Third party recruitment agencies have become the dominant way for companies large and small to find the perfect employees for specialized positions. But recruiters have some negative stereotypes to fight first.Patricia Brander, director of human resources at Cloakware, a U.S.-based software security firm with offices in Kanata, has had her share of the "necessary evil" of working with third party recruiters. A lack of understanding of the needs of the company and lazy candidate hunting methods top her list of recruiter pet peeves."Cloakware technology is on more than 300 million devices, so you are most likely using our technology on your mobile phone, portable device, PC, or set-top box in your home or office," she said.Over the past three years, the company has doubled every year, and Ms. Brander expects more of that in the future. "Could you add that we're hiring locally?" she said, only half joking. She is constantly on the lookout for potential employees with backgrounds in security, software development and customer service – not an easy combination to find in this market.Internationally, she uses third party recruiters on a weekly basis, and she is not alone.Staffing firms collected US$197 billion in fees last year just in the U.S. market. Globally it's a US$410-billion dollar industry. With the mad scramble to snap up talent in the coming years, like it or not, recruiters are likely to become even more popular."The two sides have always seemed to be at war with each other but they need to figure out how to work together. HR departments need to learn how to use third party recruiters. There is no course for this," said David Perry, managing director of executive search and placement firm Perry-Martel International. He is also working on the new Recruiting for Dummies book due out in a few years."Canada is an international poaching ground for top-level talent for several different reasons. We adapt better to different cultures, we are highly educated, and seen as less of a risk to bring to another country then say, American professionals," said Gerlinde Herrmann, president of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPAO)."Placing a job ad is a passive way to recruit. With the shrinking pool for management talent, some of these third party recruiters have to make literally hundreds of phone calls," she said.Ms. Brander has a few tricks up her sleeve to separate the amateurs from the better firms. "I get calls from firms every single day claiming that they can provide HR solutions for our business. The first thing I ask them is if they know what our company does. Most don't," she said. "I need a recruiter who understands our business and can market it to people who might not even be interested Cloakware."What Ms. Brander doesn't want are what she calls "resume pushers," or people who go online and do the same searches that she could do herself. "The worst kind of recruiter will present resumes from people and the recruiter doesn't even know if the person wants the job or not," she said.Mr. Perry recommends a solid guarantee from a firm. "Industry average is 30 days. Most people can't be adequately assessed in less than six months, so 180 days should be the norm," he said.But there is an even darker side to third party recruiters. According to Ms. Herrmann, it's sensible to be a little paranoid in this market."You need to make sure you have a confidentiality agreement with your recruiter. You are going to be divulging a lot of sensitive information to these people about your business. Get reference checks, make sure they have insurance and find out how long they've been in business," she said."And you also need an agreement that they won't be recruiting from you for a certain number of years. Human capital isn't like a computer, it can move wherever it likes and take everything along with it."Recruiting the recruiters: Tips from HRPAOAnalyze your organization's internal recruitment strengths by considering its expertise, cost, and time available to conduct the search internally before deciding to outsource the recruitment function

• Consider conducting certain types of employee searches with your in-house resources and other types with a recruitment firm (e.g., some companies outsource the recruitment of entry level jobs, due to the high volume; others solely use external recruiters for senior level positions due to the difficulty in finding more highly qualified individuals) Interview several firms to determine the pros and cons of each one during your decision making process Conduct reference checks on the recruiting firms themselves, to help assure you that you are working with a reputable agency Determine if a retainer fee (flat fee whether or not a candidate is found) or a commission structure (a percentage of the employee's first year's salary, usually 20 – 35 per cent) is the appropriate model for your organization's needs Clearly identify your recruitment needs, including skills, experience, and corporate culture required for the job Decide whether the recruitment firm should use your company's name and logo in ads (for publicity reasons), or if it should keep your organization's identity secret (for competitive reasons) Negotiate a contract with the firm that clearly indicates expectations, deliverables, timing, guarantees, payment terms, etc.
• Review the recruitment process and experience you had after the employee was selected, whether or not you used a third party recruiter, to help determine future steps to take when considering using an outside agency

  By Julie Fortier

  julie.fortier@Transcontinental.com

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