Service and Incentives

What’s the difference between a waiter and a recruiter?
They are both in the business of service. They both often have a similar comp structures: low base with the addition of tips or commissions on top.

Where they differ is in how they are incentivized.
A recruiter is incentivized to fill an opening as fast as possible.
A waiter is incentivized to offer the best service as possible to their patrons.

As a thought experiment, I was imagining how silly it would be if a waiter was incentivized by how fast they could drop a plate of food after you ordered it, that somewhat resembles something in the ballpark of what you asked for.
But on the other hand, it isn’t that silly if a recruiter was incentivized by how well they listened, how well they consulted on the “menu” of options, how well they delivered their product or how much their clients enjoyed their experience.

Just something to think about…

The Problem with Too Many Unqualified Submissions

When I do onboarding calls with new clients, I always ask about their previous experience working with recruiters. I want to know what they’ve tried, what they liked and what they didn’t like about their past experiences. One of the most common negative responses I get relates to receiving too many unqualified submissions. I hear them say “I’m left scratching my head as to why anyone would think this candidate would be qualified for this job.”

There are a lot of reasons a recruiter can submit a bad candidate, but one of the biggest reasons is they are not disincentivized not to. Who cares if they submit 100 duds as long as they also submit the 1 winner. These firms turn themselves into nothing more than Resume Mills, prioritizing quantity over quality. They over utilize untrained staff, offshore help, and new untested technologies.

If clients wanted to sort through dozens of unqualified resumes they’d just put out a listing on ZipRecruiter.
I know it takes time to learn about a company, and it takes time to learn about the position, and it takes time to screen candidates, but that is why a client is hiring you. Not only for your expertise, but for your time.

Don’t waste theirs.

The First-to-Find Race

I’ve been around for a while, and have seen how cut-throat recruiting can be. Especially if you are working for a client who contracts multiple recruiting agencies for the same job. At that point it’s just a foot race to see who can get to the right candidate first. Sometimes the winner is determined by mere minutes, and I’ve been on both the winning side and losing side of such close races.

This frenzy to talk to the right candidate first creates an arms race of who can buy the best tools, or who has the best tricks of the trade, or who has the fastest AI-matching software, etc.

Unfortunately, this first-to-find race incentivizes speed over thoughtful messaging, spam over targeted outreach, noise over clarity.
I refuse to add to the noise. I know another agency will have an AI agent doing hundreds of automated messaging and calls,

but I promise – if you get a call from me, there’ll be a good reason.