1. What kinds of services does B/E provide?

B/E provides executive search, local, regional and national staffing, contract employment and human resource consulting, primarily in the areas of sales and marketing search. At executive levels we identify any high ranking position (i.e., CEO, CIO, CFO, General Manager). Since 2001, we also recruit heavily in Procurement/Purchasing/Materials/ Production Inventory Control / Logistics / Distribution and Supply Chain.

2. How do you structure your fees?

There are three ways we structure relationships with client companies:
• Contingency search. The standard of the staffing industry, we are paid a fee equal to 30% of an employee's first year starting salary.
• Retained search. We require an engagement fee equal to 1/3 the estimated total fee to begin research. Upon completing the short list we bill our client the second 'third' of our estimated fee, with the final installment due and payable upon successful completion of the search.
• Co-Venture Partnership. Unique to B/E, Co-Venture features a blend of both contingency (75%) and retained (25%) search to provide an enhanced level of service (like retained search) at a lower aggregate fee payout (25% of starting salary, compared to 30% on Contingency)

3. What types of positions does B/E recruit for?

While we function primarily in recruiting sales and marketing people, we are also the gateway to a wide array of professionals representing a myriad of talent, including manufacturing management, data processing/software engineering, healthcare, engineering and various middle and upper management personnel through our affiliation with NPA. Sales and Marketing are still our primary focus, however, Materials, Purchasing and Supply Chain are a growing area of our practice.

4. Our firm currently utilizes 3-4 staffing firms to meet our recruiting needs. Why should we consider using B/E?

Utilization of B/E will negate the need for multiple sources by our client, since we have over 380 of the top recruiting firms in the world as our strategic partners. By providing relationship management services and coordinating your search(es) you have the benefit of one relationship manager with a sole point-of-contact, but the reach of over 380 offices and over 1000 recruiters pooling their resources to assure you of seeing the exact pool of candidates your position requires.

5. Do you have a guarantee? If so, what is it?

On contingency, B/E has a standard 30 day unconditional guarantee. In Co-Venture partnerships we extend the guarantee to a prorated 60 day guarantee with the first 30 days unconditionally guaranteed. B/E will be happy to do extended guarantees, but like many product manufacturing companies, we increase fees proportionate to the length of the guarantee period.

6. What do you classify as B/E's defining 'advantage' as a staffing resource?

In a word--commitment. Too often, the relationship between client company and staffing service is one of limited to no commitment from either side. This produces a 'buyer-vendor' level of relationship where limited information is shared, multiple 'vendors' are utilized to achieve a desired goal and the client company often pays the premium price-per-hire. B/E has structured
its solution to create a higher level of commitment to your search as a strategic partnership to a common goal. Utilizing every known tool as well as an extensive network of allied recruiting and research associates, B/E provides a comprehensive and 'proper' search for its client firms.

7. What is your process for finding our company candidates?

It's a 4 step process: Identification, recognition, qualification and attraction.
Many companies mistake the simple identification process as the value a search firm provides. B/E has long seen our value-add in the recognition of the 'fit', the qualification of candidate strengths, weaknesses, desires and goals as they relate to the position considered and finally, the attraction of the preferred candidate through offer to acceptance. We utilize a variety of standard and non-standard processes to identify our long list of candidates. However, a volume of resume paper is not our goal. Finding the 'fit' is our true value to our clients.

8. Why do fees among staffing services vary so greatly?

The staffing industry is exactly like every other industry. Just as there are many makes, models and price ranges of automobiles to select from, there are many philosophies in staffing. Some firms work from a strict volume perception, making fees variable to achieve that volume. Other firms simply don't place a high value on their time. B/E has worked hard to provide the same level of service as the highest fee retained search firm at competitive fee structures and with the advent of the Co-Venture program, even at reduced fees, however, we'll never be the cheapest resource. We stress value and return-on-investment over price. Recognizing a bad hire is our client's highest cost mistake, our fees reflect our attention to quality over quantity.

9. How long does your process take to fill an open position from start to finish?

That is a difficult question. Short answer--that depends. It depends on the nature of the client, the number of qualified candidates in the labor pool, the commitment of the client to pay what it takes to attract the qualified candidate and the degree of difficulty in sourcing this individual in the first place. Typical Co-Venture searches can be completed within 3-6 weeks. Contingency searches vary wildly from 2 weeks to 3 months. This is usually based on our client's scheduling and hiring process, however. It rarely takes over 6 weeks to provide a short list of qualified, pre-screened candidates for interview. The fact is, recruiting is still more research and art than science.

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