Whether you’re new to a relationship with a recruitment agency, or you’ve practiced serial monogamy with multiple agencies over the years, knowing how to spot the red flags in a relationship with your recruiter is essential.

Working with a recruiter can yield a wealth of benefits to your organisation. To give this business relationship the best chance at success, however, it’s helpful to recognise which recruiter will meet your expectations and which ones you should avoid. Understanding which signals to look out for and knowing how to work with a recruiter will help you get the best out of the partnership and avoid the ‘ick’.

To help you spot the red flags in a relationship with a recruiter and how to tell when an agency is a keeper, we’ll highlight what to watch out for.

Bad recruiters make it obvious they haven’t listened to you, as they fail to understand your requirements. They don’t keep you updated about candidate activity and are unresponsive when you’re trying to reach out. No follow-ups mean they’re just not that into you! Bad communication is a massive red flag that will virtually always indicate poor service outcomes, so if you notice this red flag, it’s wise to take action immediately – perhaps in the form of a break-up text. (By text, we mean a formal business communication, of course.)

When enlisting a recruiter, you’re typically looking to go beyond job boards. Anyone can post a job ad on Seek, Indeed or LinkedIn, so a professional recruiter must have something more to offer than just harvesting responses from job ads. It’s well established that the most qualified people for a role aren’t actively searching for a job, so a recruiter’s reliance on job boards can skip over the most unique and skilled candidates. The cold, hard truth is that recruiters who only use job boards to source candidates aren’t really making an effort to woo you. If your recruiter isn’t engaged in proactive sourcing, based on well-targeted outreach to candidates in their own network and beyond, that’s a sign they’re not making a real effort to grow their relationship with you.

Whether you’re hiring for permanent product manager jobs or contract jobs in compliance, outsourced recruitment often isn’t cheap. But there’s lots of solid reasons for this – one is the amount of time it takes agencies to cultivate a pool of pre-qualified candidates for certain niches (like compliance contract job s, for example). By paying for a recruiter, you’re paying to access this network, along with the bespoke work they will do to search for your ideal candidate. Bad recruiters will charge you extra fees or add surprise fees at the end without explaining the work they did to earn those fees.

For each red flag in a relationship with a recruiter, there’s plenty of green flags that are worth recognising! When consulting with employers, good recruiters carve out the necessary time to understand a hiring manager’s needs, expectations for the role, the company culture, and any other factors that can influence the hiring decision. When a recruiter genuinely listens to a hiring manager, they will produce accurate job descriptions, make helpful suggestions and provide valuable intelligence to hiring managers. Most importantly, they will keep you in the loop about how the process is unfolding and relay critical information about candidate-related challenges.

Good quality recruiters will provide you with good quality candidates, regardless of market conditions. Sensible recruiters will present you only with the most suitable candidates, as they’ve taken the time to understand your role requirements and business needs. They know what the best skillsets look like in the current talent landscape and where to find them. In fact, the ultimate green flag in a relationship with a recruiter is having too many potential hires to choose from, because the calibre of candidates is so high.

Recruiters who take pride in their work are dedicated to excellent client service, so they know the best measure of their long-term success lies in employee retention rates. Much of what influences employee retention is often found at the outset of the recruitment process, including in-depth background screening, skills and fit assessments, and the ability to understand what motivates candidates. If your recruiter is helping you hire candidates who stick around for the long haul, they’re doing more than one thing right!

By now, you will be able to identify the red flags in a relationship with a recruiter and how good recruiters operate. To get the most out of the relationship, here are a few tips on how to work with a recruiter and ensure you have green flags all the way:

• Work Exclusively with One Agency: Recruiters will deliver better results and provide a better service experience when they’re the only ones working on filling your role. With an exclusive arrangement, you are more likely to hire a candidate the recruiter has presented to you, which enables the recruiter to put in the maximum effort.
• Be Transparent Upfront: Transparency is a two-way street. It’s easier to maintain consistency and quality in your hiring processes by being upfront with your recruiter as early as possible about expectations and challenges. That includes the role requirements, the team and company culture, and the salary range budgeted for the role. Doing all you can to reduce misunderstandings will enable more acceptance of job offers.
• Only Work with Reputable Recruitment Agencies: Before you decide to embark on a new relationship with a recruiter, it’s wise to do a bit of research on agencies. Look for reviews, testimonials, and feedback from other employers who have used their services. Other clues to look for include the agency’s credentials – certifications, memberships in industry associations, and any relevant awards or recognitions.

Here at TalentWeb, we’re all about flying green flags for our clients. To get expert support in hiring the right talent for your team in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, get in touch with us today!