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Does this exist?

I have a friend who is starting an IT staffing firm and asked me if I would like to market it for him. The pay would be a percentage of each person I find who he finds jobs for. So, for instance, if someone was getting paid $50 per hour, and we agreed that I would get 10% of each hour he worked for the life of his/her contract, I would earn $5 per hour.

Then it got me thinking, if my friend needs this service, wouldn`t every staffing firm benefit from a service like this? Staffing firms specialize in finding people. They always have access to 100`s if not thousands of jobs that they can`t always fill.

My question is:
Does a "People Brokerage" exist like this? Would you think staffing firms could and would benefit from this service?

This post is mostly directed to those with experience in this area, but I would like all feedback. MilasMedia11/21/2007 2:08 PM

Comments

  • bcuzzicanbcuzzican subscriber Posts: 0
    MilasMedia,
    If I`m reading your question correctly, your asking if staffing agencies would use a service to help generate business for them.
    I work for a staffing agency. I am the account manager (or business development specialist) for this company. My sole purpose is to generate business for this agency by finding companies willing to use their agency. I work on a small salary and a commision similair to the structure your friends trying to set up. The 10% structure your talking about doesn`t work out in the numbers. I get a 10% fee for direct hire positions based on the candidates yearly salary. So, if said person makes $100,000/yr, my company charges 20% which equals $20,000, I get 10% of that which would be $2000. For contract employees it`s works a little different. We charge 35% above the hourly rate of said candidate. My company, being the candidate is contracted in, has to pay for benifits (health and such), holidays, vacation..etc... So, of that 35%, 18% goes towards that. The remainder, 17%, I get my 10% of on an hourly rate. So a $50/hr person may only bring me a little over $1/hr for each hour he works for the length of the contract. Though it doesn`t seem like much (maybe $40/wk - $160/mo) it adds up the more people that are placed in the companies I find. So, two people with the same rate is $320/mo and so on.
    I guess, to answer your question more directly, most staffing agencies DO in fact have a person like me (one that generates business for them). I don`t think there`s a market out there for you to start generating business for staffing companies (a "people brokerage" as you put it). Every agency I`ve ever dealt with or worked for has had this position in place.
    I hope this has helped you. Good luck!
    Bcuzzican
  • MilasMediaMilasMedia subscriber Posts: 5
    I understand. So they hire people to do that. I guess the staffing companies would rather hire the people to find jobs then to work with an outside vendor to find people jobs. Makes sense since you said your salary is pretty low - thats their only overhead.

    But, Say if I had 5 qualified people, showed up at your companies door (or email this day in age) and offered them up for 10%, your company would gladly say "we could use these people" and I would retain the 10%.

    The only issue I can see is finding the people. But, I was thinking of hiring 1-2 people at $6-7 per hour to find me pre-screened candidates(I would have them do a small questionnaire to pre-screen them) and then submit those people to a staffing agency.

    Of course I would have to hook up with a couple staffing agencies (I already have 2 that are somewhat interested)

    What do you think about that?
  • bcuzzicanbcuzzican subscriber Posts: 0
    Ok, before you find people (candidates) you have to have a company to place them in. Not just a staffing agency but a company for these qualified people. Quite honestly, if you were to try and "sell" candidates to an agency there has to be a need for those people. We wouldn`t just "buy people" from you in hopes for future work. There`s resumes all over the web that we can resource. My company has a very large database of "qualified people". So, you`d need to find out what types of candidates these agencies need and what companies they are looking to place said candidates in. Agencies do not disclose that information so that they do not lose that job (order) to a different agency. Just go to Monster.com or any sites that post job openings. You`ll see genaric postings by agencies just stating what the job entails, not where that actual job is. This is for their protection from someone such as myself. If I look up job postings and see a company name, I know they are looking and I will contact them myself and try to get them to use my agency as well. At that point, I don`t care how many agencies are in the mix. I care about getting the order and sending in the perfect candidate first. Now, with that said, agencies post their contact info. for each job. So, you could try and find people that would fit the order and try to offer them up at a percentage to that agency. You may find it easier to locate listings by the companies themselves (the one`s that don`t use agencies) and submit them at a lower rate then an agency would. They may bite harder if they are looking for a direct hire person at a rate of 10% to you, then 20% to me. Contract wise, (where the agency basically picks up the tab) I don`t think you`d have a strong market place and you would have to pay for that employee`s benifits.
    Now, with hiring someone at $6-7/hr to help you find and qualify potential candidates.....our recruiters get a similar pay structure to mine. They get a smaller salary, the benifits and a commision as well, their structure is a little different but all in all the same.
    Your best bet is to research how a staffing agency works, the in`s & outs you may say, and start up your own. The problems you may face. There are a ton of agencies out there. Some, like mine, are speciality niche types (only focus on one asbect of business), other`s work on any project they can get their hands on. The good thing about a staffing agency is that most companies are starting to realize that it`s cheaper in the long run to hire contract employees for the project they currently have over direct (perminant) hires. Hiring a contract employee, they only have to pay an hourly rate and when the works done so is that contracted employee. Then, the process starts over, and we find that candidate another position at another business.
    Circle of life you may say.
    Now, I`m not trying to discourage you from doing this but, you should know what your up against.
  • cdbartworkcdbartwork subscriber Posts: 11
    Yes, this can be done. You would need to contact a corporation, company etc. speak to someone in HR and present your idea. I work in staffing and am onsite at an engineering firm and they will hire people through the "gate." Usually these are field people but my guess is they might consider for other positions. You should check to see if they have a managed staffing agency on site, if so, you would have to come through as a temp through their onsite agency. Although many companies have a process in place, be aware that not all people follow the process and they will do their own thing. This would allow someone like yourself the opportunity to still be hired in the capacity you mentioned and not have to go through the managed staffing agency.
     
    Hope this helps.
     
    Colleen
  • cdbartworkcdbartwork subscriber Posts: 11
    Joybail:
     
    Glad to be of help and thank you for checking out my site.
     
    Colleen
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