“A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people,” Jim Collins, an American business consultant and author, once said. It’s important to recognize that the success a company experiences is inherently tied to the talent it hires. For this reason, many businesses see the logic of hiring the best individuals possible for their positions.

Hiring top applicants isn’t as easy as throwing up an entry on Monster and waiting for the resumes to pour in, though. Top applicants are the ones companies search for, and you don’t want to be left with the resumes everyone else has passed over. For this reason, many companies decide to work with a recruitment firm.

There are several advantages to working with a recruitment firm. The key benefit to businesses is that the busy work of finding great applicants is done for them. Recruitment agencies find people who are on the fast track and connect them with businesses that would be a good fit. They also screen candidates to make sure that a business isn’t wasting time and resources interviewing someone who is under-qualified. Interested in working with an executive recruiting firm? Here are three things you should keep in mind.

1. Not All Recruiting Firms are Made Equal

Just like job applicants, not all executive search firms are going to deliver the same quality of results to you. There are a few important attributes you should select for. One is experience — look for a group that has a history of successfully placing the type of candidates you’re interested in with numerous businesses. Ideally, you also want a recruiter with experience hiring in your specific industry.

2. Consider the Firm’s Networking Background

Another important aspect of recruiting is a strong network. The best recruiters aren’t scraping the bottom of the barrel to look for candidates — they already have a relationship with many of the people they’ll be contacting. These days, a recruiter will almost always have 500+ LinkedIn connections. The better the pool of applicants they’re in touch with, the better your choices will be.

3. Good Recruitment Firms Cost Money

Recruitment isn’t free, and if a recruiter delivers the results you were looking for, expect to pay. A contract could be as high as 30% of the equivalent of the new hire’s first year salary, especially for upper management positions, though 10% to 20% is much more common. While this might be high, it’s worth considering how it compares to other costs. A sales hiring mistake, for example, can cost up to six to ten times that person’s base salary. Additionally, the average company already pays over $1,000 per employee on hiring costs and training.

Are you interested in contacting a recruitment agency? Let us know in the comments. Find more: salesforcesearch.com