What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I want your opinions please.

I have worked for my very wealthy employers for over 6 years. They have a large, fully staffed home.

Over the years they have needed to fill various domestic positions. They have used many of the top agencies to no avail. A few years ago when they were seeking a weekend nanny, my boss asked if I knew anyone through my nanny network. I said I will try and find someone. Through various online posting, I found an AMAZING weekend nanny.

I was asked again, and again to try find staff for my employer after agencies didn't work.
I have become VERY good at screening resumes, phone interviews, screening in person interviews. I am a magnificent recruiter. My boss has told all her friends, and some have come and asked for help.

For my employer, I have found 5 excellent employees that have worked out well.

I always get a "thanks" for my help, but never anything else.

I know these top agencies my employers used to use charged at least 15% of a new hires first Years salary. But they produced nothing for my boss. I did!

I have probably saved my employer at least $50,000 in agency fees. My friends say I should at least get a little cash bonus for all my work. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I think you are crazy and good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

Are you recruiting while on the job or on your own time? I think you should be recruiting on the job and not ask anything additional.

[Anonymous]

I totally see your side of this in the logical sense, but it sounds like it was one of your job duties to me.

Agencies request pay because they are usually held liable if someone turned out to be a thief, kidnapper or pedophile while you have zero assumed responsibility if things go South.

[Anonymous]

Then start charging.

The next time someone asks you to "help" them say that you'd be happy to, but it's actually become more of a recruiting role, not just passing info along to your friends. Then have a fee structure ready. Make it enough to be of value to you, and reasonable enough to seem like a great deal to the potential client. That's how you start to build a business line.

For instance, figure out the amount of time it would take you to do a search on their behalf, screen, interview, etc... Then use your overtime rate as a starting point and multiply that by the number of hours you think it would require. That will give you at least a starting point to think about fees.

If I'm the potential client, I'll then want to know if you offer the other things agencies do - full background checks, reference checks, guarantee of the person such that if they don't work out in the first 90 days (or six months or whatever) that you'll rerun the search for them free of charge, assurances that you're not being paid by applicants in any way, etc...

There's probably much more that you should think about also, but as a pp said - if you take this on as a more formal arrangement it carried with it expectations and liabilities that you should think through carefully.

[Anonymous]

I agree with most of what has been said here.

If you are doing this "on the clock," for your employers, it would be nice of them to reward you, but you are being paid for that time. More money is double-dipping.

If you have to do it after hours (as in, you have no time while on the clock, not that you do it at home because you prefer to), then you should ask for compensation.

Doing this for their friends is a whole different issue, and I would ask to charge for that. If you do charge however, you will need to be careful to do your referral work in such a way that you can clearly separate it from your regular job.