Recruitment consultants are pretty much everywhere you turn these days. No matter what industry you are involved in you will have received plenty of emails, phone calls and even visits from recruitment consultants delivering impressive pitches that don’t always hold much truth.
It is absolutely imperative you opt for a specialist recruitment consultant when you hire for the automotive industry. There is simply too much at stake to have a general high street recruitment consultant fill your positions.
Here are some tips to help you choose a recruitment consultant:
Cut the Slack
Don’t even consider the high street recruitment agencies. They won’t have the knowledge you need to find the perfect candidate. You need to cut the slack and remove all general recruitment agencies from your list of potentials. You may well have taken a shine to a consultant who made the extra effort to pay you a visit, or follow up enquiries several times. But there’s no time to waste and you simply need to skip this step and go straight for the specialist jugular. The only exception to this is if you’re hiring sales representatives, in which case you can find plenty of fresh new talent on their books.
Ask for Honesty
This is always relevant, but particularly relevant when you need a candidate with specialist experience. Ask the agency to provide you with evidence that they can source you a candidate with the right skillset for the job. Explain to them what is at stake and ask them where they get their candidates from. If you need a candidate with particular experience and qualifications, make that clear and ask them if they have the right contacts and screening process to get that candidate for you. They should want to brag about their contacts and expertise, and if it’s clear they are telling the truth, they could be the right agency for you.
Ask them for the Legal Details
If you’re leaving the screening process in their hands, and the job is particularly public sensitive, you must ensure you are clear on the legal details of working with this recruitment consultant. Are you expected to keep the candidate on for a certain amount of time? If it turns out the candidates qualifications don’t meet the mark and they’ve already made a mistake in your business, who is responsible?
Ask them if they understand your Industry
Don’t be afraid to ask them if they understand the industry you work in. The automotive trade has various different areas of specialism, so although they may have helped find specialist mechanics for a garage, they may not have found highly qualified engineers for a vehicle design company before.
If they know what you need they will tell you, if they give you fluff it will be clear they are bragging. If you like the company but not the consultant, ask the consultant if they have anyone in the company who specialises in your line of work.