This week I’ve been floating around a Greek swimming pool in my speedos. Speedos are of course the only choice for the young, European sophisticate. Any man in boardshorts shouldn’t be trusted, add a rash vest, and unless they’re about to “hang ten” at Mavericks, stick them on the sex offenders register immediately. It’s been a strange old week so far. I’ve almost punched several people in relation to a stolen inflatable unicorn, and stripped stark-boll*ck-naked to win a “family” games night. In my defence, underwear scored extra and I assumed others would follow suit.
This isn’t a blog about togs however, much to your collective frustration ladies. Instead, as I bob around the pool, cooking myself like glazed, tattooed ham, I got thinking about the art of the candidate “float”. This was in part due to a slack message I received from my wonderful colleague Claudia. It read:
“@sean what’s the chances you can meet a candidate over there haha?
I just met her via Teams, she’s f*ckin good.
She’s in a process already so I need to move quick, could we have a call I just want to chat about where we could potentially put her, even if you have some internal clients I could float her to? She’s a real 10/10 very very good”
Unfortunately, by the time the message arrived, I was already bathing in the Aegean. However, it did get me thinking on the “float”. For the non-recruiters who are crazy enough to read this, a float is calling a company (or sadly and more commonly, emailing a company), to highlight a candidate who might be right for their business. As opposed to working to a vacancy, a float approaches from the other entrance. A speculative approach, hoping to strike at the right time or introducing a candidate who is so good that a client couldn’t let them pass by. The float hasn’t filled more roles than working to an actual vacancy, but it’s not far off.
Floats are not universal at all. Some recruitment desks rely mostly on them. Others, hardly ever use them. And this is something that doesn’t get the consideration it deserves when agencies are looking to hire recruiters. Let me explain.
In the world of agency rec to rec, the float rules supreme- especially in buoyant markets. Yes, clients brief us on roles, but most of our placements aren’t made this way. Instead, we kill ourselves trying to find good recruiters. We then consult with them to establish where they would fit best, and we then float them (with permission of course) to appropriate firms. We care not if a firm has a vacancy. In good times, there is always room for another big biller. Sitting next to Claudia and recruiting internal recruiters could seem like the exact same discipline to the layman. Truth is, it couldn’t be more different. Floating candidates into Heads of Talent Acquisition is about as much use as Anne Frank’s drumkit. HR teams (which is where internal recruiters are sadly forced to sit) are driven by vacancy and headcount. If there isn’t headcount, there is no placement to be had. Recruiting internal recruiters isn’t the only discipline that suffers with this of course. Many business support, finance, and HR roles also do, plus countless others.
As a rule, for a sector to be open to floats, the candidates either need to he revenue generating, or work in a discipline so niche that good people need to be snapped up immediately. This is why we sales people, lawyers, and tech folk floated around the place. If I look at what Claudia does, it is closer to placing lawyers than it is placing internal recruiters. Both her and legal recruiters spend their days dealing with self-entitled knob-heads. I’m joking of course….
So perhaps when hiring into your team, as recruiters from your own discipline become increasingly scarce, it’s worth considering the style of recruitment experience you need. Eithers it’s those who recruit to vacancies, who get meetings, build relationships, and take quality briefs. Or it’s those who can source and engage with candidates, gain loyalty from them, and hustle like a mo-fo.
Anyway, back to the ouzo for me. Next week’s blog is coming to you from Malaysia.
^SW
