The Problem with Agency Recruiter Cold Calling

He saw your job posting for [insert open job position here] and he actually specializes in finding candidates for that role, in your industry. What’s more, he’s currently speaking with some great candidates that would be a great fit for your open job.

Depending on how critical your open role is to the organization, or how long it’s been open, this recruiter cold call can sound like the stars have aligned and your ideal candidate could be just a phone screen away. Or, it could make you run for the hills because you’ve gone that route before – and it didn’t end well.

The problem with agency recruiter cold calling

The problem with agency recruiter cold calling is that you really don’t know if the recruiter on the other side of the phone will be worth your time.

A great recruiter will usually insist on a kickoff meeting to get to know your open position, and your organization, so they can make the best possible match. After they submit their first round of candidates, they will look to you for feedback so they can fine-tune their search.

In the end, this could be a significant time investment that doesn’t actually result in any qualified candidates – and you may need to terminate your contract altogether.

There’s a better way to find recruiters

The best way to find a new recruiter is to get a referral.

Some employers will take the time to vet a cold calling recruiter’s references, but they have to keep in mind that a recruiter (like a candidate) will only introduce you to their best reference clients. So, while you may receive glowing reviews from several employers in your industry who have used the agency recruiter to fill similar roles, you may not be getting the whole picture.

Perhaps a better way to find, and vet, recruiters is to ask your network for referrals. If they’ve filled a role similar to yours, in your industry, and can recall an absolute rockstar recruiter, you may benefit from an introduction. But then again, this is the opinion of a single person – and you may not be getting the whole picture.

We’d like to present a third option: making a data-driven decision to use a new recruiter. BountyJobs allows you to see performance data, like interview rates, that is aggregated across all interactions on our platform.

Rather than relying on filtered references or a single recommendation, you can see average performance – and compare it to performance benchmarks across all agencies on our platform. With this type of unbiased information at your disposal, you can make informed decisions to engage new agencies based on cold, hard data.

How do you find new agencies? Do you respond to agency recruiter cold calling? Let us know with a comment!