Agency-side recruiting is rarely as simple as putting a good candidate forward to fill a role. The only certainly is that it will never be as easy as following the handbook, using the Applicant Tracking System, and making a placement. While every organization is different, there are some common ways that hiring decisions are approached. Three of the most common in my experience are below. Thoughts?



The first is the rarest – a golden goose to recruiters. I’ll call him The Rogue. The Rogue is a hiring manager who doesn’t care about anything other than getting a candidate he likes. He doesn’t go to HR, his superiors or anyone else. When on the Rogue’s good side, placements come fast and furious. Unfortunately, it usually isn’t too long before one of the other common hiring practices kicks in and reels the Rogue back in-line – when that happens, the recruiter is usually seen as more of an accomplice than a hiring partner, and when that happens, the golden goose is gone.

A hiring committee is the puppet-master – a group of shadow figures influencing all aspects of talent acquisition. This mysterious group is made up of unknown members who are impervious to penetration or influence by any outside parties; especially recruiters’. They have no communications with the outside world, and yet are somehow able to form sophisticated assessments on applicants, recruiters, (whom the majority of them have never met or spoken with), salaries, and broad labor markets… None but the initiated can understand the hiring committee’s staffing black magic. If you’re in the know, lucky you; if not, then make your introductions and leave them to their musings. Rest assured they will tell you, when the appropriate time comes, all will be revealed to you and your candidate.

BL / HR Partnerships are curious propositions. They can sometimes be wonderful alchemy; blending the processes and insights of HR with the bottom-line business understandings of a Business line manager. When this happens, everyone is a winner – the right candidates fly through assessments, interviews are smooth and well organized and offers / contracts are pre-vetted and drafted before an offer even goes out. Often though, they are a more like battles between two completely equal yet diametrically opposite foes. I’d imagine a Dragon vs. a Phoenix. They are forever locked in a struggle that neither can ever win. In these cases, pick a side and do what you can to influence. Well-timed influence might make the difference in your side winning (and your candidate moving forward).