Recruiter compensation plans

I am in the process of evaluating our compensation structure to ensure that we are competitive with other firms and I would really appreciate some feedback to ensure that we're on the right track!

In the past, we have offered a draw with a tiered commission program (30% on the first 100k generated; 40% up to 200k; 50% on anything over 200k). Thoughts? I interviewed a Senior Recruiter candidate last week who said that he wouldn't consider anything less than 50% of all revenues that he generated.

It's been a while since our plan was reviewed so I'd like to know how your firm's are structuring comp packages. I'm feeling like we might be a bit out of touch?

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Permalink Reply by pam claughton on May 11, 2009 at 5:06pm

The plan you mentioned would work for a brand new recruiter, but in all honesty, I've never seen as low as 30%. At the agency where I worked for many years, the newest recruiters started at 35%, then went to 40 and then to 45%. In their second year, they had chance for 50%. Recruiters with more than 5 years experience always started at 50%, so I can understand your senior recruiter not considering anything less. Seniority makes a big difference as you don't have to spend the time with those people as you would with a more junior person. Plus the reality is with the internet and other contacts, it's not difficult for a senior recruiter to go on their own and make 100%. For that reason, I've seen senior recruiters start at 50% and go as high as 70-80% depending on their volume and seniority.

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Permalink Reply by Allison Sherwood on May 11, 2009 at 5:19pm

Wow Pam---thanks so much for your feedback! Are the figures that you gave based on a 100% commission driven environment or do you offer any type of a base salary on top of that? Thanks again for your willingness to share.

pam claughton said:

The plan you mentioned would work for a brand new recruiter, but in all honesty, I've never seen as low as 30%. At the agency where I worked for many years, the newest recruiters started at 35%, then went to 40 and then to 45%. In their second year, they had chance for 50%. Recruiters with more than 5 years experience always started at 50%, so I can understand your senior recruiter not considering anything less. Seniority makes a big difference as you don't have to spend the time with those people as you would with a more junior person. Plus the reality is with the internet and other contacts, it's not difficult for a senior recruiter to go on their own and make 100%. For that reason, I've seen senior recruiters start at 50% and go as high as 70-80% depending on their volume and seniority.