Warning! I have written this chapter on recruitment because, at some point in your job search, you may be dealing with a search consultant. But I have grave reservations that you may have skipped on networking and turned right to this chapter, saying to yourself, "I don't need to network, I'll just get a search firm to find a job for me." This way of thinking is both inaccurate and dangerous. Search firms, for the most part, do not work for the individual, but rather for the employer. Although they may introduce you to more than one job opportunity, search consultants are not in the market to represent you. If you network properly, you will find out about all of the jobs available, including the ones the search firms are working on. Treat networking as your meat and potatoes, and the search firms as gravy. Network or not work. You are in charge of your job search.
With that caveat, I want to discuss two allies for all job candidates in health care administration-retained search firms and contingency search firms. They operate in two distinct fashions. Before deciding which type of firm to use, you must understand how they work. If you can appreciate the differences between firms, you will operate with more realistic expectations and actually wield greater control over the hiring process.
Executive search firms developed after World War II when an expanded economy caused shortages of skilled labor. A middle man or broker was needed to arrange employment. These early agencies often required the applicant to pay the fee. Today, such applicant-Paid-Fee (APF) firms are unheard of in health care and viewed as an anachronism in the search business.
The successors to the APFs were the contingency firms and the retained search firms. Contingency firms were paid the fee by the employer, but only if a hire was made. The fee was therefore "contingent" upon placement of the candidate. Retained search firms took a consulting approach to employment, focusing on the senior executive level. An executive search firm was engaged exclusively by an employer to seek candidates and a fee was paid during the course of the search-in other words, these firms were "retained."
Today both contingency and retained search firms continue to exist. On a dollar volume basis, they divide up the employment market fairly equally. In addition, search firms can be further subdivided. Some search firms have multi-specialty offices, while others, such as our firm, offer industry-specific search consulting. There are thus four categories of search firms: specialized contingency, specialized retained, general contingency, and general retained. Whether a firm is specialized or multispecialty is a difference in degree, but whether a firm is retained or contingency is a difference in kind.
What are the differences between the retained search firms and contingency firms? Although the results of contingency and retained search are the same (someone gets hired), their approaches differ. Because these firms vary in both approach and fee payment, you must understand the differences and adjust your expectations and manner of dealing with them.
Working with Recruiting Firms
To establish your expectations for a recruiter, ask the following questions:
- Do you have an exclusive?
- Can you provide complete information about the client?
- Will you notify me before sending my resume to your client or any other clients?
- Do you operate on a contingency fee or retainer basis?
- What is your screening process-interviews, references, etc.?
Health care executives can easily confuse executive search firms of both types with outplacement/career counseling firms. Outplacement firms are in business to coach you on getting a job.
If you have not been exposed to executive search firms and want to know where to reach them, look in the classified sections of trade publications such as Healthcare Executive, Modern Healthcare, Hospitals, or Health Week. Another excellent source is the Directory of Executive Search Consultants from Executive Recruiting News (Kennedy Publications, Templeton Road, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire 03447, (603) 585-6544 or (800) 531-0007. In addition, several respected retainer firms have been admitted to the American Association of Healthcare Consultants (AAHC), the only credentialing body for health care consultants.
When working with recruiters for both contingency and retained search firms, you need to be selective in the firms with which you work. You also need to be very clear about what you can expect them to do on your behalf. Do not hesitate to ask questions. You should keep in contact with the recruiters, but you want to strike a balance between calling too often and not calling enough. As with all your dealings during your job search, your interaction with recruiters should be yet another credit to your professionalism and integrity.
