Some other important benefits include:
- The contractor brings a fresh outside view and
perspective, thereby providing the employment program with an
objectivity that could be helpful in advice and counsel situations.
- The existing recruiting staff is given some relief
from potential overload conditions.
- Hiring managers are likely to receive helpful hints
to improve their recruitment and interviewing skills because the
contractor's knowledge is (or should be) at the expert level.
- Most likely, the company's hiring posture is given
greater visibility because the contractor has an extended network
that follows his or her activities.
- The company's total cost-per-hire spending in most
cases is substantially reduced.
Currently there are an
estimated 500-600 recruiting professionals pursuing full-time contract
recruitment engagements nationally. Most are ex-corporate employment
specialists and managers, now freelancers, represented by such human
resources consulting firms as Costello, Erdlen & Co. of Westwood,
Massachusetts and Winslow, King, Richards, & Trotman located in
Waltham, Massachusetts.
Such firms provide a Kelly Services-like
function in that they sell the engagement to the company and then assign
the appropriate contractor to fill it (after a pre-engagement approval
interview between the company and the proposed contractor). The
consulting firm administers the contract, handles quality control issues
and pays the contract recruiter a pro rata share (usually 70%) of the
hourly rate charged to the company.
In addition to what is being done by consulting
firms, there is a growing host of experienced independents. Most of
these recruiters got their start freelancing with a consulting firm, and
after years of building a successful track record and steady clientele,
they branched out on their own.
Business appears to be growing for both
entities as an increasing number of companies see the control and
cost-benefit value. Furthermore, engagements are being sold with
increasing frequency in nontraditional geographical areas, such as
Kansas City, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas,
Miami, and Chicago.
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A contract recruiter is no different than any
other management consultant in that he or she is contracted to perform
specific tasks, at a certain knowledge level, within a specified period
of time. The usual contract protocols and good business practices apply.
There are, however, some profession-specific
guidelines that any company considering the services of a contract recruiter
would be well advised to observe:
 Interview several contractors
before making the
final selection, and conduct a thorough reference investigation to
substantiate all claims.
Look for contractors who can
fill requisitions and have a mature business acumen and customer
satisfaction orientation.
A mature business acumen is an important
consideration because of the extraordinary expectations staff and line
managers place on their expert in residence. A contract recruiter must
adequately articulate the vision and value of an employment program in
the overall business structure.
With today's leaner corporate organizations,
it's not enough simply to say that if the company doesn't hire it
doesn't grow or that its current employees are swamped with work. Size
is no longer a prerequisite to corporate success, nor is sharing the
workload.
Today's recruiter must show direct and believable relationships between
appropriate skill sets and work-through processes, and their singular
and combined contribution, as well as the implications of vacant
positions on corporate profitability, productivity, customer service
and, in many cases, product identity, acceptance and name
recognition. This requires a real understanding of what
person-power planning and implementation means because he or she will be
put in front of the employment program's biggest fans and best critics:
the hiring managers.
This attribute can be determined easily by
using a set of simple questions, coupled with a detailed understanding
of the company's philosophy, values and goals. For example, ask the
contractor what his or her views are on the value of 
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