Freelance recruiting is a side hustle you don’t hear much about in the personal finance community. The job of a recruiter is to fill open positions for companies. Many small-to-medium sized companies use recruiters to fill positions when it can be difficult to find qualified candidates.
In almost all cases recruiters are paid by the company/client. In this example, the client is Aldi and the candidates are the individuals that we are sending to Aldi to fill potential openings. A small recruiting firm can survive on the fees from two or three great clients, as was the case with my business partner.
My cut of any placements as a freelance recruiter was based on how much of the work I did. For example, if I found a candidate and passed a resume on, my cut of the fee would be around 10%. If I screened a candidate, completed the background screening, and conducted the initial interview then my cut would be closer to 30%.
So if you run the math: a starting salary of $80,000 could result in a recruiting fee of $16,000 at a 20% commission for the recruiting firm. My cut as a freelance recruiter if I found the candidate, completed the background check, and conducted the initial interview would have been $4,800 at a 30% commission.
I can’t speak for all freelance recruiters, but can walk you through my responsibilities. My business partner had several freelance recruiters working for him. Whenever a job opening came in he’d assign it to one of us. That’s when went on the hunt for qualified candidates.