How To Select an RPO Recruitment Agency

Selecting an RPO recruitment agency can be a process. This blog post breaks down the key questions to ask an RPO recruiting company while you are interviewing them as a possible talent acquisition vendor.

Ask About The Delivery Team

It’s critical to uncover the experience of the delivery team to determine how well they understand your environment.

Unfortunately a lot of RPOs will staff their agency with the cheapest labor available instead of the most knowledgeable and experienced.

Asking these pointed questions will help you determine if the RPO has a deep understanding of your space, or is just trying to make profit:

• Describe the experience the delivery team has in [your industry]

• How many years of experience does the delivery team have?

• How many people will be focused on my account?

• Who is going to work with me on a day-to-day basis (ask for the LinkedIn profiles)?

• Does anyone on the delivery team have experience as an internal recruiter?

• Has anyone on the delivery team previously been in a talent acquisition leadership role?

In addition to the questions you should be asking them, it’s important that they - unprompted - ask some questions about you to help them understand if they can truly provide value and positively impact your hiring goals. Look for them to ask you questions about your current talent acquisition process:

• Average time to fill

• Candidates interviewed per placement

• Top hired candidate sources

• Top loss reasons (why you passed on candidates and why candidates pass on you)

Points of Impact

Before you go into the call, start thinking about what point of impact you need the RPO recruiting partner to have. If you already have a robust internal recruitment program, maybe you just need additional recruiting horsepower. But if you’re just getting started, maybe you need a strategic advisor to help shape your talent acquisition function (in addition to the recruiting horsepower).

Here are some additional questions to think about prior to the call:

• Does your internal team have enough bandwidth to manage all active searches after the sourcing stage?

• What weaknesses does your talent acquisition program have?

• What fires are you currently experiencing?

Many times, what makes someone an expert is their ability to solve problems quickly and identify fires before they grow. Be on the lookout to see if the RPO firm you’re speaking with is able to identify some of your fires in the first few conversations you have with them in the sales process. They should be providing guidance and actionable steps to improve before you sign up with them.

Video Deep Dive

For more information on how to select an RPO recruitment agency, please watch the video below:

How SecureVision Can Help

As the #1 rated RPO recruitment firm on G2, SecureVision's recruitment experts have partnered with over 140 VC-backed tech companies, ranging from growth-stage to enterprise clients to recruit talent in every department. For help with your company's hiring needs and optimizing your talent acquisition function, please contact us today.