EMPLOYER FAQs

What sort of recruiting fee options does ProFound offer?

The cost to you will vary based on several factors including account volume, burden, and lead time for our staff to recruit on your project.  ProFound Staffing is committed to providing quality employees to your company at a competitive price.

ProFound offers three different fee options.

  • Contingency fee agreement
  • Container fee agreement
  • Retainer fee agreement

When ProFound offers a Contingency fee agreement, we work for FREE until we find a suitable candidate for your open position; we make the candidate the offer; and the candidate accepts the job.  We collect a set percentage of the candidate’s annual salary.  This option is good for direct hire, contract or contract-to-hire candidates.

The Container fee agreement is a way to get our exclusive attention to your search.  This is a strategic approach for  employers who have a confidential VIP, senior leadership or difficult positions that need exclusive attention without using multiple recruiting firms in town.  This type of search could take weeks to complete due to the amount of research and time it takes to complete the search.  When the employer chooses a container search, ProFound requires the employer to pay a portion of the fee up-front before the search begins.  This will cover our expenses for the time it takes to research candidates, market the position and provide weekly updates on the progress of the search.  Our fee agreement outlines the container fee details and how we work in this search.

Our last option is called a Retainer fee agreement.  Again, this is another option to get our exclusive attention to your search.  Setting up a retainer with ProFound could be a cost effective option for employers who do not have a talent acquisition department and would like to have a reliable staffing firm available with on-going talent to fulfill their open needs.  This is a strategic approach for employers who need to hire five or more resources throughout the year on an on-going basis and watch their budget.  This option is similar to the Container fee agreement but offers a bigger discount by allowing ProFound to be the exclusive staffing firm to fill all the open positions.  ProFound will work with the employer to set up an agreed percentage to be charged on the candidate’s annual salary.  Then we set up a retainer fee agreement which outlines the fee details and how we work in this search.

What fee agreement do you like best?

What is ProFound’s guarantee on their direct hire placements?

ProFound has always built our business on long-term relationships.  We offer a 1-year guarantee on each direct hire placement that is broken down in three phases (Day 1-30, Day 31-90 and Day 181-365) throughout the year.  Details are outlined on our service agreement.

Does ProFound offer a conversion schedule on contractors?

Yes, ProFound offers a conversion schedule on our contractors.   Our conversion schedule is calculated to allow us to recoup our direct hire fee after 1,040 hours.

What percent does ProFound charge on direct hire and contractor placements?

Depending on today’s competitive market, ProFound charges up to 20% of the industry standard mark up for direct hire placements and up to 50% per hour for contractors which also covers FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers compensation, and general liability insurance.

Is ProFound flexible on their fee agreements?

ProFound can be flexible when it makes sense.  Especially, if the employer anticipates hiring needs of 10 or more people in a year and they offer us exclusivity to fill their positions. In that case, the employer may want to look at the retainer search option.

ProFound can also get creative on our payment terms to help spread out the payments for your company.  Ask us more about how we can help!

How long will it take to have an employee in our company?

The time frame to find a suitable candidate will depend on our working relationship.  ProFound works with a sense of urgency.  We can make this process flow and work fast if you are willing to give us immediate feedback on resume submittals, interviews and taking the candidate to the next step.

What is ProFound’s interview process?

It’s important to ProFound to qualify candidates for our employers’ positions.  Our goal is to submit only three or four qualified candidates per job requisition.

Our interview process consists of a mini interview and a qualifying interview going over the candidate’s resume in detail.  We usually talk to each candidate for up to two hours before we submit them to you.  ProFound wants to make sure the candidate is comfortable with the job’s requirements and they feel it’s a good fit for them. We always get the candidate’s permission to submit their resume to the client.  Plus, we always follow up with the candidate to give them closure on the job opportunity.  So feedback from the employer is important on each search.  Ask us more questions about our interview process!

How does ProFound present candidates?

ProFound submits not only the candidate’s resume to the client, we also submit a snapshot or marketing summary which outlines the following information on the candidate:

  • qualifications and how they have relevant experience to your open position;
  • candidate’s strengths;
  • what’s important to the candidate in their next career move;
  • when the candidate is available; and
  • how much they cost.

Would ProFound be open to giving the candidate a test or assessment to evaluate their technical skills?

Yes, ProFound regularly has candidates complete a variety of tests or assessments that the employer provides.  Share your test or assessment and we will have the candidate complete it upon submittal.

Does ProFound work with vendor management companies?

Yes, ProFound can work with your VMS.  Since every search is a new search with us – we typically do not submit candidates at rocket speed like many other recruiting firms that submit resumes within two hours of the requisition release.  We actually interview our candidates and put them through our process before we submit to truly qualify them for the position.  We don’t want to waste your time.

Does ProFound work with third-party companies or RPOs on C2C?

No, ProFound does not work with third-party companies or RPOs on C2C that offer a bench of candidates at a reduced fee.  It’s not ProFound’s business model to outsource our work to other companies.

What’s the best way to find out if we are paying enough for our position?

Just call and ask us.  The job market is extremely competitive in technology. Be prepared to pay for talent if you want the best.   Salaries and hourly rates vary between industries and candidates.

How does ProFound market our positions?

ProFound is active in social media.  We use ProFound’s website, AI research, job boards, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a number of other resources to help us spread the word about your open position.  Marketing your position is a major expense for ProFound.

Does ProFound have any sample questions we should ask the candidate in our interview?

Yes, we can provide you a list of questions to help you conduct an interview.

Does ProFound check references on candidates?

Yes, ProFound asks the candidate to provide three to four professional references in the event they are a finalist in the interview process.  We typically do not check references until we know the employer and candidate are seriously interested in each other.  Candidates tend to keep their list of references close to the vest because they do not want a lot of people calling their references unless the employer is serious.  We have a standard list of questions we ask the reference so we have consistency with each reference employer.

Does ProFound perform background checks and drug screening on candidates?

Yes, ProFound will run the required (7 or 10 year) cafeteria-style background check (i.e., criminal state/federal, credit, education verification, past employment verification or civil) along with a non-DOT drug screening on each candidate that serves as a contractor at our client site.  Each contractor will be required to sign authorization forms before we check their references.

ProFound recommends the employer to run their own background check and drug screening when the candidate is a direct-hire candidate.

Does ProFound offer payroll and/or payrolling services for Contractors?

Yes. ProFound engages the administrative back-office services of Signature Staff Resources (SSR) http://www.signaturebackoffice.com/client-center/ to serve as the administrative employer and process the W2 Contractor’s payroll.

ProFound can also help you when you identify a contractor and need someone to payroll the candidate for you.  Using SSR, we charge a competitive rate to cover FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers’ compensation, general liability and up-charge for administrative time and effort.

Does ProFound offer benefits to the contractors?

ProFound is able to offer our employers competitive rates because we are not required to offer contractor benefits since, we have less than 50 people working for our company. However, SSR offers healthcare for W2 Contractor should they elect. Healthcare insurance is offered at 100% paid by the W2 Contractor.

How does ProFound verify that the candidate has the proof of the right to work in the United States?

During the interview process, we ask the candidate if they have the proof of the right to work in the United States.  If the candidate is hired as a ProFound contractor, we have the candidate complete an I-9 Form and we verify the information on www.uscis.gov/e-verify.

Does ProFound sponsor H1-B visa candidates?

No, ProFound does not sponsor H1-B Visa Candidates.  However, ProFound will work H1-B Visa Candidates if the Employer is open to direct hire H1-B Visa candidates.

How does ProFound on-board new contractors?

ProFound meets each new contractor at the employer site on the day they start to complete and collect all new-hire paperwork.  We usually meet the contractor 30 minutes before they meet with their hiring manager and team to go over any questions regarding their payroll process and timesheet questions.

How often are contractors paid?

Payroll Week: Sunday to Saturday

Timesheet Due: Monday at 10:00 a.m.

Paycheck: Friday each week