QUESTION: I am looking at expanding our recruiting team. What different compensation packages attract great new recruiters?
The Unconventional Approach to Hiring Recruiters
Without context, I do not hire people; for the most part, 99% of the time, I do not hire people with recruiting experience. I have always been brought up, and I fully believe, and I have tested it, that I would rather train than re-train. This approach, while unconventional, has proven to be effective. Hiring experienced recruiters—I am not saying never, but it is not likely for me.
Challenges with Experienced Recruiters
Usually, in my experience of interviewing them, they have horrible habits. They have horrible habits on activity levels. From my quality standards, the way they talk to candidates and to employers was tired and old and just to re-train all of that took more effort than taking a fresh and clean slate. I do not care. That person could be 21 to 91. I have hired people across that spectrum age-wise. I look for energy level, curiosity, and perhaps most importantly, passion.
Understanding Base Salaries and Geography
I was on a group call earlier today with our Board Room level clients, firms in the $2 to $4 million revenue range. A lot of what we talk about in that group is scalability and hiring. We are seeing a lot of people right now offer base salaries, depending on your geography, like Atlanta or New York metro are going to be more challenging than other parts of the country, of $35,000 to $50,000, even up to upwards of $60,000 as a base salary, not a draw versus commission.
If you pay somebody a $4,000 a month draw and they quit, or you fire them in 60 days, and they have yet to make a placement, you are still out $8,000. You might as well call it a salary.
Comprehensive Compensation Plans
The counterbalance to that—and I am not saying to increase your cost of sales—is that you change your commission structure. On a base salary like this, which is just a ballpark of $50,000, I would only pay them 10% of their first $50,000 in production for the quarter. Then I would pay them 30% to 35% over that.
With our clients, we are coaching them that their plans should top out at about 35%. However, as part of the total compensation plan, you want to be able to offer healthcare. They might contribute part of it. You want things like a 401(k). If there are industry conferences and stuff like that, you want to send them to those, and you pay for it.
Where I see the biggest challenge with recruiting firm owners that want to scale is that they want to do it on the cheap side.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your recruitment business:
1. Grab a free copy of my Retainer Blueprint
It’s the exact, step-by-step process of getting clients to give you money upfront. https://get.therecruiteru.com/lm
2. Join the Recruiter Think Tank and connect with firm owners who are scaling, too. It’s our Facebook community where smart recruiters learn to make more money and get more freedom. https://www.facebook.com/groups/there…
3. Join me at our next event
3x a year, I run a 3-day virtual intensive, sharing the 9 key areas that drive a 7-figure search firm. Click here to check out the dates of our upcoming event. https://get.therecruiteru.com/live
4. Work with me and my team privately
And if you ever want to get some 1:1 help, we can jump on the phone for a quick call and brainstorm how to get you more leads, more placements, and more time. https://get.therecruiteru.com/scale-now
Recent Comments