other roles where applicants must be tested on the spot, it’s better to give recruiter candidates assignments instead. These must be time-consuming and close to the actual work as possible. Through this, you’ll assess their skills more thoroughly.

An essay lets you check their written communication such as grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and tone of voice. These are necessary when crafting job descriptions. Scenario-based questions give you insight into their thought processes and personality.

Learn from your team

Determine the unique traits that has led your team to success so far. Then, try to find applicants who share these same values. For instance, if your existing employees are driven, you want additions to the staff who will push each other to do more.

Inversely, identify the gaps in your team and seek to balance them out through your new hires. For example, if your staff are customer-focused, consider someone who’s is technical and data-driven. Just make sure that everyone fits into the company culture too.

When Hiring Virtual Workers

If you’re thinking to hire a virtual assistant, it’s best that you leave that in the capable hands of a professional. Recruiters can put together an entire virtual team for you, if they have to.

By having recruiters in your team, you no longer have to thrash blindly when finding talent. All you have to do is show up at final interviews and choose the candidate you like best.

When You Need Help

Now that you know how to hire a recruiter, all you have to do now is recruit.

It’s certainly more complicated than posting a listing and browsing resumes, but it’s worth adding such a professional to your team. Choose right and you won’t need to know beyond how to hire a recruiter. In other words, you won’t have to do the other tedious steps.

If you find that hiring a recruiter is too time-consuming, work with Remote Workmate instead. All it takes is a phone call to discuss your needs and requirements. Through the information you provide us, we’re able to fill any position you have vacant promptly.