Experts advise: you need to work in this area on a hired position. Because if you go to the market from the outside, you will necessarily make many mistakes. It is necessary to have a deep understanding of the personnel market, the number and quality of candidates for vacancies, monitoring salaries and other indicators, because the personnel business is a difficult and long-term business.
This is not a simple resale of goods, it’s a project work: every employer, every vacancy is a project. Therefore, first you should work as an hr-manager or a development manager in a serious recruiting company. You can participate in both the sales phase and the vacancy closing phase.
The personnel business, experts say, is quite specific. Therefore, the proverb is applicable to it: not knowing the ford, do not climb into the water. To open a recruiting agency follows with experience in this field. It is important to understand the internal business processes and the specifics of the provision of services, because here everything can go according to the individual scenario, and changes need to be reacted in a timely manner. Depending on the peculiarities of the vacancy, sources, tools and methods of search and selection are selected.
Where to begin?
So, you got experience in the field of recruiting. Now you need to understand for which segment you want to select personnel. Medium and small business – this is one potential base. You can choose some narrow direction as IT, and this is another base of employers. And another specificity of the work. After all, for example, if you conduct a mass selection, here the main speed. The search for IT-specialists is complicated, searching not only for the region, but also for the whole country, it is enticing people from other companies, long closing times, high price for closing the application, this knowledge of technical nuances, terms, aspects. There are agencies that select everything for everyone. There are agencies that select only mass staff. There are agencies that select only specialists from the sales department. And the client base of recruiting companies is formed depending on the specifics.
In our business, we need to respond to the situation. It is necessary to approach the client in a non-standard way, not according to the template. Therefore in business it is necessary to be welded, to have a big set of tools for selection. I will give an example of non-standard treatment. The commercial real estate agency is looking for an employee. It deals with sales of large real estate objects, and leasing, has a ready base, reputation. This is a very narrow segment. Experienced candidates in the market – 20 people a month. That is, the probability of job closure is low. You can search among the inexperienced – take any sales manager and reorient to commercial real estate.
But there is a large percentage of discrepancies, misses, failures. At the same time the employer wants to hold something like a contest, to pass through a large number of applicants, to recruit a team of 3-5 people and leave one or two of it. We help to develop an adaptation plan, give recommendations on how to correctly introduce a newcomer to the position. We also provide screening services – that is, call the candidates and invite to the employer, creating a constant flow of candidates. In this case, nonstandardly approached the sources of the search: conducted a newsletter in social networks for candidates from real estate.
As for the competition , the heroine of our article out of several dozen agencies working in the city, competitors and colleagues, named no more than ten – they really work in a civilized manner, by standards, observing terms, quality, conditions, reputation. Therefore, serious players in the market, as a rule, not much. But when opening an agency, it is best to have some idea, so that there is a unique trade proposal. Do not do under a carbon paper, and find yourself in an unoccupied niche – take what the least do. Some segment or service, or personnel that is not occupied by other agencies. This may be what the market now most needs: for example, there is always a demand for sales, for working specialties.
How to find out about what the market needs? When you are in this business, there are more frequent applications and requests from employers, and it becomes clear what and who needs it. You can go to the same HeadHunter or Avito and see the number of vacancies for each professional area. You can request marketing analytics from the same work resources or statistics from search queries in an online agency.
How to get the customer base and the first contacts? There are a lot of ways: active cold calling with offers, sending out commercial offers, appointing a meeting; business events, seminars, conferences on general topics; advertising on Yandex.direct; become an information partner at events. If there are no personal contacts, then without advertising will not work. It is possible to conduct introductory master classes for entrepreneurs and managers or to make introductory services that are inexpensive, it is also possible to conduct free diagnostics for companies in exchange for recommendations and expanding their base.
As a rule, most companies turn to a recruiting agency when an employee needs them yesterday or tomorrow.
Strategy of workshould be aligned, immediately clarifying from the client: whether he has someone to replace the employee, whether a new office is opening in the region, or they have been working here for a long time, whether there is already a functional or a new post, an employee is urgently needed or you can think about it, e. This preparatory work is often carried out by the agency free of charge before concluding the contract for a full understanding of the request. Sometimes the employer himself does not know what kind of employee he needs. Suppose he first hires a sales manager and does not know what payment, what functionality and what requirements for a vacancy. Proceeding from this, the profile of the candidate is formed and the cost of his selection. As a rule, clients need time to make a final decision on cooperation with the agency – on average from one to ten working days.
Elvira Nurmiyeva, director (founder) of the recruiting company «Candidate»
The methodology for assessing the staff is great. And you can estimate the candidate for hours. But there is no time for this. We have developed our own unique four-factor staff assessment system: we assess motivation, personal qualities and behaviors, professional knowledge, reliability of information and recommendations. It allows us for 40 minutes – an hour to get the necessary information about the candidate, to understand whether it should be sent to the employer. We use the testing system only if it is a professional test, when it is necessary to understand the competence of a specialist. Also sometimes we involve external experts, already successfully working, to evaluate the candidate.
If the company does not have a full-time HR or if the company does not have a monthly turnover of two or three positions and it is cheaper for them to apply to the agency. Or if the leader has no time to deal with this issue, because recruiting is, first of all, a waste of time searching, calling, inviting, interviewing, evaluating. A simple workplace costs the company much more than the services of a recruiting agency. Employers who first try to pick up personnel on their own, very soon realize how difficult it is, and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, they turn to the recruiting agency.
Investment size
I started the business ten years ago, and at that time, according to the business plan, we needed 150 thousand rubles to last the first 3-6 months. Now the amount will be at least twice as large. You need to buy furniture and office equipment, good computers, rent a room and purchase paid access to the resume databases. Without an advertising budget, it will not work either. I take only Internet advertising, Yandex.direct. If the budget allows, you can advertise in social networks, in Google – there is another audience, buy modules for Avito. Currently, the monthly expenses of our company from 100 to 150 thousand minimum. This despite the fact that in the state we have only 3-4 people, accounting and law on outsourcing. Summing up: without investments in the amount of 400 thousand rubles, there is no sense in starting.
To find the funds for the start, you can apply for a grant, contact the specialists who will help to properly draw up the documents. You can look for investors, for example, among familiar businessmen. You can contact the business associations – there may be people interested in your project. There, by the way, you can find contacts for future potential customers. You can take a consumer loan – the amount of lifting for two or more founders. The most important thing is to have an adequate business plan. He is sobering and helps to talk with the investor in the language of figures. It is necessary to predict profitability, profitability for six months or a year.
Step-by-step instruction
Let’s talk about the price for services . It is important to consider how much the employer is willing to pay for finding one specialist. It depends on the complexity of the vacancy and the level of the specialist. For example, people of working specialties are constantly required – masons, welders, masters, but the rate for the search for such specialists will be several times lower than the rate for the search for middle and senior staff. Therefore, it is more economical to engage in selection, starting from the middle level. Recruiting and the market of personnel services strongly react to economic changes. If the business in your city stagnates, the number of applications and vacancies will not grow, you need to either focus on other cities, or on other vacancies.
Experienced players do not recommend delaying this even for half a year, because there is a healthy payback and cost that formed the market, and a strong violation in the price towards a discount is fraught with disastrous consequences for the startup. You still have to select personnel qualitatively (otherwise the client will not be satisfied), still have to pay salaries and motivate employees. The design work assumes that you can close the position in one or two weeks, and for two or four. And some positions – as a leader, a top manager, a regional director – can last for six to eight weeks, depending on the narrowness of the personnel market and the requirements of the employer. Realizing this, you need to pawn an adequate price for your services.
The agency’s fee depends on whether it’s classical recruiting or headhunting, regional search or federal, a specialist or a simple specialist is required. On average, the selection of one specialist costs 10 to 12% of his average annual income. This is from local agencies. The federal agencies – from 15 to 20%. Our fixed rate is 10-11% of the average annual income. The service includes a guarantee of free replacement of the employee for three months. If the employer wants to get a big discount, then you can offer him to pick up staff without a guarantee with a 25% discount. Also it is possible to think up for the client various admissions, the price of which varies from 5 to 15 thousand rubles.
How can I optimize my running costs ? Translate to outsourcing of accountants, lawyers, cleaners, marketers. Distribute the functionality of the courier, the office manager for the main employees. However, experts do not advise to reduce the salaries of employees, because people need motivation. The office is the face of your company, and it should look dignified. Normal communications and working equipment, bases from work sites are also needed. You can move to a home office, but this is not a business, but a job in freelancing. You can save money, except that you have bought out real estate and reduced rental costs.
Now about how to recruit employees in the agency . A good HR may be a graduate of the psychological, pedagogical faculty or personnel management. If the education is different, then you need to see if the person has a long-term personal motivation to work with the staff. Therefore, we need people who are interested in interacting with people, selecting them, evaluating them, organizing them. Any novice employee can search for a job, but only intellectuals who have analytical skills and critical eyes can deal with the evaluation of personnel. A person should be psychologically balanced, be able to abstract. He must be able to listen, but at the same time isolate the necessary information from the point of view of its conformity to the employer’s card, that is, the portrait of the person sought.
There are agencies that hire only experienced HR. We often take people without experience or with minimal experience. With young and beginners it is easier for me, I create from them qualified specialists. It happens that people with experience come, and if our assessment systems coincide, we work together. What are we attracting to our agency? Training and the fact that we give the opportunity to gain serious experience in one to two years. After all, a staff manager without any experience at enterprises is not needed by anyone. In our company, managers become professionals in a short period of time – from six to 12 months of work.
A place
Where is it better to place the office of a recruiting agency? It is important to have parking and a separate entrance. Typically, this is an office center or a detached building. The room should be from 20 sq.m. depending on the number of employees. For interviews it is desirable to have a separate room.
Daylight, communication with the outside world, fresh air and air conditioning are important to me, because this is an intellectual activity. Lighting should be normal, so that your eyes do not get tired. The ceilings are high – more than two and a half meters, do not press. The minimum area for 2-3 managers is 18-20 square meters.
The optimal time for the agency is either from 9:00 to 18:00, or from 10:00 to 19:00. It is important to take into account both the work schedule of the companies themselves and the opportunity to interview working candidates in the evening.
Documentation
Receive a license for this type of activity is not required. The work is carried out on a simplified taxation system. To open, you need to register yuradres, open a settlement account, register with the ERGYL, contacting lawyers. Then get the hands of the INN CAT of the organization, OGRN of the organization, the confirmation of the opening of a settlement account, the lease agreement. To register on the tax. Lawyers will prepare the Charter, where the activities will be prescribed by OKVED – this is the selection of personnel or the provision of personnel services (74.5).
From the point of view of responsibility, it is better to open an LLC, experts say, because in case of a disputable situation in court your liability is limited. In the case of IP, you are responsible for all your assets. In terms of taxation, there is almost no difference.
Check-list of opening
- Analysis of the market and competitors (range of services, prices, programs, personnel, etc.),
- Choice of assortment of services,
- Search for a room,
- Evaluation of the rental location, the choice of the best option,
- Conclusion of the lease agreement,
- Registration of IP or LLC, registration with the tax inspection,
- Search for colleagues,
- Interviewing, selection of candidates,
- Making a loan (if necessary),
- Ordering furniture and interior items,
- Repair work (if necessary),
- Development of an advertising campaign for the opening,
- Development and coordination of the signboard, its installation,
- Development of shares, discounts and other marketing activities,
- Search for an accountant on outsourcing,
- Festive opening.
Is it profitable to open
Starting this business, you need to study all the pros and cons. But even after starting a business, you need to know about the pitfalls.
To minimize risks, the following precautions should be taken :
- Do not work without a contract and without prepayment. If you work without an advance payment, then under an exclusive contract.
- See reviews of employers, check counterparties in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and other registries. The probability of non-payment exists, albeit small. The main thing is that your reputation should not be damaged, because if you presented an unreliable employer, you will look like an unethical agency.
- It is necessary to sign acts, keep records, communicate via mail. It is important to turn to a good lawyer and draw up a competent contract, where to minimize risks and prescribe all possible situations.
It is also important to take into account seasonal risks . Four months a year, when people least search for work – this is December, April and July-August. On the applications from employers, seasonality is not affected.
But the most important thing is always to have new applications . Because the main risk is to stay without projects. Also, you risk when you close the application poorly, because in this case there will be no flow of new applications from old customers. If you act like a one-day company, only money is important, and not long-term relationships, you will get bad reviews, lose employees, and it will be difficult to fix it.
Summarizing: the important system of search and selection of personnel, the system of attracting new customers is important, it is necessary to debug business processes and be able to react to changes, to be in the trend of popular positions.
