They say there’s no such thing as A Silly Recruitment Question.
I beg to differ. For example…
What’s the average salary for a Quantity Surveyor?
I get asked variations of this question over and over. And it’s not silly because it’s something you can easily Google. It’s silly because it’s meaningless.
Imagine Googling the average price of a new car and then calling a dealership and expecting to pay that figure for a brand-new BMW with leather seats, satnav and a panoramic roof.
It’s entirely possible that you might want a basic, barely competent Quantity Surveyor. But isn’t it more likely that you’re looking for someone who is well-established with buckets of experience?
And that person is probably already being well-paid by their current employer. If you want them to jump ship and join your firm, you’re going to have provide with them a powerful incentive.
The average salary of a Quantity Surveyor is meaningless in this scenario. The person you’re looking for is going to cost what it’s going to cost. And you’d better believe it’ll be more than the average.
There is a saying that you can have the work done fast, cheap, or good, but you can only pick one out of the three.
In recruitment, you only get to pick one.
A new hire that is high quality isn’t going to be cheap and finding the right person isn’t going to be a quick process. If a recruiter tells you differently, they’re not being honest with you. The odds that the right person is perfect for your firm is, just at that moment, out of work, and going for a song is highly unlikely.
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Our recruitment philosophy is that it’s always more expensive to hire the wrong person than it is to spend a little more now and get the right person in place.
We don’t do fast or cheap – but we excel at digging deep, finding high-quality candidates, and performing in-depth assessments that ensure they’re a good cultural fit for your business.
That’s why 96% of our placements are still in the role after 12 months.
When someone says there are no silly questions, what they’re really saying is that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask the questions you need to ask. If you don’t know the answer then of course you have to ask.
But if the answer isn’t what you’re hoping for, that isn’t a bad thing.
So, if you ask me the average price of a quantity surveyor, I’m going to tell you that this is irrelevant. And I’m going to tell you how much it’s likely to cost to find one of the best quantity surveyors available.
Now THAT is something worth knowing.
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For a no-obligation discussion about how we can help you save time and money on your next recruitment campaign, contact us on +44 0203 943 4415 +1 332 600 8926
