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Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on November 25, 2012 at 3:15pm

Are you asking what are the pros and cons of hiring virtual staff?

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Permalink Reply by Kalonji Mitchell on November 25, 2012 at 7:51pm

Ryan,

Yes, I am interested on some of the pros and cons of hiring virtual staff. Additionally, some nuances that I would have to consider if I decide to go in that direction.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on November 26, 2012 at 8:40am

Hiring virtual staff can be a challenge. There are many pro's and con's. I will send this to a few people in the community that have this experience. 

Have you tried to take part in a Split Network? We ran a webinar on this very topic last month on Recruiting Blogs. Here is the link: Click Here

You can try FeeTrader who was our partner for this event: Click Here

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Permalink Reply by Jim on November 26, 2012 at 11:23am

If you're looking to participate in a National Recruiting group, I would recommend Top Echelon. Excellent reputation with many recruiters ready to do splits!

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Lee on November 27, 2012 at 1:42am

I'm a home based recruiter and have been for over 4 years in a variety of unique capacities. I know a few others like myself who are all very senior.  I think the Pro and Con are obvious but I'll just list them out anyway.  It's the gorilla in the room nobody wants to talk about right?

Pros:

For the Recruiter -

1. Save $$ on gas, clothes, lunches.  

2. Save time on commuting 2 hours p/day, getting dressed.  

3. Freedom to utilize and self manage own time.  For instance, go to Costco on Tuesday afternoons for an hour when nobody is there.  Get a haircut wednesday morning when the place is empty, etc.

For the Business -

1. Save on office space overhead, printers, equipment, phone, office supplies, etc.

2. No lame accidents or flat tire excuses from employees

3. Use Skype or other electronic communications to stay connected as co-workers

4. Reach your recruiters 24/7 not just during normal business hours.

5. Possible (although not probable) higher performance

Cons:

For Recruiter -

1. Your home is your office.  It can get to you.

2. Time management is a high level skill set most don't do very well

3. You'll find yourself working at night (shoot...its 10:39 PM and I'm writing a recruiting blog post!)

4. Performance may start to slip and you'll also go insane

For the Business -

1. You have to find ways to keep your recruiters motivated and feeling connected

2. Time management is a high level skill even for managers.  Doing this effectively with recruiters is a high level skill

3. Do you know how to pick-em?  The work-at home option isn't good for everyone.  You have to pick the right recruiters.  It's a different animal who will be successful working from home vs. the one who thrives in the structure of your office. Most of the time they themselves won't know which one they are (although they may think that they do).  Different habitats for different species.  One size does not fit all.

4. Considerable risk.

5. You need good tools, ATS, communications technology, regular meetings, tracking, etc. to ensure productivity.

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Permalink Reply by Kalonji Mitchell on November 27, 2012 at 2:24am

Ryan, thanks. I'll have to review your link. Jim, I hadn't consider a split, but it's something to chew on. Joshua, this is the feedback that I was looking for. I know there is a huge push for the workforce to telecommute; however, I do have reservations.... in fact, they were elegantly spelled out in your response. I'll have to do more due diligence.

Has anyone seen it done, successfully?

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Lee on November 27, 2012 at 2:09pm

The beauty in blogs is free input form the people who may know what they're talking about.  The problem, you don't know which ones actually know what they're talking about.  Good luck Ryan.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Lee on November 28, 2012 at 1:52am

If you want to chat, go ahead and email me.  MyRecruiterJosh@yahoo.com

Kalonji Mitchell said:

Ryan, thanks. I'll have to review your link. Jim, I hadn't consider a split, but it's something to chew on. Joshua, this is the feedback that I was looking for. I know there is a huge push for the workforce to telecommute; however, I do have reservations.... in fact, they were elegantly spelled out in your response. I'll have to do more due diligence.

Has anyone seen it done, successfully?

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Albright on November 28, 2012 at 9:49am

Joshua - I love this comment:

Performance may start to slip and you'll also go insane.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Lee on November 28, 2012 at 2:49pm

Glad you liked that.... real life is more interesting than fiction I tell ya!  You should check out the exchange on another blog... something about whether this recruiter should send another candidate when...oh my...his client is ALREADY interviewing ONE!....quite the drama over there on that blog.  You'll get a kick out of it.

Jerry Albright said:

Joshua - I love this comment:

Performance may start to slip and you'll also go insane.

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