ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH CONTINGENCY RECRUITERS

1. Contingency recruiters (CR) often have more than one job to which they can introduce you. Although CR’s represent employers not candidates, many times they will several jobs which may fit a candidate, especially since CR’s tend to be industry or discipline specialists.
Unlike Retained recruiters who are duty-bound to one employer, CR’s may submit you to different firms simultaneously, thus increasing your exposure. CR’s may also give you leads on open jobs in your field, even if they might not be able to place you, but see you as a future hiring authority.

2. Contingency recruiters can proactively approach companies on your behalf to see if they would be interested. Sometimes, the hiring process can be accelerated by introducing the right person to an organization at a point where they were formulating a job (or thinking about hiring another person), but had not formally developed a job spec.

3. CR’s are motivated to help get you the offer. They can suggest how to re-orient your resume to make it more appealing and coach you on the interview and hiring process. Frequently, they’ll know specific nuances about an employer that are valuable in the interview process.

4. CR’s have a sense of urgency about the hiring process. Being at the right time and place is the difference in getting the job. CR’s are highly motivated to try to get you hired quickly.

DRAWBACKS TO CONTINGENCY RECRUITERS
There are more Contingency than Retained recruiters. In general CR’s are much less regulated and “pre¬screened” than RR. Employers pre-screen RR by picking that firm exclusively to fill the job. Conversely, CR’s may have tenuous relationships with employers and may do a poor job of representing you. Specific drawbacks to be aware of

1. Representation by a CR carries a fee to the employers whereas self-representation (or recommendation by someone inside the company ) carries no fee to employers. In a retained search, the fee is no issue because it has been agreed to and paid. In some instances, companies want to avoid paying a search fee. They will accept referrals from CR’s, but may favor people who do not cost them a search fee. For important jobs, most companies recognize that a search fee is part of the cost of getting the best person. Usually, the situations where a search fee is most at issue are smaller or start-up type companies.

2. CR’s may run you into conflicts with other CR or RR, thus damaging your candidacy. “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” If a candidate is represented by several different recruiters to the same company, the company may back away from the candidate altogether to avoid hassles. Also, if a candidate’s resume has been circulated too freely, it cheapens that person’s candidacy. An employer may feel the candidate is either desperate or indiscriminate.

3. Poorly trained CR’s may incorrectly report or interpret critical information about you (compensation, why you left your last job, responsibilities you held, etc.) thus damaging your candidacy. Since so much of the hiring process is psychology, it is difficult to correct bad impressions once created.