From a Recruiter’s point of view, talk of the Guarantee brings a mixed bag of emotions.  It’s often the sticking point when negotiating terms with a new client, and I feel it’s the most misunderstood part of the Recruiter-Client relationship.  I’m going to try to cover, in only 2 posts, what I feel is a plain and simple explanation of how a Guarantee clause works.

First, the philosophical. Frankly, I don’t feel a recruiting firm should offer a guarantee at all. Why? We didn’t make the hire, plain and simple. YOU chose this candidate. Our job is to make introductions to you, our Clients. You engage us to find and introduce you to candidates who have a specific skill set needed by your company or will bring value and ultimately revenue to your company. However, you do not ask us to decide who you hire – this is the key. (In fact, you may not hire anyone we introduce you to, after weeks or months of searching your behalf– them’s the breaks, we know.) If we paraded someone into your office, sat them down at an empty desk, and said “Here you go, Harry’s your new guy and his salary is $X” then, I have to tell you, I would have a much different outlook on the Guarantee. However until that day arrives, this phenomenon of a Guarantee on a person, and not an object assembled in a factory that has gone through QC and months of testing, is a one-sided and unfair expectation in the Recruiter-Client relationship.

(I’m sure I made no fans in the paragraph – be sure to read on.)

HOWEVER, I stand behind our work, plain and simple. Talent Zoo is exceptionally good at what we do. We work hard on every assignment, every time - even knowing there is a better chance than not, that we won’t receive compensation. We do this in good faith and it makes us proud.  But, we know that sometimes all of us are fooled and a bum candidate gets through the vetting process. (Some people just give good interview, after all, and nearly everyone in the working world can produce references who will gush.) If we introduce you to someone who shows up drunk for work, lied about a criminal past, claimed creative work as their own when they didn’t have a hand in it, anything like this that comes to light in the first month of employment – we are more than happy to ‘make things right. ‘Heck, once you work with us and truly become a partner, that 30 days could stretch much further - but that comes with time, and a relationship.
All this taken into account: Yes Virginia, There Is a Guarantee. In my next post, I will outline the parameters of a Guarantee that is fair to all parties, and a Talent Zoo standard. If you are new to working with a Recruiter, this could be very eye-opening. 

Continued later…

[tags]guarantee,candidate,client,hiring,interview,approval,satisfaction[/tags]