2019 Third-Party Recruiting Benchmark Report

For over a decade BountyJobs has been at the forefront of tackling America’s hardest-to-fill roles, building tech-forward solutions to help employers leverage third-party recruiting to find the best talent for their most business-critical positions.

This annual report serves as the primary go-to source of analytics for top talent acquisition professionals, supplying data covering top-performing industries and roles. Third-party search is often representative of the most challenging and hard-to-fill jobs in the employment market; as such, we look at not only recruiting performance but also agency compensation, salary ranges, and incentives to attract candidates. From SMB to Fortune 1000 organizations, these industry trends permeate every decision made regarding recruiting and hiring. In an increasingly challenging market, these toughest roles are the tip of the spear.

Upon analyzing our database, we curate and share the most impactful analytics to help those in talent acquisition. In this ultra-competitive employment market, every second counts:

• When, Where and for What Roles Top Industries are Hiring
• Trends in Salaries and Fees for the Markets, Top Industries, and Top Job Categories
• Recruiter and Employer Performance Timelines from Post to Fill
• Trends to Watch in 2019 and 2020

Key Findings in This Year’s Report

Third-Party Search Goes Mainstream

Roles going out to search don’t look like they used to. Nontraditional jobs are increasingly going out to third-party search; running the gamut from non-managerial to senior executive as more organizations are utilizing this important lever to identify desired candidates. From Hotel Banquet Head Cook to Chief Data Scientist, more organizations are leaning on third-party search regardless of the industry.

WHY HIRE AN AGENCY FOR YOUR CRITICAL ROLES?
Here’s just a sampling of quotes from recruiter respondents of our annual survey:

“I am determined to present the best talent and have a very strong work ethic.”

“I take the time to get to know the motivation and professional reasons for making a change and make sure it fits within the client’s needs.”

“I can produce more fills than 3 individual recruiters combined.”

Most Competitive Industries Consider Third-Party Search as a Top Tool

The top three industries dominating the salary scale, Pharma & Biotech, Information Technology, and Healthcare closely match the top industries leveraging third-party recruiting as a solution in hiring for hard-to-fill roles.

Competitive industries are pros at leveraging recruiter fees to incent recruiters to source their roles quickly with stellar candidates. Pharma & Biotech takes advantage of the powerful impact of offering higher premium fees, designated at 25% or above of the role’s salary, by utilizing them 78% of the time rather than the market average of 30%.

Time-to-Fill is Lopsided and Needs to be Leveled Out ASAP

While 70% of the time-to-fill process is spent reviewing resumes, the winning candidate hits the employer’s inbox within seven days of the job posting on BountyJobs. This astounding insight reveals that the candidate submission aspect of the process only takes up one-third of the overall recruiting process. The other two-thirds is interviewing and decision making. As the hiring landscape becomes increasingly competitive, employers must prioritize slashing their time-to-fill to better snag the ideal candidate before a competitor does.

Looking Ahead

As we hurtle toward the middle of 2019, talent acquisition is off to an unpredictable start. Jobs growth started out strong in January, only to fall short in February. Wages are starting to rise as employers realize that in addition to perks such as flexible schedules, pay increases are necessary for many roles. We’ll continue to look at these as well as other trend lines such as the unemployment rate, talent shortage, and skills gap as head toward 2020.

About BountyJobs 
Sometimes sourcing talent for business-critical positions requires a little help. Our web-based platform features a marketplace of over 10,000 highly-qualified agencies and a performance-based matching algorithm that helps hiring teams of all sizes find and engage the recruiters for each of their roles. All this inside our simple yet effective platform designed to keep you in control of the entire recruitment process. Help makes hiring happier. Learn more at http://www.bountyjobs.com. 

About the Author

Erin Geiger is a seasoned Content, Editorial, and Product Engagement professional with two decades of experience creating content as well as overall content direction and strategy. Her background stems from a variety of online verticals ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. For more, check out the BountyJobs blog and reports.