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Recruitment & Selection

The value of partnering with a recruitment specialist

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:58

With the rise of social media Marais-Swanepoel, Energy at Work Executive: Finance and Engineering, says there is the misconception in certain quarters that recruitment is easy and that HR Departments are not only able to find suitable candidates very easily, but also,reduce hiring costs by using Free Job Boards, social media, Blogs, or meta searches.

“This is not the case. Deploying traditional, as opposed to specialised, recruitment methods, recruiters are only able to find active candidates. These are not necessarily the best candidates that are available. Your best candidates are your passive candidates. These candidates are very happy in their current position: they are performing at a high-level and feel valued by their employer,” Marais-Swanepoel explains.

Sourcing passive candidate is time-consuming and requires specific skills: “It is not a matter of simply downloading information. Successful, cost-effective recruitment requires in-depth industry and role-specific knowledge, innovation and the deployment of technology.

Trawling prospective candidates takes time. Candidates need to be researched and followed up.Furthermore, because passive candidates do not approach recruitment agencies of their own accord, it takes a highly specialised approach to get these senior-level candidates interested,” Marais-Swanepoel cautions.

While recruitment fees are often perceived as a grudge purchase, recruitment is best left to specialist recruiters. “Because recruitment is our core business, we have invested in technology and innovation and best practices, which, coupled with our in-depth industry and role-specific knowledge, enables us to ensure that our clients hire the right person, and the best talent that is available,” Marais-Swanepoel concludes.