The Most Important Factor in Forming A True Search Partnership

What does true partnership look like in recruiting?

Open, honest, and detailed communication. Even more than that — history. 

Every recruiter has, at some point in their careers, worked with clients that viewed them as a resume factory. It’s awful. 

The recruiter only learns by failure and the client gets frustrated with wasted time and poorly fitting candidate flow. It’s throwing paint at a wall to see what sticks. Candidates, clients, and recruiters all suffer. 

I’ve had the privilege to work with many great sales leaders and internal TA professionals. The difference is that they invest time and trust in me to give me the details needed and answer my deeper probing questions. 

But the biggest difference? Being open and honest about the history of the sales org and the search in particular. 

What hasn’t been a fit? What bad experiences have they had? What have they learned from bad hires? And more. 

I love reading and learning about history, and the most important thing to truly grasping history - and its lessons - is understanding the context of the times. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Even the most seemingly inexplicable events in history make sense when viewed through the eyes of those living it and in full understanding of what brought them to that point.

The same is true in recruiting: understand the history and the viewpoints of those involved. Bring the stakeholders to a unified lens to fairly evaluate candidates through. Move forward together, and without impartial or latent biases.

Great search partnership is rooted in history, and thereby, context. That requires some upfront time and trust. 

Don’t just “open the req”… communicate its context.