More than a CV sift

In my last article, I made the case for valuing independents as the investment they are. Now I want to talk about what goes into finding the right one.

From the outside, it can look simple. Post a brief, collect some CVs, pick someone. In practice, the difference between a good match and a poor one is huge. The REC estimates that a bad hire at mid manager level can cost a business more than three times that person's salary, once lost productivity, wasted training and the cost of starting again are counted.

A good recruiter does a lot of work you never see. That work is what makes it a premium service, and it deserves to be valued as one.

A network built on trust

At The Work Crowd, we have built a network of more than 5,000 independent professionals across marketing, communications, PR, public affairs and sustainability.

Nobody joins automatically. We ask every new member for a reference before they are approved, and our team cross checks their experience. It takes time, but it means that when we put someone forward, we already know a good deal about them.

That is the first thing a good recruiter gives you: confidence that the people you are meeting are who they say they are and can do what they say they can do.

Two ways to work with us

Not every brief needs the same level of support, so we offer two routes:

• Our platform, with a light touch concierge service. For clients who want to run the process themselves. You find and choose your independent, with our team on hand to help when you need us.
• A full recruiter led search. For more complex or senior briefs. We take on the whole process, from shaping the brief to presenting a shortlist.

The rest of this article looks at what goes into the full search, because that is where most of the hidden work happens.

Understanding the business in the round

With a full search, before we look at a single profile, we take time to understand what a client actually needs. Often the brief we start with is not quite the brief we end with.

We ask questions like:

• What are the business objectives, and what does success look like?
• What does the current team look like, and where are the gaps?
• Is there an in house team, an agency, or both?
• Is this a short project or a longer assignment where fractional support makes more sense?
• Do you need someone to deliver, to upskill your existing team, or to give senior strategic counsel on something like corporate risk?
• Are you scaling, so your needs today will be different from your needs in a year?

A scaling business, for example, might need fractional marketing support to hit certain KPIs before it is ready to hire permanently. A business facing a reputational issue needs something very different. Getting this right at the start saves time, money and frustration later.

Frank advice and a focused shortlist

We give clients open, honest feedback on the market: what is realistic, what rates look like and what the best solution would be. Sometimes that means telling a client they need something different from what they asked for.

If the right answer is a permanent hire, we say so. Through our sister company, Hanson Search, we can run a permanent search and provide interim cover at the same time. The work keeps moving while the right long term person is found.

Then we do the heavy lifting. Instead of a client spending days sifting through CVs, we build a shortlist of specialist individuals who fit the brief, the culture and the budget. You meet fewer people, and the right ones.

The checks and paperwork you never have to think about

This is the part most clients never see, and it is where the risk sits. The rules have tightened in recent years, and getting them wrong can be expensive. Here is what we take care of:

We also support our independents in choosing the right way to work, whether as a sole trader, through a limited company or via an umbrella company. The right vehicle depends on the person and the assignment, and getting it right protects everyone.

The result is simple. When a client hires an independent through us, they know they are getting the expertise their business needs, and that all the necessary paperwork is taken care of.

A premium service, and worth it

Finding the right independent is not about filling a gap quickly. It is about understanding a business, knowing the market, vetting people properly and taking the risk out of the paperwork. That takes experience, a trusted network and a lot of work behind the scenes.

So when you weigh up the cost of working with a specialist recruiter, think about what you are really getting: the right person, faster, with the checks done and the contracts in place.

If you missed it, read part one: Independents are not a stopgap

Speak to the Team

Madeleine Weightman is Co-Founder and COO at The Work Crowd, working with businesses to find flexible solutions and helping consultants build rewarding portfolio careers.

Whether you need interim, fractional or freelance expertise for a project, to plug a gap or upskill your team, or you are exploring new opportunities as an independent consultant, The Work Crowd can help you connect to the right person.