Splits - Do you or don't you do splits?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Desmond on August 18, 2008 at 9:01am

Split placements should always be part of a recruiters tool kit, but only one part. Advertising on your recruiting website, your own candidate files and finally... oh no, actually going out and unearthing a candidate by cold calling. No longer does just one method work it takes a tool kit to make good placements.

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Permalink Reply by Curtis D. Kuttnauer on August 18, 2008 at 9:23am

I have always been a big supporter of $plits, from day #1. In fact, in my 3rd year in recruiting (2002), I was #2 in the TE Network of $plit recruiters. As the years followed, my $plit business has decreased quite significantly. The attribute that to the following reasons: (1) my niche is quite specialized and it is difficult to find those candidates; (2) I am very demanding on top quality talent and will not "try to fit" a candidate; (3) as time goes on my own database has gotten very large, so most submittals are people that I am already aware of; and finally (4) I have decided to hire my own researchers to do the cold calling to find new candidates....thus I am financially motivated to do more internally then with $plits. But, I always & will always welcome a chance to fill a position with a $plit partner any day....a quicker placement is always better, plus 1/2 of something is better than all of nothing.

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Permalink Reply by Mark J. Haluska on August 18, 2008 at 10:02am

I've been making split placements (when it's made good business sense) for years now.

Yes, it is nice to get 100% of the placement fee; and that is my initial objective, but if I have exhausted all of my resources after a couple of weeks, I now need to concern myself with presenting outstanding candidates in a timely fashion just as I promised the client I would. Ultimately, I want the VERY BEST placement hired into my clients company, irrespective of if it is our candidate or another firms.

At the end of the day, it makes me look like a hero and often results in more work, exclusivity can be easier to obtain because your credibility in handling tough assignments has gone up, and even higher fees can sometimes be negotiated because of the quality of candidates and speed at which a critical hire can be consummated.

I am of the frame of mind that 50% of the pie is better than 0%. I have known recruiters that vehemently disagree with that; but it works for me.

Risks ? There are some. To minimize those, you need to qualify the other recruiter just as you would any candidate or client, agree on expectations, and get the terms of your agreement in writing. To date, I’ve had no problems.

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