Hiring the right employee is crucial for any business, but it can be difficult to know for sure if a candidate is the right fit until they actually start working. Unfortunatley, a bad hire can be costly in terms of both time and money. Staffing and consulting firms can help hiring managers avoid these painful experiences by providing a variety of services that can help identify the best person for the job!
Assessing the Talent Pool
One of the most important services that consulting firms offer is pre-screening and pre-qualifying candidates. This often includes the basics like background checks and reference checks. But some firms, including Hollstadt, work to build a stron relationship with you so they become very familiar with your organization and can offer advanced screening around hard skills, soft skills, and culture fit. Additionally, firms like ours can even conduct technical assessments to determine whether a candidate has the skills and qualifications required for the job. By conducting these checks and assessments before a candidate is even interviewed, your partner firm can help ensure that only the most qualified candidates are considered, and you aren’t spending your time sifting through hundreds of resumes.
Contract-for-Hire
Another service that firms provide is a contract-for-hire option. Instead of hiring a candidate directly, many companies use consulting firms to place candidates on a contract basis. This allows the comapny to evaluate the candidate’s performance and culture fit before making a decision to hire them permanently. This type of arrangement can provide a low-risk way to evaluate the candidate, help reduce the cost of a bad hire, and often leads ot longevity.
Expert Recruiters
Consulting firms also help by providing specialized recruiting expertise. They have recruiters who focus in specific industries, job types, technologies, etc. and they know the best places to find candidates. Firms like this are constantly building a network of top talent and can often find talent that may not be actively looking. At Hollstadt, we certify our Recruiters through Tech Serve Alliance – a national organization for IT staffing firms that helps ensure organizations are aware of and using industry best practices. This means you’ll always have great candidate options to choose from!
Connections
Lastly, one of the key benefits of using staffing and consulting firms is that they have access to a wider pool of candidates. They often have a large database of qualified candidates who are actively seeking new job opportunities and are regularly building that network further. Take Hollstadt for example – out database houses more than 30 years worth of strong relationships with candidates who have a variety of backgrounds and experiences. These candidates may not always be looking for new jobs, but hey are open to hearing about new opportunities – especially from a trusted partner like Hollstadt. If these folks aren’t looking, because of our long standing relationship with them, they are also more likely to refer other top talent in their networks.
Overall, consulting firms can help hiring managers avoid bad hires by providing a variety of services that can help identify the best candidates for a particular position. They provide a low-risk way to evaluate the candidate, specialized recruiting experience, and a large pool of candidates. But probably the most important factor is finding a consulting firm who wants to get to know your company’s culture, and more specifically, the individual hiring mangers’ team structure and team dynamics.
At Hollstadt, we believe we can find the perfect candidate when give an opportunity to understand what is important to the hiring manager and organization. This goes beyond the job description and leans into important underlying forces like soft skills, emotional intelligence, and leading without authority. So if you are looking for your next great hire – look no further than Hollstadt. We’d love to partner with you to help you find them!