Should I Use an Insurance Recruiter to Make Critical Year-End Hires?

“I work in talent acquisition within the insurance industry. We have had job openings that we’ve been unable to fill for months, and I’m getting worried with the end of the year coming up. When is it time to reach out to a recruiting firm?”

Engaging a recruiting firm can be a beneficial step when you’re struggling to fill job openings, especially in Q4. We all know staffing isn’t the only thing on an insurance organization’s plate between October and December. Enlisting an insurance recruiter for urgent, time-sensitive hiring needs lets you concentrate on other business matters knowing you have a partner focusing 100% of their time in their field of expertise.

Other examples of when it’s time to ask for a recruiter’s help include:

1. You’ve Exhausted Internal Efforts. If your internal talent acquisition team has been actively searching for candidates and utilizing various recruitment strategies for an extended period without success, it’s time to get external help. The right recruiter brings insight, fresh ideas, and an infusion of resources to your search.
2. You Desire a Diverse Candidate Pool. If you’re aiming to improve diversity within your workforce, recruiting firms can help you with strategies to attract a more diverse range of candidates. Choose a search firm that works with many different types of insurance organizations, has a broad geographic reach, and utilizes multiple sourcing strategies.
3. You Need to Create Capacity. With a sudden surge of hiring needs due to business growth or expansion, a recruiting firm creates capacity for your hiring teams, especially in terms of candidate sourcing, screening, and management. Look for a recruiter that offers permanent placement and contract staffing services so they can work on your full-time, permanent hires as well as seasonal and temp positions.
4. You Have Specialized Job Openings. In industries like insurance, some roles may require specific skills, certifications, or experience that are hard to find. If the positions you’re hiring for are particularly specialized, a recruiting firm with insurance expertise has market knowledge, an existing candidate database, referral networks, and the ability to help identify and attract passive recruits.
5. You Need to Meet Year-End Deadlines. It’s never too late to ask a recruiter to jump into a project. In many respects November and December are the best times to recruit insurance professionals. Not only can you still complete your interview and hiring process while working around holidays and year-end activities, but the candidates sourced during this recruiting push build an excellent talent pipeline for 2024 hires.
6. You Need Budget Flexibility. Using a recruiting firm can be cost-effective in terms of time and effort saved, but we all know it comes with a price tag that may feel like an expense you didn’t necessarily budget for. A good recruiting partner will offer pricing and payment options that make it easy to move the chess pieces around to fit your financial needs.

Once you’ve weighed these factors, if you find that your internal efforts have not been yielding results and you’re facing challenges filling positions, it’s a good time to explore partnering with a recruiting firm. Be sure to research and choose a firm that specializes in insurance and has a solid track record of successful placements. Communication with the firm about your needs, expectations, and timelines is crucial for a successful partnership.