Q1.   What is your typical timeline when recruiting candidates?

• This depends on the position and location of position
• If it is a relatively easy search – 3 to 10 days
• If it is a more difficult search – 10 days to 3 weeks

Q2.   How do you find candidates?

• The process
• Selective web Posting (work in the background)
• Niche job boards
• Association newsletter/magazines
• Association web site
• Specialty newsgroup

• Research (locating relevant companies and sources)
• Internal database search
• Directories
• Similar industries/vendors
• Develop master source list
• Client’s competition
• Convention attendee lists
• Company directories
• Niche publications

• Networking/Referrals
• Send email to VIP network
• Call candidates placed for referrals
• Call association for advice
• Call people in similar roles
• Call contacts for names
• Call vendors of clients who may have information

• Sourcing:
• Phone – using company source list call and gather new names. Web- virtual communities, ISP’s, Search Engines, Niche User Groups, Trade Groups, Alumni Lisings
• Trade Shows – update business cards collected

• Recruiting
• Begin recruiting calls from database
• Begin contacting newly sources names

• Outside Researchers:
• Specialty recruiter associations
• Recruiter Associates in the recruiting field

Q3. Approximately what percentage of your candidate base is sourced from major job boards (i.e. Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, Hotjobs, 6figurejobs.com)?

A. We are members of execunet.com and Careerbuilder.com.  Less than 20% of our contacts come from job boards.

Q4. Approximately what percentage of your candidate base is sourced from cold calls and industry networking?

A. Almost all of our candidates come from networking (above 80%) Candidates also use all resources available to them.  They may work with recruiters as well as post their resumes.  We tend to look for the more passive candidate.

Q5. We have an aggressive internal recruiting organization. This group does an excellent job of sourcing candidates from the major job boards.  Would your organization agree to waive recruiting fees for candidates found on the major job boards?

A. If we identified a candidate that fit the criteria, but you had that candidate in your data base, we would ask why did the internal process not identify that candidate for the position prior to awarding the search to a search firm?

Q6. How do you ensure a diverse slate of candidates?

A. Keercutter & Associates does not discriminate in the acceptance of referral of candidates of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, disability or other protected characteristics.

Q7. In the past 2 years, what percentage of your placements were females?

A. In the past two years, we have had 40 placements.  Of those 40, 4 were women (10%).

Q8. In the past 2 years, what percentage of your placements were minorities?

A. Since we may not ask questions that would discriminate, we cannot identify a minority placement.

Q9. How do you measure customer satisfaction with your customer groups?

A. We use a Customer Satisfaction Survey.  This survey asks clients to rate our service from a 1-4 scales.  The number 1 would be poor to number 4 which would indicate exceeded expectation.  Questions are:

1. Created a positive initial impression
2. Was thorough in defining specific hiring needs
3. Made a conscious effort to understand my company’s philosophy, goals and business needs
4. Was courteous, tactful and responsive when communicating with me
5. Displayed insight and understanding about my area of business or market
6. Delivered well-screened, qualified candidates
7. Made accurate presentations of candidate qualifications and credentials
8. Presented a satisfactory number of candidates
9. Provided timely and dependable follow-up
10. Conducted himself/herself in an ethical and honest manner
11. Provided the quality of service I expect
12. The next time that I need personnel recruiter services, I intend to initiate contact with Keercutter & Associates

Q10. What opportunities do you see to improve quality in the recruiting process?

A. There are 3 items that come to mind:
        

1. Invite recruiters to visit your operations to meet the managers in order to understand     the business and culture more clearly.  First hand knowledge and face to face is always     better.
2. Schedule specific time to connect with the recruiter throughout the process instead of     playing the “phone-tag” game.
3.Create specific timelines for interviews, follow-up, feedback etc.

Q11. What opportunities do you see to increase speed in the recruiting process?

A. There are 4 items that come to mind:

1. Treat every hire as if it were a Kaizen event.  That means that everyone who is involved internally knows their role, knows the goal and follows through with their part of the process.
2. Give a specific deadline for start date and work backwards to the first telephone interview scheduled.  This creates a sense of urgency for both sides of the process.
3. Let us know EXACTLY what each candidate must possess in order to be considered.
4. Have all the details spelled out up front.

Q12. If you were selected as a key vendor, how would you manage the relationship?:

• Some recruiter services like to be “in charge” of the process.  Our organization knows that our “clients” are “in charge” of the process…..so you talk and we will listen.  We will want to know what your expectations of recruiters are and how others have lived up to that expectation.  We will want to be clear on what the interview and hiring process looks like including the feedback portion to the candidates.  Once we are clear on our role and your company’s expectations, we will provide:
• Excellent follow-up with the RIGHT person, at the RIGHT time, and on the RIGHT date
• Play within the rules and roles of the hiring process
• Hit all deadlines and commitments
• Ask for feedback regularly so that we can continue to improve our services

Q13. Please identify your organizations areas of expertise:

A. Durable goods industries specifically kitchen and bath products.  Functional areas would including, Sales, Sales Managers and Executives; Marketing, Marketing Managers and Executives; Product Development including Research and Development Managers and Executives; Manufacturing Managers and Executives; Manufacturing Operations Managers and Executives; Dealer/Distributor Operations Manager/Executives; Supply Chain and Materials Managers and Executives; Engineering Managers and Executives

Q14. In the past 2 years, please indicates where your placements have been in terms of geographic areas.

A. Out of 40 placements:
2 – Northeast
2 – Mid Atlantic
6 – East Coast
8 –Southeast
14 –Midwest
3 –Mountain
3 –Southwest
2 – Pacific Northwest

Q15.  How do you keep your recruiters trained and contemporary?  Please speak to frequency of training as well as the types and frequency of evaluation.

A. We belong to a recruiter coaching organization that provides regularly scheduled information and training (3 hours a quarter). We also have internal training one hour a week on topics of interest and update (i.e. best hiring practices and the law; behavior based interviewing techniques; solution selling techniques)  And one hour a week information/training on updated technology systems for our business.  We belong to the Iowa Chapter of National Kitchen and Bath Association and attend meetings monthly to keep us up to date on the latest trends and industry news.  Evaluation is time sensitive and simultaneous to the search assignment.