3 Things to Ask a Recruiter Before You Hire a Media Buyer
Zack AllenOctober 30, 20261:31
From a real call with a founder talking to recruiters for the first time.
I recently spoke with a business owner who'd never used a recruiter for a media buyer. When I asked what would be the deciding factor, he said honestly that he had no idea. He'd always hired through Indeed, word of mouth, Fiverr or Upwork.
So I gave him three things to focus on, whoever he ended up working with.
1. How do they prove the candidate can do the work?
A lot of recruiters have good AI screening on resumes, and then hand you a stack of resumes to figure out yourself. That isn't proof.
Ask what they do to show a candidate can actually do the job. We use simulations based on real ad account situations. Whatever the method, there should be evidence of the work, not just a better resume pile.
2. How is the fee structured?
Is it a markup on the salary? If so, they're incentivized to find you someone more expensive. Do you pay the hire directly, or is there a middleman in between for the life of the role?
Understand who's getting paid, how, and what that pushes them to do.
3. What do they do about AI slop?
We see a huge amount of AI-generated applications and answers come through. Ask what's in place to stop that. For us, every simulation and even the English test is AI-guarded.
If a recruiter can't tell you how they separate a real candidate from a polished ChatGPT answer, you'll end up doing that work yourself.
I've done my fair share of Fiverr and Upwork hiring too. That process is miserable, and it's why I built a recruitment firm. Whoever you choose, ask these three questions first.
Transcript
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It sounds like getting this media buyer in place is super important for you. What do you think is going to be the biggest differentiating factor for you?
I have no idea. This is your just my first person I've ever taken a call with as far as a recruiter for media buyers. So, I'm just going to hear them out as well.
Yeah, cool. Can I give you a few things to to focus on?
Sure.
First thing would be how they prove the candidate can do the work. Like a lot of these recruiters that I've seen will give you you know that they'll have really good AI vetting on the resumes. And that's then they hand you a bunch of resumes to figure it out. So, like the simulations we do are are to determine someone can actually do the work. So, I'd make sure you have that. Also, the the structure as you're familiar with like if it's a markup on the salary, if they're incentivized to find you someone more expensive, if you pay them directly or there's a middleman.
Those would be the two main things that I would focus on in in deciding. But, also I think another thing to consider is with how you know we've we've seen so much just AI slop that comes through. And so, some way that they have AI blockage in place. So, like all our all our simulations in the whole like English test, everything is AI guarded.
Mhm.
So, I would ensure that they have something like that in place as well.
All right. Yeah, I'll double-check with them too. Yeah, I know like I said it's just my first time ever looking into it. Usually, if I hire somebody it's through Indeed or from word of mouth or obviously I've done my fair share of Fiverr and Upwork.
I've definitely done my fair share of those too. And that's why I I built this recruitment firm out is cuz that process is pretty miserable. You know.
Yeah, I know. I get you.
