Episode #144 – Why and How Employers Benefit by Working with an Animal Health Recruiter or Veterinary Recruiter
Julea: Welcome to “The Animal Health Employment Insider,” brought to you by The VET Recruiter. In this podcast, Animal Health Executive Recruiter and Veterinary Recruiter, Stacy Pursell, founder and CEO of The VET Recruiter, provides insight and practical advice for both employers and job seekers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The VET Recruiter’s mission is to help Animal Health and Veterinary employers recruit and hire top talent, while helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals attain career-enhancing opportunities that increase their quality of life.
In today’s podcast episode, we’ll be talking about why and how employers benefit when they use a recruiter. Hello, Stacy, and thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: Hello, Julea. It’s great to be here today.
Julea: Stacy, I imagine that you’ve tackled this topic before on the Animal Health Employment Insider podcast, is that correct?
Stacy: Yes, that’s right. However, I’ll be discussing it in a different light today. That’s because there are two parts to the equation. The first part is the decision to use an Animal Health recruiter or Veterinary recruiter. The second part is how to approach your recruiter and interact with them once you’ve made the decision to hire them.
Julea: That makes sense. Where would you like to start with this conversation Stacy?
Stacy: I’d like to start with a brief recap of the why. In other words, why do employers work with recruiters?
Now, of course, not all employers use recruiters to help fill their positions. Not only that, but even if an employer does use a recruiter, it does not use them to fill every single open position that it has. There are certain situations and circumstances in which an organization will choose to use the specialized services of a recruiter.
Julea Which situations and circumstances are those Stacy?
Stacy: I’m glad that you asked that question, Julea, because that’s exactly what I want to talk about today.
The first two reasons that an employer chooses to use the services of a recruiter are closely related. Those reasons are that they have a very important search or they have a high-level search. The reason that they’re related is that they sometimes go together: a high-level search typically also an important search. When that’s the case, the margin for error is thin. Because of that, the organization wants to make sure that it hires the best person possible for the position. And that’s why the organization’s hiring officials make the decision to work with a recruiter.
And that leads to the third reason.
Julea: What reason is that?
Stacy: In the Animal Health Industry or Veterinary profession, the person in charge of hiring does not have the time or resources to conduct the search. Or to put it another way, they don’t have the time or resources to conduct the search the way they want it be conducted.
Julea: Could that reason also be related to the first two? Let’s say that an employer has a high-level, critical position to fill….. If the hiring manager understands the importance of the search, wouldn’t they also recognize that they need someone to devote a considerable amount of time and energy to it who is an expert at handling search?
Stacy: Yes, that’s a very good point and that is the case. For a critical high-level position, an employer wants to make sure that a thorough search is done, from beginning to end. That’s why they rely upon the experience and expertise of an Animal Health Executive Recruiter or Veterinary Recruiter.
Julea: That does make sense. What are some other reasons that employers use recruiters?
Stacy: The next two reasons have to do with confidentiality. There are two main reasons why an employer would want to fill a position without anyone knowing about it. The first reason is that they want to replace an under-performing employee while that person is still in the role. That cuts down on the amount of “down” time associated with keeping the seat empty while you look for a replacement. We’ve talked before about how costly it is to keep a position open. The longer the position stays open, the more costly it becomes.
The second reason that an employer would want to fill a position without anyone knowing about it is because that employer is actively recruiting from a competitor or they’re trying to hire in order to compete with a direct competitor. There was a major company within the Animal Health industry who wanted to build a sales force, but they didn’t want their competitors to know what they were doing. So they hired our search firm to build a nationwide sales force for them. We secretly recruited these individuals under the radar so the competition would not know our client was building a sales force to compete with them. These positions were not posted anywhere, and they could only be found by being recruited by a recruiter under the radar. In this instance, they could only be found by being recruited by our recruiting firm.
The last reason is perhaps the simplest one.
Julea: Which reason is that?
Stacy: The last reason is that the employer simply wants to hire better and to do so consistently. It’s no secret that using a knowledgable recruiter helps you to hire better. Good recruiters have relationships with more quality candidates. In fact, they have relationships with some of the best candidates in the employment marketplace, specifically the top 5% to 10%. When you hire a recruiter, you’re able to tap into that recruiter’s network of contacts and candidates. Recruiters who have been working in the industry for many years have a larger network typically than any one hiring manager could have.
When an organization uses a recruiter for hiring, it can gain a strategic advantage over its competition. Talent is very important in the world of business just like having the best talent is important in sports. In fact, it could be said that it’s the most important asset that an organization or business can have. So using a knowledgeable recruiter to hire better is a wise strategic move.
Stacy: And now I’d like to talk about the “how” part of this whole equation.
Julea: What part is that? Tell us more Stacy.
Stacy: Basically, if an Animal Health Company or Veterinary practice decides to work with a recruiter, that organization or practice should let the recruiter do their job. They hired the recruiter for their expertise so let them do their job.
Julea: What do you mean by that, do their job?
Stacy: Let me use this example. You wouldn’t hire a heart surgeon and then tell that heart surgeon how to do their job. You wouldn’t tell them how to perform the operation. That would be ridiculous. What do you know about heart surgery? Along the same lines, you wouldn’t hire a lawyer and then tell the lawyer what to do. Once again, what do you know about being a lawyer?
We can even use the example of a plumber. You wouldn’t hire a plumber and then tell the plumber how to do their job. After all, if you knew how to do plumbing work, then you would not have called the plumber in the first place.
It’s the same with hiring a recruiter. Recruiting is a specialized profession. Recruiters have knowledge, expertise, and experience that other people do not have. That’s why organizations hire them in the first place.
Julea: Stacy, have you ever had a client hire you and then tell you how to do your job?
Stacy: Yes, I have. There have been Animal Health Companies and Veterinary practices that have hired me, and then people working at those organizations tell me how to do my job. While I always appreciate genuine input and feedback, it’s counterproductive for someone to tell me exactly how they want me to do by job when they hired me for my expertise. Instead of telling me how they think I ought to be performing my job, I ought to be advising them on how we ought to be handling the search. After 23 years of experience in executive recruiting and veterinary recruiting and experience working with thousands of candidates and hundreds of employers, I know what works well and what doesn’t work well.
Julea: So what advice do you have for employers that are in this situation?
Stacy: My advice is to hire the recruiter and let them do their work. Let them handle the work that you hired them to do. That way, you’ll have the best result possible. I know that some hiring managers feel a lack of control when they hand the recruiting responsibilities over to a recruiter. That’s why it’s important for the hiring manager to trust the recruiter and trust the recruiter’s process for identifying and recruiting the best candidates in the marketplace. You likely hired the recruiter for their track record so let them do what you hired them to do.
Julea: Stacy, this is such great information and I’m glad you shared it with us today. For our podcast listeners who would like more tips on career related topics whether it be related to hiring or conducting a job search, be sure to sign up for The VET Recruiter newsletter. Stacy is currently sending out an email twice a month with career related advice and also The VET Recruiter’s Hot Jobs.
Stacy: Yes, we have a number of Hot Jobs posted right now on The VET Recruiter website. For our listeners who would like to change their current situation and are interested in exploring Animal Health jobs or Veterinary jobs, I invite them to visit our website at www.thevetrecruiter.com. New jobs are posted on a regular basis.
Julea: Once again, the website address for The VET Recruiter is www.thevetrecruiter.com. Stacy, as always, thank you for joining us today.
Stacy: It is my pleasure Julea and I look forward to our next episode of the Animal Health Employer Insider!