Partnership vs. Transactional: Defining Your Relationship with a Recruitment Agency

If you're a startup founder working with a recruitment agency, it's crucial to establish clarity around the type of relationship you want. Is your goal to build a genuine hiring partnership, or would you prefer a more transactional, on-demand approach? Understanding and defining this from the outset can make a significant difference in how effectively your hiring needs are met.

What Does a Hiring Partnership Look Like?

When you choose to partner with a recruitment agency, you're opting for a deeper, more strategic relationship. Your recruiter becomes your eyes and ears in the talent market, staying attuned to your growth plans for the next 6-12 months and understanding how those plans translate into specific hiring needs.

This kind of partnership allows your recruitment agency to act proactively. They can engage with potential candidates who fit your team culture and skill requirements, even if there's no open role at that moment. By doing so, they help build a strong talent pipeline, ready to act when new opportunities arise.

For this to work, everyone must be on the same page—acknowledging that it might not lead to an immediate hire. However, sometimes, these proactive efforts do result in filling roles quickly, as the groundwork has already been laid.

A Transactional Approach: Focusing Only on Immediate Needs

On the other hand, a transactional relationship focuses purely on your current, live roles. In this setup, your recruitment agency's involvement begins and ends with filling your active job openings. Once the roles are filled, they essentially move on, without considering your startup's future hiring needs until you reach out again.

There’s nothing wrong with a transactional approach if that’s what suits your business. It can be an efficient way to handle immediate hiring spikes without the commitment of a long-term partnership. However, it can mean missing out on opportunities to engage top talent who might be a perfect fit for your team down the road.

How Hired By Startups Works

At Hired By Startups, we prefer to operate on a partnership basis. Unless a client explicitly chooses a different arrangement, we're always keeping an eye out for talent that aligns with your startup’s goals. We're committed to understanding your growth trajectory and proactively adding to your talent pool, ensuring you're ready to make quick and confident hiring decisions when needed.

That said, we understand that not every founder wants or needs a long-term partnership. Some agencies are naturally more transactional, and they won't take these proactive steps unless you ask. Either approach is fine, as long as it aligns with your expectations.

Define the Relationship: Partnership or Transactional?

The most important thing is to make sure you and your recruitment partner have a mutual understanding of the relationship you’re entering. Are you looking for a trusted advisor who will keep you top of mind and build a pipeline of future hires? Or do you need a resource to call upon only when there’s an urgent need to fill a role?

When you’re clear about the type of relationship you want, you can ensure that you’re working with the right agency, whether that’s a proactive partner like Hired By Startups or a more transactional service. Ultimately, this clarity will lead to better collaboration and, most importantly, better hiring outcomes for your startup.

‍