Partnering with a recruitment agency? Be ready to answer these questions.

So you’ve decided to partner with a recruitment agency. Great! This is the first step in finding the best talent to join your organisation. 

The initial conversation with your recruitment partner is an important one. A good talent partner will ask lots of questions - and not just about the vacant role you want to fill.

Just like the early stages of any relationship, your talent partner needs to get to know you and your organisation.

Be prepared for an in-depth conversation and lots of questions that will help them start to understand your business. This is the basis upon which a successful partnership — and recruitment process — is built.

10 questions you should be ready to answer

1. Why have you decided to partner with a recruiter? 

There are a range of reasons why an organisation might look to outsource the recruitment process, so it’s important for your talent partner to understand your why. 

Do you want to cover a short-term need or limit direct employment costs? Are you hoping to support your long-term talent acquisition strategy or augment your existing internal recruitment resources? 

Working with a recruiter is an opportunity to improve the process through which you attract and engage the right people for your organisation.

2. Have you worked with a recruiter previously? 

If you have worked with a recruiter before, openly discuss previous experiences you’ve had, including what worked and what didn’t. 

This will provide an insight into your expectations and the type of relationship you need, as well as how you’d like your recruitment partner to communicate with you.  

If you haven’t worked with a recruiter before, this is a good opportunity to understand how you can work with an agency. You’ll learn the value they can add and how they can customise elements of the process to fit your unique needs.

3. What recruitment challenges have you faced in the past? 

Let’s face it. Finding great talent is never easy. A good talent partner wants to know what your biggest hiring headaches have been so they can identify how best to tackle them. 

It’s important not to hide your recruitment headaches or previous challenges. A skilled recruiter can work with you to analyse them and design solutions to resolve them.

If you are honest with your recruiter, you can gain great insights that will help you take your talent strategy to the next level.

4. What is your current recruitment process and broader talent strategy? 

This question focuses on what your organisation currently does to find, attract, hire and retain great people. 

Recruitment is a critical part of your broader talent strategy, but it’s not the whole picture. Your recruitment partner needs to know what happens after people become part of your team, as well as your longer- term talent strategy.

Understanding what your organisation does to support an ongoing positive employee experience is incredibly beneficial. Your recruiter might even be able to suggest ways to improve your employer brand and reduce turnover.

5. What outcomes do you expect from this partnership?

While the natural answer is ‘to recruit someone,’ a good talent partner will want to go deeper than that to really understand your expectations and goals. 

Good recruitment is so much more than a hiring transaction. You want your recruitment partner to understand your challenges, objectives and future plans at an organisational level. This means they can better understand the current recruitment needs and how to present this opportunity to potential employees.

Be aware that some businesses don’t offer a transactional style of recruitment. Some talent businesses specialise in supporting clients with workforce planning and development over the long term, tackling both immediate and long-range hiring needs.

If you’re unsure about what type of partnership you want or need, don’t worry. 

An in-depth discussion with a good talent partner will help you gain clarity on what is best for your organisation. 

6. Is this partnership part of your long-term talent strategy or a one-off need?

Naturally, a recruitment business will want to work with your organisation over the long-term, supporting you to build a high-performing team and develop a talent pipeline, as well as helping you to grow or meet other objectives. 

Recruiters can also support one-off hiring needs, although a long-term approach will reap greater benefits.

This is why it’s important to know what kind of support you’re looking for.

7. How do you measure performance at your organisation?

Understanding your performance metrics will allow your recruitment partner to compare talent profiles with these benchmarks in mind. 

A clear sense of how you measure performance will ensure you get a top-quality shortlist that meets your expectations and provides you with great options to choose from. 

8. What is your employee value proposition (EVP)? 

Recruitment is marketing. Talent are consumers and jobs are products which people can choose (and keep) or not.

The days of engaging prospective employees with a job description and salary alone are long gone. We’re in the era of talent.

You need to understand the value you provide to your employees, know why people choose you - and communicate this to the world.

What matters will be different for everyone, but your employee value proposition is key to effective talent attraction. Your recruitment partner needs to understand and be able to articulate your EVP.

9. What is your approach to diversity and inclusion?

Similar to the question above, diversity and inclusion are part of your offer to employees. Demonstrating diversity and practising inclusion will attract more people to your organisation.

Expect your recruitment partner to ask about diversity and inclusion so they can discuss it with potential employees. 

Your approach might include an inclusive workplace policy or model or employee-led inclusion initiatives and diversity at all levels and in all departments of your organisation.

10. What is your budget and timeline?

Establishing a shared understanding of timing and cost expectations is critical to any successful professional consulting arrangement. 

You need to get recruitment right the first time and work within your budget, so discussing these things up front is important. 

Recruitment is a professional service. As the client, you should seek to understand what your talent partner can do for you and what that service costs. 

Heart Talent is proud to be the only business supporting for purpose and NFP organisations with flexible services across talent engagement, attraction and recruitment marketing.

Whether you need 5 star, all-inclusive recruitment; just a shortlist; just recruitment marketing content or to better understand and leverage your employer brand, Heart can help.

What now?

Partnering with a recruiter has many benefits, but it’s important to kick off this relationship in the right way and ensure shared expectations and a positive, communicative start. Set yourself up for success by knowing how to answer common recruitment questions.

Ready to start your journey with an experienced recruitment partner? Contact Heart Talent now.