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RECRUITMENT GUIDELINES FOR
HIRING Reprinted with permission from [Note: The reader should keep in mind
that this article, while a good treatise on the subject, was written
over 10 years ago. However, it remains a worthy primer and should
serve as a good introduction. -- Ed Lawrence, March 2000.] |
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uring
the past seven to nine years corporate employment programs have found a
new player to join the more traditional team of staff employment
specialists, executive search consultants and contingency search
agencies. An increasing number of American companies are expanding their
employment and staffing function to include the temporary services of a
new breed of management consultant: the contract recruiter. While early pioneers, such as J. Paul Costello, Jack Erdlen, Robert Morton and Richard Stanion, gave the activity the impetus and rules that guide contract recruitment's use and delivery today, it's unlikely they were the first to embrace the idea. During the great corporate hiring blitzes of the early 1960s, there were many search consultants and contingency headhunters who left their offices to do temporary duty at their favorite client-company's site on a per diem basis. And although they weren't identified as contract recruiters, they performed staffing services almost identical to today's on-site consultant. In its present form contract recruitment is perfection in its simplicity, and is used primarily as a cost-effective and immediate solution to short-term, extraordinary staffing requirements. For example, a company might find it has a backlog of 10-20 open positions that need immediate attention. Typically, the human resources department contracts the services of an experienced corporate recruiting professional for a predetermined duration on an hourly per diem plus expenses. This individual, who is usually overqualified for the assignment as a full-time job, reports to the company's office during regular business hours and normally works 40-60 hours per week performing recruitment duties. He or she is given a work area, assigned open requisitions, introduced to the hiring managers, and attempts to fill the requisitions using normal company-approved methods (i.e., newspaper ads, agencies, employee referrals, career fairs, and so on). The recruitment process in, general, remains the same. |
Resumes
are generated and routed to hiring managers. Then candidates are
screened, interviews are arranged, references are checked, applicants
are tested (if required) and offers are made. Contract recruiters are used also on the other end of the process in rather specific outplacement activities. For example, companies involved in downsizing operations may choose to run an internal outplacement function and use the contractor as a temporary counselor to assist in the outplacement effort. The contractor draws upon his or her knowledge, resources and experiences in employment and employee relations to provide the successful operation of a resource center. The center might provide assistance in resume preparation, developing job leads, improving presentation skills, retirement planning and general counseling. Contract Recruiters Provide a Fresh Point of ViewThere are many benefits to be derived from the services of a contract recruiter. Some of the more obvious are:
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