All it does is add to the cost base. The firm has to pay for trained people who all have to be recruited through a recruitment agency. The recruitment manager not only deals with agencies but is also involved in direct advertising and head-hunting. Fiona Cass, head of personnel, says that having a professional recruiter is invaluable. The consistency factor is good and we make very few recruitment mistakes.
People trained in recruitment ask a different type of question.
They ask about health. They can explain the package the firm is offering and they talk about performance review, benefits and training. Whether recruitment specialists or personnel managers are present at interviews varies from firm to firm. At Herbert Smith, which has one of the biggest in-house recruitment teams with seven people working full time, the partners still do all the interviewing alone. When John Lucy joined the firm as head of HR two years ago, one of the first things he did was bring in specialists and set up a recruitment team.