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How to choose the right
recruiting partner

Faced with pressure to reduce HR headcount and a continued shortage of skilled workers, more companies are turning toward outsourced recruiting options. And as outsourcing becomes more critical, so does choosing the right partner.

“Many employment functions have been outsourced for years, in areas like the hiring of temps, relocation, reference checking and most executive search, with various degrees of success,” says employment expert Dr. John Sullivan. “There are many excellent reasons to outsource, but there are also many pitfalls.”

“When, how and what to outsource requires careful deliberation,” says Michael Carrillo, president of CPGjobs. “Before you make a commitment you must consider what you expect from a recruiting partner and how that relationship will play out in real life,” he says.

“When it comes to recruiting outsourcing, there are several options and plenty of potential partners to choose from,” Carrillo says. “But they are not all created equal.”

The Big Boards. “Mega job boards are like a drag net they catch a lot of fish, and that’s part of the problem. The vast majority of applicants generated by big job boards are simply unqualified,” Carrillo says. “The price may be right but the results are often not there, especially when it comes to higher-tier candidates where you need quality, not quantity.” Carrillo says big job boards lack quality control. “Decision-makers get overwhelmed -- and time is money.” By contrast CPGjobs candidates are pre-qualified and often personally known. “We work with candidates and companies for years. This enables us to be true matchmakers,” he says.

Recruitment Process Outsource Firms. RPOs manage the entire recruiting and hiring process from job profiling to on-boarding, providing the staff, technology, methodology and reporting. According to the RPO Association, “A properly managed RPO will improve a company's time to hire, increase the quality of the candidate pool, provide verifiable metrics, reduce cost and improve governmental compliance.” Carrillo says quality is key. “An RPO, like any other outsource option, is only as good as the talent in its pipeline.” Process, he says, can take you only so far. “You need industry knowledge and industry connections, and that where specialty firms like ours come in.”

Executive Recruiting. The effectiveness of traditional executive recruiting depends almost entirely on the quality of the recruiter’s industry connections. Most executive recruiters are driven by transactions. On the plus side, you don’t pay if you don’t hire. On the downside, the outside recruiter "owns" the candidate and that can hamstring you if you want to build your own networks and gain referrals. “From the beginning, we knew we wanted to operate under a different model,“ says Carrillo. “At CPGjobs you always ‘own’ the candidate and that gives you maximum flexibility. Because you can use the candidate now or later, you can save a lot of money on future hires.”

Specialty Job Boards. While most specialty boards are too small to appear on Internet statistical measures, niche sites are growing rapidly -- with users drawn by their manageable size, better quality listings and community feel, according to Business Week. A study by Forrester Research backs that assessment. It reports that industry-specific sites like CPGjoblist are more effective than mega boards like Monster and Career Builder, especially in industries like consumer packaged goods, Carrillo says.

Specialty job boards and professional recruiting are just two of the services that CPGjobs offers to its clients, which include more than 100 of the consumer packaged goods industry’s leading employers. “We are not resting on our laurels,” says Carrillo. “We are continually improving our services and expanding our networks.”

CPGjobs is building its networks inside the CPG industry by partnering with industry groups like the Network of Executive Women, the American Herbal Products Association and the Business Alumni Network. "These association partnerships are examples of how CPGjobs is working with industry groups to expand our candidate referral networks, lift our profile within the communities we serve, and build stronger relationships with the employers we represent," the firm reports.

CPGjobs also has alliances with some of the nation’s top recruiting companies. “The purpose of these partnerships is to extend our reach outside our industry to ensure that our clients reach every qualified candidate,” according to Carrillo. CPGjobs’ partners include nowHIre.com, Indeed.com and TopUSAjobs.com.

Partner Parameters

Corporate recruiters should ask the following questions when deciding on an outsource partner:

How well does the vendor know your business? Recruitment outsource firms outside your industry are handicapped from the start. You have to ask if you are willing to pay for the learning curve. CPGjobs specializes in the consumer products industry, with a strong focus on sales, research and managerial jobs, so we know your business and we understand your needs.

How well do you know the vendor? Perform due diligence on the track record, longevity, experience and results of any potential partner, experts say. Innovation is fine, Sullivan says, but most clients “want tried and proven solutions.” CPGjobs was founded in 1999 as a model of the modern recruiting; it is a client-driven, Internet-based candidate referral system that also employs real recruiters with an industry-specific knowledge base. And it refers qualified CPG sales, marketing and research candidates for far less than low-tech, high-cost recruiting agencies.

What is the ROI? “Many companies don’t calculate their recruiting ROI at all,” according to Carrillo. “Others look at recruiting costs in a vacuum without analyzing the whole picture.” With the stakes so high, it pays to calculate your real recruiting return on investment. This knowledge will help you build long-term referral networks and build long-term return on investment instead of darting from requisition to requisition.

Where Things Stand

The hiring landscape has undergone vast changes in the past decade. Employee referrals and the Internet have replaced traditional sources like advertising as the leading sources of candidates, accounting for more than three-fifths of all external hires.

A Career Xroads survey of forty large corporations employing more than 4.1 million workers found that employee referrals are the top source of external hires at 31.7 percent, followed closely by the Internet at 29.6 percent. Direct sourcing, colleges, newspapers, and career fairs together accounted for 20.3 percent, while traditional recruiting agencies accounted for just 3.2 percent.

“Take traditional recruiters,” says Carrillo. “It’s not that they don’t hope that things work out with the candidates they send to you, but they get paid regardless. Their fee structure rewards turnover,” he says. “Recruitment advertising is dying out as well. Direct sourcing only accounts for 6 percent, and much of that is actually Web-based.” The future, he says, belongs to outsource solutions that utilize Internet-based technologies that harness the “people power” of networking. CPGjobs combines both.

CPGjoblist’s website is used more than 100,000 times per month, he notes. CPGjoblist’s Candidate Alert reaches over 26,500 additional candidates via email twice a month, while the firm’s nationwide network of specialists maintain continuous contact with candidates, including those not actively looking for work, and with potential job seekers in the candidates’ personal networks.

“When you work with an outsource partner like CPGjobs -- and we’re unique in the industry you’re getting human support, customized service, industry expertise and targeted outreach,” Carrillo says. “Best of all, it comes with greater flexibility and at a considerable savings.

“Shrinking internal staffs mean that grabbing a sourcing partner is more important than ever,” Carrillo says. “Today’s candidate outsourcing should combine technology with human assets to continually reach out to a broad spectrum of qualified candidates. Establishing trust through a long-term relationships and good communication is key to getting the most from a candidate-outsourcing partner,” according to Carrillo. “When we get to know you and your needs and combine that with our technology, outreach and experience, the result is a powerful partnership that is a force multiplier for all your hiring efforts.”

CPGjobs works like an extension of your HR department and corporate website, Carrillo maintains. “There are no hidden fees commissions to pay, and there is full candidate ownership, now and in the future. This means that we expand your talent pool instead of restricting your options.”

To find out how CPGjobs can provide your firm with effective recruiting outsource service, contact CPGjobs at (626) 535-0143.

Michael Carrillo is president of CPGjobs, the CPG industry’s leading candidate recruiting service for employers and recruiting agencies. You may contact him at Michael@CPGjobs.com or call (626) 535-0143.

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WELCOME ABOARD! CPGjobs welcomes its newest clients: Aspen Marketing Services, Avery Dennison Corporation, Dyson,
Feeding America, Swarovski North America Limited and Graphique de France. For the complete roster of more than 100 leading CPG companies represented by CPGjobs visit our website.

YOU’RE HIRED! Congratulations to the following CPGjobs clients and their new executives: Lynn Federico hired by Nelsons, Pamela Wesson hired by Newell Rubbermaid, Tejal Modi hired by Catalina Marketing, and Sandra Klein hired by Rainbow Light If you’re looking for a candidate -- or a job -- contact CPGjobs at (626)535-0143.

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS: For the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference, January 11-13 in Orlando; the Philadelphia National Candy, Gift & Gourmet Show, January 11-13 in Atlantic City, N.J.; the Hobby Industry Show, January 25-28 in Anaheim, Calif.; IFDA Partners Executive Forum, January 25-28 in Amelia Island, Fla.; the European Fine Food Trade Fair, January 26-28, 2009 in Maastricht, Netherlands; North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, February 5-7 in Orlando; and the International Home and Housewares Show, March 22-24 in Chicago. For more events see CPGjobs online Calendar.

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