Recruiting: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What recruiting is

A recruiter finds and screens candidates for your open positions, presents qualified people and coordinates interviews until you make a hire. Businesses hire recruiters when the role is hard to fill, the hiring team is stretched or the position needs a specialist search.

Signs you need it

  • Your job postings get applications, but few of the candidates have the skills the role needs
  • Your team is spending too many hours screening resumes and scheduling interviews
  • You have a senior or specialized role, and you need candidates who are not actively looking
  • A key position has been open for a long time and the work is backing up
  • You need to fill several roles of the same type quickly, such as seasonal or technical staff

What the pro does

  • Write down the role's must have skills, the day to day tasks and the pay and benefits you are offering
  • Search for candidates through job boards, referrals and direct outreach
  • Screen candidates against the requirements and check their experience with the tools the job uses
  • Send you a short shortlist with notes on each candidate's strengths and any concerns
  • Coordinate interview times, feedback and follow up with candidates
  • Help with offer details and follow up after the hire to check on the start

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • How many positions are open and how many candidates you need to see
  • How senior the role is, and how specialized the skills are
  • Whether the search is a single hire or several roles over a period
  • How much screening, testing or reference checking the process includes
  • How quickly you need a shortlist and a hire
  • Whether the recruiter handles interview coordination and offer negotiation

What a written quote should spell out

  • The roles covered and the number of candidates the recruiter will present
  • The screening steps, including skills checks and reference checks, and who runs each one
  • The timeline for the shortlist, the interviews and the expected start date
  • How the recruiter's fee is calculated and when it is due, and what happens if the candidate leaves early
  • What information the recruiter will collect and how candidate data is stored

Questions to ask before you hire

  • What roles like mine have you filled, and how long did those searches take?
  • How do you find candidates beyond the job boards?
  • How do you screen for skills, and how do you check claims on a resume?
  • What guarantee do you give if a hire leaves early, and what does it cover?
  • How do you keep candidate information private and compliant with hiring rules?
  • How will you update me during the search, and how often?

Red flags

  • Promises a hire by a set date before reviewing the role
  • Sends candidates who do not match the requirements you gave
  • Asks for candidates' personal documents such as ID numbers before a conditional offer
  • Will not explain how the candidates were found or screened

What you can do yourself

You can post the job on the boards where your industry looks, ask your network for referrals and screen candidates against a written list of required skills. Hire a recruiter when the role is hard to fill, when you need a specialist search or when the screening and scheduling are taking more time than your team can give.

Licenses and permits

No license is usually required for recruiting in most cases, but some places regulate employment agencies and placement fees. Ask whether the recruiter is registered where the rules apply, and check with your state or local labor or licensing agency for the requirements that apply to your hiring.

Recruiting questions

Does a recruiter guarantee the candidate will work out?

Some do. Ask exactly what the guarantee covers, how long it lasts and what you must do to claim it.

How do I make sure the hiring process is fair?

Use the same screening questions for every candidate, base decisions on the job requirements and keep records of each decision. Ask the recruiter how they follow your hiring rules.

Who owns the candidate list?

Agree on this in writing. Many agreements say the employer can contact candidates the recruiter presented, even after the search ends.

Pro reviewers

Pros who offer recruiting remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.

Edit history

How guide reviews work

How it works

  1. 1. Describe the job

    Pick the service, add your ZIP and a sentence about what is going on.

  2. 2. Pick the pros you want

    See screened pros who serve your ZIP and choose who you want to hear from.

  3. 3. They reach out

    They contact you the way you chose: phone, email or in-app messages.

More business and office services guides

Find a pro near you

Find a pro

About this guide

Request recruiting