The Expert Recruiter – The Ultimate Matchmaker

The cost of hiring the wrong candidate has been well documented, and so most businesses fully accept that internal TA teams should be supported by external resourcing partners. Just as the legal department will have external firms to turn to, so TA departments will turn to external recruiters for help – either with niche or unfamiliar roles, or with the sheer volume of opportunity. The external recruiter’s sole function? To play matchmaker. Vocative MD, Justin Sleep shares his thoughts on the role of the expert recruiter. 

“The current candidate shortage is creating a candidate-driven market. Internal staffing departments often don’t have the capacity to scour the market for that perfect hire. I think it’s an expertise-driven market…because what customers are looking for is genuine expertise to add to their business. The expertise that Vocative offers is that we are in the middle and we’re able to spot the right opportunity for the right person.

What Makes An Expert Recruiter?

Let’s be clear, expertise is more than just doing something for a long time. It’s about having that level of knowledge that is an inch wide but a mile deep.

An expert recruiter will not shy away from giving clients feedback that they don’t necessarily want to hear. As Alastair* says, “we have conversations with clients who have gone out and run their own candidate search and got nothing back. The expert recruiter will be fearless and tell them, in the nicest possible way, ‘there is a problem with your offering’. There’s a level of consultancy and expertise to help a client improve their offering to the market.”

Automation Is A Tool Not The Solution

“Automation is an ongoing discussion within the industry…” (according to Al again: you can see the conversation here) “…it’s got some value but it doesn’t solve the problems that we are here to solve for our clients. We have placed people who maybe only have 30-40% of the job spec when you look at their CV. But we know the value that they are going to add to the client is way beyond what is shown on their CV: it happens time and time again”.

Getting the right synergy between how a candidate wants to develop their career and what a company needs is an exciting but daunting task and only one that an expert recruiter can facilitate.

The Expert Recruiter – The Ultimate Matchmaker

“When you have a strong candidate with a particular skill set and a strong belief in the value that they can bring, and you put them together and they are greater than the sum of their parts…helping them make that connection is wonderful”

Alastair comments “Hopes, dreams and desires aren’t on a CV…do you understand their background? As there needs to be synergy from both…the expert recruiter will understand the motivations of the candidate and that can’t be seen on a CV. This is why businesses do need that consultancy support”.

In A Nutshell…

Why should businesses work with an expert recruiter? It saves time, gives you a better understanding of the whole market and gives you a better chance of finding the right candidate. End of discussion. Enough said really.

If you have anything to add please comment below or send us an email at contact@vocative.co.uk.