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Straight Talk for the Recruiting Profession


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Confidence in the Executive Employment Market

by on Feb. 27, 2009


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Assignments are slowing, hiring plans are on hold, and confidence is plunging.

That is the evidence from the latest ExecuNet survey of 164 executive recruiters, with 28% confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve in the next six months – down from 36% last month.

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“While recruiters’ outlook for the first half of the year has become more bearish, the jobs posted in our membership in non-cyclical industries including consumer staples, medical devices, healthcare, and government are generating more new opportunities this year than in 2008,” says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet.

In addition, he says, recruiters do not see their business prospects changing in the next few months, as their short-term confidence also slipped.

In February, just 12% of recruiters reported being confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next three months – down from 16% in January.

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Pipelining Talent: An Evolution in Executive Search

by on Feb. 27, 2009


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The Internet and falling prices of technology has had a dramatic impact on the executive search process.

Today, access to people, companies, and market information is available to almost anyone with Internet access. Resources such as LinkedIn, Hoover’s, Zoominfo, TheLadders, SixFigureJobs, and others make identifying passive candidates much easier. The relatively low cost of technology allows recruiters, clients, and candidates to store, retrieve, and present information much faster than ever before.

With all of these important components of executive search evolving, why haven’t the results improved?

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Truth, Justice and the American Way of Headhunting

More Clarification Than Rant

by on Feb. 27, 2009


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I know not everyone may read this on Friday but I like to have a bit of fun on Fridays because I love them almost as much as Mondays. I have enjoyed working with David,Todd and Elaine so far and I don’t expect that to change.  Since ere.net took over The Fordyce Letter I don’t think anyone has changed a single word of any post or article I have written. So readers and editors need to accept this with the lightness intended…which is not to say I don’t mean it.

The article about recruiters associated with the ‘sister site’ struck me as funny in a couple ways. First, I am sure my friend Tom, who is certain to comment on this, will redefine the overall relationship from sister to something more sinister. It took me a good chunk of my 23 years in the business to arrive at a point where I can admit that I know a few …call them ‘non third party recruiters’… I admire. It also took a while to develop a preference for working with hiring managers and the staffing function together as opposed to “HMs Only!!”. I still can’t keep up with everything about our own industry that I’d like. I’d love to know if some machine has kept visit statistics for my ‘sister site’. I cannot honestly say whether we have laid eyes on each other. There may have been a few times in the past when regular visitors to each site have had relationships that would be inappropriate for brother and sister.

Finally, to state my comment on Elaine’s post about Todd’s list of unemployed recruiters on my sister’s site a bit differently…

Just what the heck IS an unemployed recruiter?

Former, sure but unemployed is impossible here.

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Recruiters in the Market

by on Feb. 26, 2009


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There is a fun new list you need to check out on our sister site, ERE.net. Editor-in-chief Todd Raphael came up with a great idea: an ongoing list of laid-off recruiters who are interested in finding new work. If interested, you leave your name, contact deets, specialty, you know the drill.

But doesn’t ERE focus on corporate recruiters? Well, yes, it does. Though we may use different dialects while engaged in our work as “corporate recruiter” or “third-party recruiter,” the language is always the same when we’re out of work and looking for a new opportunity.

Recruiters helping recruiters is how we survive this economy. So if you are out of work (or heck, even if you are employed but simply curious), check out the list!

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Silicon Valley Recruiters Desperately Seeking Work

by on Feb. 26, 2009


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From a recent New York Times article:

There are no precise counts of recruiters in Silicon Valley, and no one knows how many are unemployed. But interviews with more than two dozen recruiters suggest that the recession has slammed the profession particularly hard, both here and across the country. Scores of recruiters have been let go in recent months and new positions are virtually nonexistent. Those that pop up attract as many as 500 applicants. And rates paid to recruiters, many of whom work as contractors, have fallen by about 50 percent.

Read more here.

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Jeff on Call: Splitting Fees Without an Agreement

by on Feb. 26, 2009


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ask-jeff2This article is the second in a long-term series of Q&As, and I invite you to participate — email me directly at jeff@placementlaw.com with your question. (Keep in mind you should always consult with your own attorney. Nothing contained herein should be construed as legal advice. It is for your information only.)

Q: Must I split my fee equally with another recruiter if there is no written agreement?

A: Only if that’s the deal. You can write an SFA (Split-Fee Agreement) on any terms you like. However, too few split-fee deals are in writing and disputes over them are too common.

It’s usually the candidate recruiter who’s in the hot seat and it’s usually the client recruiter (account executive) who doesn’t want to pay a 50% split.

Let’s look at the three ways this might arise:

  1. The client recruiter has not been paid. The candidate recruiter has a cause of action (legal claim) for breach of contract against the client recruiter. A properly drafted SFA will include the terms of payment (like upon the start date, upon payment by the client, 10 days thereafter, pursuant to the fee schedule term, or upon expiration of the guarantee period). It will also include payment of attorney’s fees, costs of suit, and interest to the candidate recruiter. It is imperative for the candidate recruiter to protect himself with disclosure requirements on the part of the client recruiter. Otherwise the candidate recruiter is on the outside looking in. Serious legal issues can arise if the candidate recruiter contacts the client directly or interferes with the candidate’s employment.The candidate recruiter is in privity of contract (a legally binding agreement) with the client. The candidate recruiter has derivative rights and is usually subject to all terms and conditions of the underlying fee schedule. Therefore, the SFA should be set up so the client recruiter pays regardless of whether the client does. This unconditional term places the pressure where it belongs, since the candidate recruiter has fully performed by recruiting and referring the candidate. Collection should be the client recruiter’s problem.
  2. The client recruiter has been paid but refuses to pay the candidate recruiter. There’s a simple way to construct an SFA that will protect the candidate recruiter. Just define exactly what constitutes performance by the candidate recruiter. Is it identifying the candidate? Recruiting the candidate? For what position? With whom? Does it include interviewing the candidate? Coordinating the client recruiter interview? Coordinating the client interview? Assistance with hand-holding, on-site interviews, reference checking, relocation or extending offers?
  3. The client recruiter has paid the candidate recruiter who refuses to return the payment. These usually involve a “falloff” (where the candidate leaves before the guarantee period expires) and the client is demanding a replacement or refund of the fee. However most cases revolve around some waiver by the client recruiter of the fee schedule terms. Often the payment of a refund where a replacement only was promised, or an extended guarantee. The candidate recruiter is not bound by these modifications unless she specifically consents.
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MRI: Out-of-Work Stigma Fades in Today’s Economy

by on Feb. 24, 2009


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Passive who? MRINetwork now alleges that “A-level candidates” can be found among active job seekers.

Most can agree that we have a (perhaps false) perception that the “hard-to-get” candidate who already has a job is more desirable, valuable, or competent.

But in the current job market, candidates who have learned to survive in a difficult environment may have much to offer your clients.

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Fordyce TV: Eliminating the Frustration of Changing Specs!

by on Feb. 24, 2009


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Popular trainer and presenter Margaret Graziano returned for her second Fordyce TV episode to help us eliminate the frustration of changing specs. This was her second time hitting the Fordyce TV stage (if you missed Margaret’s first episode of A Keen Sense of Recruiting, you can view it here.).

In her exciting episode, she delved into several topics like comprehensive position requirements; ways to improve your hiring batting average; ways to increase your CRR client retention rates; and how to quickly grasp the art of attracting better candidates. Check it out for yourself here!

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The Crisis of Credit Visualized

by on Feb. 20, 2009


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Does the recession have you worried? Of course it does, especially if you’re a recruiter stumbling through your first recession and hope to survive.

As Jon Bartos writes in his upcoming cover story in the March issue of The Fordyce Letter:

“In a sort of Darwinian way, weak recruiters are going to remove themselves from the industry. The rest of us will stay and fight for our careers. It won’t be easy, but those of us who won’t accept defeat are going to make it happen. To do that, you’ll need to follow four rules of recruiting in a recession.”

What about you? Do you think you’ll survive this recession?

If you’re still not sure what got us in financial hot water, do yourself a favor and watch the entire 10-minute video, noting that it gets especially interesting right around the 7-minute mark. Although it doesn’t apply directly to recruiting, it is a great, basic primer that outlines just how our country landed in its current economic mess.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

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Truth, Justice and the American Way of Headhunting

A Good Old-Fashioned Friday Rant

by on Feb. 20, 2009


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The proposition below in italics has apparently been sent to many people.

I guess in some sense, I might perpetuate the potential problem I am going to point out but I think a posting on this board will not be as damaging as sending this to totally random people on LinkedIn. I don’t even have a problem with the concept as long as it is discussed privately among people who might do it after some qualification is done. But to send this to random people one does not know does something much worse than the fairly inconsequential “cry of desperation” it sends about our industry.

What this does is invite every single person who ends up discussing a fee agreement with a recruiter to tell the recruiter he knows how much “fluff” is built into our fee structure if we can afford to give away 25% for not very much value.

I already take crap from about half the recruiting world for offering a 1k finder’s fee to people who originate a candidate I eventually place.

This guy (I do know it is a guy) is probably some franchise owner who can’t get his people to call or to get placements out of their calls and probably does not appreciate the value of a placement.  I guess I can stop now…this was a week ago. He is probably gone now anyway…

I’d like to invite you to partner with my company. If you are able to direct new business to my staffing company, I will pay you 25% of the total business generated for one year. Our average fees per hire are about $20,000.

The referral can involve you personally making an introduction to the client or you could simply let us know that a company is working with outside recruiters to fulfill their hiring needs. In any case, we would pay you a consulting fee of 25% of all the revenue generated from that account for one year. In ’07, we generated $460,000 from our biggest client, your take for simply pointing us in the right direction would have been $115,000.

** ANY INDUSTRY WORKS, OUR CLIENTS RANGE FROM LARGE COSMETICS COMPANIES TO HIGH TECH SOFTWARE.

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