Saturday, November 13, 2010

Entrepreneurship. How to hire on a shoe string budget

During the recession, how many laid off workers decided that they couldn't wait for a job offer to come in to get back to work?  Lots.  Out of work top talent went to work for themselves and some have realized some success.  Now those small business entrepreneurs need to hire staff.

To find the right talent the options include running ads and browsing résumés posted on agency Web sites or relevant job boards. At first glance, this seems like an inexpensive way to go. But after factoring in the time required to review résumés and the skill it takes to analyze the results of numinous applications, this can cost much more in the end.

Another other option is to contract with a recruiter, at least to find the immediately needed staff.  Again, the cost here is typically 20 to 30 percent of the hire’s first years salary which is justified for great talent but if the entrepreneur needs more than one hire it gets real expensive real fast.  Plus, the fee agreement means that the contract recruiter has an incentive in finding candidates that command larger salary's.

Another viable option is finding an agency that offers a retained search agreement. This option is best when hiring several new employees at the same time or over a period of time.  Typically, it is a flat monthly fee based on the number of positions, location, and the number of hiring managers involved.  Here talented professionals find candidates from many sources including industry focused resume databases, the major job board resume banks, competing companies, and other advertising.  They screen the people that apply providing a more targeted result.  Once a narrowed candidate pool is established, then any scheduling needs are accounted for interviews, they manage offer negotiations and any other vetting needs. No additional fee is collected upon hire.

Recruiting is tricky business that should be left up to professionals.  Good luck in your job search.