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Blogs & Vlogs

What does your recruitment fee pay for?

Working with a recruitment company means you have to pay a fee, and the majority of the fee is paid when the candidate starts working for you. Some agencies charge a retainer, I personally am not keen on them. I worked on a few retained projects in a previous life and in hindsight the only memory I have of this is it made my boss happy that we got some money in for the quarter that we were in. That’s not to say it wasn’t the right thing for everybody concerned but I tend to stay away from them for whatever reason.

So, you’ve gone through the recruitment process and you’ve experienced the recruiter’s expertise, their ability to understand your business, the candidate and bingo, they’ve found you the perfect candidate. You wait for them to work their notice period, they start and within a day or two, you receive the invoice. And touch wood, everything goes well with the candidate, the invoice is paid and that is a perfect piece of recruitment.

But what are you paying for? And how does a recruitment agency justify some of the fees that they charge? Some recruiters work as low as 12.5% and some charge as much as 30%, that is a huge variation and when you choose a new recruiter you need to fully understand what skills, expertise and service you are buying so ask as many questions as you want to, any good recruiter will spend time talking through how they work and how it makes them “different” from other recruiters. Only you can judge that on what you see and hear.

Here is what I offer, according to a client.

“Jo is a pleasure to work with, a talented professional with keen integrity, she is an out and out people person, who clearly relishes the challenge of finding the perfect fit for both client and candidates alike
Having worked within the food industry herself, Jo has excellent knowledge of the skills and experience required for specific roles.  
Jo doesn’t work by ‘box ticking’ or ‘going through the motions’ she always takes the time and trouble to understand a business culture and team dynamics in order to match not only the cv but personality and ambition of the individual to the role.
When it comes to communication, Jo hits the spot – no unnecessary calls or speculative emails, she scrutinises cv’s ensuring only those she really feels match the role and requirements are sent through. 
Jo coaches and supports candidates through the selection process and always keeps both parties informed and updated throughout
I would highly recommend Jo Richardson at Winhurst Recruitment having worked with her over the last 4 years and successfully recruiting several new members into the NPD team here.”
— SUE, FMCG PROFESSIONAL.

Here is what I offer, according to me.

 1)      A bespoke recruitment process that is adapted to your business and to the role that you’re looking to recruit.

2)      I will have spent time getting to know you and your business, so I can find the right person for you. Personality is just as important as skillset.

3)      I speak to every single candidate who I put forward, gone through their entire career history and know them inside out.

4)      I will only send over CV’s of candidates I feel are ideal for the job. If I can’t find anyone who hits the benchmark, I will tell you. I won’t send your rubbish CV’s, you can find plenty of those yourself!

5)      And the thing that makes me different, I’ve worked in food manufacturing so when you talk about P+10 / D+7 or JBP’s, I know what you’re talking about. Which makes it easy for you to talk to me and easy for me to know a good candidate from a candidate who is optimistically trying to blag it!

So, if you’re looking for a new recruitment partner, I’d love to help you. What you see is what you get in every aspect. I may not have the instant speed to come up with a short list overnight like some of the larger recruitment companies, but I’m a bloody hard worker who loves my job. But with LinkedIn as my best friend, a wealth of experience in recruitment as well as working in the food industry, I will get the coverage to get to the right person for you, it just takes one person slightly longer.

 And when you find that perfect person for your business, you make a difference to my life. As that fee pays my mortgage, or for me to visit my best friend who lives in America. Yes, it pays for advertising as well as some limited marketing that I do (you’d be surprised how much branded post it notes cots AND stamps to send then out!) It doesn’t get lost on corporate days out where recruiters drink until 5am, slapping each other on their backs in recognition of how awesome they are. It pays for my car, my girly weekends away, to visit my family & to buy my Mum flowers, cats’ medical insurance and I have a list of things on my wall in my office of things I’d like to buy but can only do so by helping you. So, if you’ve worked with me before, please continue to do so. And if you’ve not worked with me before, please pick up the phone so we can have a natter. There really is no pressure but I like to think that I’m a breath of fresh air in an industry that can be quite robotic, and process driven. Recruitment is all about people and this person won’t ever lose sight of that.

Jo.

Jo Richardson