Perhaps at one time or another you’ve considered using a recruiter to help you with a difficult or timely hire. Perhaps, too, after reviewing their fees you decided to conduct the search on your own. Understandable — but did you factor in all the elements involved? A recruiter can do a lot more than helping you find possible candidates. They can make the difference between making a satisfactory hire and making a great one.

In this episode, Gail welcomes back to the podcast Ken Roberts, principal with Interior Talent based in Orlando, Florida. Interior Talent specializes in talent recruitment and retention for firms in the architecture, interior design, engineering, retail and manufacturing industries nationwide. The firm has been serving those industries for 21 years.

Ken said he and the team at Interior Talent think of themselves as “career matchmakers.” They help clients find the best candidates for their firm and candidates to find the best fit for their career plans. He pointed out that for most employers conducting their own search, the process can take up to six months. Their firm usually can fill a position in one to two months.

Ken explained that a recruiter not only can save employers time — time they can better devote to growing their business — but they have industry knowledge and contacts that give them access to candidates who might be a great fit but who are not responding to job postings. They also can help with other aspects of hiring, such as conducting skills assessments, onboarding and retaining employees.

Ken acknowledged that a recruiter is not for everyone. He said, in general, they are best called upon to fill more senior-level positions and in firms with five or more employees. But, he said, clients need to be ready to make the commitment to work with the recruiter. They need to devote time to the process and communicate responsively.

In the second half of their conversation, Gail and Ken talked about succession planning. In particular they discussed what’s involved in identifying and, if necessary, recruiting the right leadership to take over the firm to ensure its future success. Leadership goes beyond competency, Ken pointed out. What makes someone a great designer does not necessarily make them a great leader. In selecting someone to lead the firm, clients need to have a good understanding of where they want to take the company.

For more insights, listen to the entire podcast.

If you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full shownotes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s11e1-shownotes

Mentioned in This Podcast

You can find more information about Ken and Interior Talent on the firm’s website at interiortalent.com.

To listen to Ken’s previous appearance on the Creative Genius Podcast, in which he talked about hiring and retaining employees, listen here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSf2gEe70zM&pp=ygUQcGVhcmwgY29sbGVjdGl2ZQ%3D%3D

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors.

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Ken, welcome to the Creative Genius podcast. We're glad to have you here with us. And for those of you that don't know Ken Roberts, I'm going to have him share his story. How did he get into being an executive recruiter? Gail, so great to see you. I love spending time with you. So thanks so much for inviting me to be part of this. My pleasure. I know your listeners will be always hopefully get some more exciting stuff like that. You always like to share, but

A little bit about me. Well, I am one of the principals of Interior Talent. We are an international recruitment company based in Florida, but we nationwide and 21 years. And we got into the business. My partner happens to be my wife and she actually started the business. I came on about a year later because I had a lot of experience in the recruiting world, but more recruiting from my team. I managed about 500 employees in the West.