Recruitment is an extremely competitive industry, with the UK alone being home to over 31,100 recruitment companies. The challenge when choosing a recruitment partner is that not all recruitment companies are created equally. So, what should you look out for when choosing a recruitment partner to establish how good they really are?

Lou Adler, CEO of Performance-based hiring learning systems, has spent the last 15 years working with global recruiters to benchmark their ability to find and hire the best active and passive candidates. The most important findings were condensed into 12 factors that indicate a recruiter’s ability level.

Recruiter Ranking System

Level 1 Bottom-third: Needs Training and Development

Level 2 Middle-third: Have the basic skills to achieve the performance objectives of the job, but motivation varies.

Level 3 Top-third: Everyone in this group is rock solid and can handle all job requirements

Level 4 Top 10-15%: High-Potential person; does more, better and faster; typically the go-to person coaching others and handling the toughest assignments.

Level 5 Top 5%: Recognised by those in the department, company and industry as a leader in the area.

Every ambitious and high-growth company will want to work with the best recruiters, which you will want to sit in Level 4 or 5. Here is how you can qualify a new or existing recruiter.

Are they driven on every assignment?

Are they knowledgeable?

Do they have a good relationship with you?

Do they use a cookie-cutter approach?

Do they proactively find the right people?

Do they qualify and interview candidates before putting them forward for roles?

Do they understand the opportunity?

To be in the top 5%, your recruiter must be committed to finding and hiring the best people on every assignment, regardless of difficulty. They should be as passionate about every assignment as you are.

You can evaluate their approach, processes and commitment through multiple indicators:

Transparency and Communication: A driven recruitment firm will maintain continuous and clear communication throughout the process - not only with you, but also the candidates. Assess their responsiveness and willingness to keep you informed—these are signs of an engaged team.

Your recruitment partner should be acting as an extension of your company and, therefore, should be knowledgeable about your company, industry, and the role they are hiring for. They should be able to answer any tough questions that they may be faced with when approaching passive candidates. Great recruiters will do their research but also ask you lots of questions that may not be openly available online.

Recruiters can only perform well if they know who and what they are looking for. This can only be done if they have good communication and trust with the hiring manager. A top 5% performer will know their clients inside out and educate themselves on exactly what the hiring manager is looking for, so they can develop a long-standing and trusting relationship. Great recruiters rarely work on a short-term relationship basis; they work with their clients over long periods because they develop strong working relationships.

The top 5% of recruiters know that no company is the same, and therefore no recruitment strategy should be the same. Great recruiters will take the time to get to know your company and develop a strategy that suits your company and your needs to find people who are the right fit.

Great recruitment companies should offer customised strategies for every client/ partner. Look for firms that invest time in understanding your company’s culture, role requirements and success metrics. If they propose a tailored strategy with a clear timeline, it indicates they’re serious about finding the right fit rather than using a one-size fits all approach.

Top recruiters don’t wait for people to come to them. They seek, source, and proactively find people who fit the roles they are hiring for. Actively sourcing passive candidates means finding higher quality and more suitable people, allowing them to stay client-driven and able to offer an unparalleled service.

Driven firms will go beyond basic skill matching; they’ll conduct in-depth interviews and reference checks and assess candidates’ fit for your company culture and long-term potential. Ask for insights into how they evaluate candidates and ensure they go beyond surface-level qualifications. The best recruiters are often more experienced than hiring managers in qualifying and interviewing. They can accurately assess competency, fit and motivation so they are putting the right people forward for the role. They are experts in advising hiring managers, which is why mutual trust in a recruiter, hiring manager relationship is so important.

Top recruiters will not only know the ins and outs of the company, culture and package but should also be able to sell the career potential of the opportunity. By working as an extension of your company, a top recruiter will see your vision of where your company is going and be able to sell this opportunity to prospective passive candidates.

Whether you’re qualifying for a new recruitment/ executive search firm or want to test your current one, use these questions to establish whether you’re working with the right one.