Getting What You Pay For: What You Should Expect from A Professional Staffing Firm.

Whether you are a General Counsel committed to containing outside legal costs or a Managing Partner focused on increasing firm productivity and solidifying client relationships, partnering with a specialized professional staffing firm to fill your staffing needs can make good business sense. Choosing your staffing partner is an important decision since any resultant hiring decisions reflect directly on you and your company/law firm. The responsibility you delegate is large and, occasionally, so is the price of this service you purchase. To make sure you are really getting what you pay for, you should require that your staffing partner perform the following:

1. Thorough Screening Process and Professional Reference Checks.

Candidates submitted for consideration must be personally interviewed by the staffing firm that represents them. A substantive interview should take place during which the information listed on the candidate’s resume is confirmed and vital information is exchanged including reasons why the candidate left prior jobs and why the candidate is currently investigating other employment opportunities. Based on this personal interview, the interviewer should be able to comment on the candidates’ ability to express themselves, their communication style and their overall presentation. These are qualities not listed on a resume but in most cases, are equally as important as fundamental skills and work experience.

You should require that a minimum of two professional references be checked. It is simply not enough to verify dates of employment or eligibility for re-hire. During these reference checks, substantive information must be exchanged. These professional references should be from former supervisors or people who will comment on the quality of the candidate’s work and their interaction with other co-workers and supervisors. The difference between a good placement and an excellent placement is the ability of the candidate to fit into the firm’s/company’s internal culture. Since the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior, professional references are an excellent source of vital information regarding how you can expect a candidate to fit into your organization.

Without exception, all school degrees and state bar memberships of all candidates must be verified.

This initial screening process is one tool that your staffing firm uses to determine whether any candidate is appropriate for placement. It is not possible for your staffing partner to make a competent decision regarding whether to present a candidate without completing this background screening process. A good professional staffing firm will gladly explain its process and when possible, customize its process to meet your individual needs.

2. Securing Candidate Permission to Submit Resume and Supporting Materials.

You should expect that any candidate whose resume you review has granted the staffing company with which they work express permission to submit their resume for consideration. A reputable staffing firm invested in ethical business practices will inform their candidate of the specific opportunity, identify the company to which their resume will be submitted, and submit the resume and supporting materials immediately after being granted permission.

Because candidates often register with more than one agency, clients often receive the same resume from different agencies. Many clients respond to this confusion by adhering to the “first in time” rule which rewards the staffing firm that first presents the candidate‘s resume with credit for the placement should the candidate be hired. This practice makes perfect sense when every staffing firm is pre-clearing submissions and completing a thorough candidate screening process. The sad reality is that this is not always the case.

As a client you have the right to demand that your staffing partner is earning its fee and treating both the candidate and client with respect. It is a dangerous practice to submit a candidate's resume without permission, as an employment search is almost always a confidential process for a candidate. A misstep can be a fatal mistake in a candidate's career. You are hiring a staffing firm not a resume broker. You have a right to expect that your staffing partner is working hard to earn their fee. You have a right get what you pay for.

3. Your Staffing Partner Must Be an Expert.

In order to have access to the most highly qualified candidates, a staffing firm must exhibit both a presence within the legal community and an intimate understanding of the legal profession and the local market conditions. The staffing professionals who make the most successful placements have formalized legal training and practical work experience. When your staffing partner is a member of the very industry they represent, you have greater assurance that your staffing partner genuinely understands and appreciates your internal staffing needs. You will also have greater access to a higher quality candidate pool as the best candidates are most likely to trust and work with those to whom they can relate. You have a right to expect that your staffing partners are legal professionals with strong contacts in the legal community in which they work. Ask for an office biography and learn about the people who you have decided to make your partner.

By no means is this an exhaustive list of your rights. This article is designed to provide a starting point by outlining expectations that make good business sense. The next time you speak with a Special Counsel representative, please ask us about our company policies as they relate to the items outlined above.