Direct hire recruiting is a study in peaks and valleys. Getting that large direct hire placement fee after putting your blood, sweat, and tears into a placement is definitely a peak. But with it comes the deep valleys of direct hire dry spells, those times when you lay awake worrying about the chance of a fall-off or whether a candidate will accept a job offer.
You have probably accepted the valleys as the price for those great peaks. But you don’t have to suffer through all that stress and anxiety to enjoy success in recruiting. By simply adding contract staffing to your business model, you can generate consistent recruiter income to sustain you during the valleys. Consider the following Recruiter Income Analysis of Contract Staffing and Direct Hire placements over the past 10 years.
With contract staffing, you are paid for every hour your contractors work. Rather than receiving payment in one lump sum check like you do with direct placements, you are paid on a weekly or monthly basis over the course of the contract assignment. Here is what that consistent recruiter income can give you:
Peace of mind
Worrying about when your next direct hire check is coming can negatively impact every aspect of your life. The worry invades your free time and can affect your relationships. No matter how many placements you made the previous month, you always start the next month back at square one. With contracting in your back pocket, you have peace of mind knowing you will have the money to cover your overhead. Since you don’t have to worry so much about when the direct hire placements are coming, you can enjoy your work and life again.
A recession-proof business
Hopefully, you won’t have to worry about a recession for awhile, but history tells us we will have another one sooner or later. Recessions are when stress hits a fever pitch for recruiters. They are also the time when contract staffing can become a lifeline for recruiting firms. While direct hires bottom out during a recession, contract assignments tend to increase because companies still need to get work done. Your contract income can give you enough to at least cover your overhead. You may even be able to completely make up lost direct hire placement income by taking on more contract placements. For many recruiters, contract staffing was the difference between going out of business and riding out the recession.
A REAL vacation
When was the last time you took a real vacation without being chained to your laptop and cell phone? Or how about just one full day off? If you are like many direct hire recruiters, it’s been awhile. After all, you can’t afford not to be available if a direct hire placement should come through. When you have contractors, you are earning money for every hour they work – even when you aren’t working. So go ahead and take a day off in the middle of week. Take your family to the beach for a week. Clients and candidates love contract staffing because it provides flexibility. Contract staffing can do the same for you.
The ability to be selective
Some of the best recruiters we know are successful in part because they maintain a select group of clients and only work job orders that they know are good business. How can they afford to be so picky? Because they know they will still have money coming in from their contractors even if they don’t make direct hire placements.
An exit strategy
Whether you want to switch careers in five years or you are planning to recruit until you are 80, you may need or want to sell your firm someday. The consistent income your contractors generate for your firm makes it much more attractive to buyers than a firm that only has a name and a list of direct hire clients to sell.
Earning this consistent recruiter income is EASY. Placing contractors is much more similar to direct hire than you think… if you utilize a contract staffing back-office service to handle the employment of the contractors. You get the job order, you recruit the candidate, and you negotiate the rates. The contract staffing back-office handles all the legal, financial, and administrative aspects of the contract placements. You can start accepting contract staffing job orders immediately. All you have to do is let your current clients know that you have the ability to place contractors.
Don’t lose sleep over when your next placement check is coming in. Reap the peaks of recruiting without the stress of the valleys adding contract staffing to your business model.
