Some recruiters bristle at the notion of making split placements because they mistakenly believe that they have to go out of their way to make splits. This is simply not true.
That’s because in the vast majority of cases, split placement opportunities present themselves. There are certain situations that lend themselves to making splits, and once you’re able to recognize those situations (and recognize them quickly), the better positioned you will be to generate revenue for your firm that you would not have done otherwise.
Below are five times when making a split placement makes sense:
#1—A client gives you a job order outside of your specialty.
This does happen. A client loves the job you’re doing for them so much and they have so much faith in you that they give you a job order that falls outside of your wheel house. After all, if you filled a bunch of other orders for them, why can’t you fill this one, too? Obviously, you don’t want to turn down the order, but then on the other hand, how do you fill it? With the help of another recruiter, that’s how! Another recruiter working within that specialty will have the candidate that your client is seeking. You fill the order, your client is happy, and you’re happy. Everybody is happy.
#2—You have more job orders than you can possibly work.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Until you realize that not only can you not fill them all, but you can’t even give them all attention. They just sit on your desk, collecting dust. They do not get filled collecting dust. This is when utilizing the time and resources of another recruiter makes sense, even if they work the same specialty as you . . . especially if they work the same specialty as you. Send the job specs and ask them to source candidates. You present them, your client likes them, your client hires them, and once again, everybody is happy.
#3—You can’t find the candidate your client wants to save your life.
You client wants to see another candidate . . . and another one . . . and another. “That last one was great and we really like them, but can we see another one?” Sound familiar? Sometimes, companies just won’t “pull the trigger” until they’ve found what they consider to be the perfect candidate (even though there is NO such thing as a perfect candidate). So if they want yet another candidate, send them a candidate from another recruiter. They could have somebody that you don’t have, and that somebody could turn out to be the somebody your client deems is perfect and wants to hire. Your client doesn’t even have to know that you got the candidate from another recruiter. All they need to know is that you provided the solution to their hiring problem. Cue the music and roll the credits.
#4—You have plenty of quality candidates, but not enough job orders.
This is the flip side of #2. Whenever there’s an imbalance on your recruiting desk, regardless of whether it’s on the candidate side or the job order side, making a split placement or two (or three) can help you to rectify that imbalance. In this case, if you have quality candidates and a lack of job orders, not only can you market those candidates to existing clients as a MPC (Most Placeable Candidate), but you can also use them to fill the job orders of other recruiters and keep making placements. If your clients don’t want to create a position to hire your MPC, then perhaps another company represented by another recruiter will want to hire them. Either way, you get paid.
#5—You need a candidate from a specific geographic region.
Clients are constantly throwing you curveballs, aren’t they? Let’s say that instead of throwing you a job order outside of your specialty area, they want you to fill an order in a remote part of the country. Or in another country altogether. Then let’s say that you don’t have any candidates in your database suitable for the position, or if they are suitable they don’t want to move there. So you need a suitable candidate who wants to move to who knows where to fill your client’s job order. That candidate might end up being another recruiter’s candidate, and you’ll gladly split the fee because without that recruiter and without that candidate, you’d be placement-less and empty-handed.
Have you ever made a split placement on your desk or within your firm? Have you ever encountered the five situations listed above? How would making split placements in the coming year benefit both your recruiting desk and your firm?
Click here to discover the “Five Main Benefits of Making Split Placements.”
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