Now that the recession is starting to abate, the economy is picking up again. And with a better economy comes more competition for top employees. Three years ago, it might have been possible to get a top crop of applicants without doing much work—today, potential employees can afford to be more choosy. Having the right team in place for your company, though, can potentially make or break your profits and success. 


For this reason, many businesses choose to hire a recruiting firm. A recruitment firm essentially does a lot of the dirty work when it comes to the hiring process. The average business, upon posting a position, will receive 250 resumes—and not all of those resumes will belong to top recruits. Recruitment firms find, screen and assess candidates before forwarding them to employers. This can save companies time and ensure that their hiring budget isn’t wasted—the estimated cost of a hiring mistake is six times the person’s salary. 


When you’re looking to hire executive recruitment firms, not all firms are equally capable. How can you weed out the mediocre firms from the top firms? Here are a few things you should look for. 


Annual Loss Rate of Employees and Customers 


As Forbes points out, a recruitment firm that isn’t capable of keeping their own employees on board is hardly going to know the secret recipe for delivering you employees that remain loyal and on board for more than a few months. An annual employee turnover rate higher than 25% should be cause for concern. A weak customer retention rate will also say volumes about the value of services provided. 


They Should Understand Your Industry 


Hiring great employees isn’t just about finding people who have a great track record in their career—it’s also about understanding what sort of individual would be a great fit for your company’s specific environment. If you’re in the pharmaceutical industry, does your recruiting firm know what type of individuals tend to fare well in these positions? Or do they simply know who makes a good salesperson? There’s often a wide gap between general roles, and industry and company specific positions.