SIX Great Reasons to Use a Recruitment Agency When Hiring Staff!

I am obviously a recruiter and of course I would be telling you to use a recruitment agency – but here’s my best six reasons to use a recruitment agency when hiring your next staff member (but of course you have stick to one of the best ones!)……

1. Don’t waste your advertising time and dollar – Advertising is not as easy as it seems. There is an art to writing up the right advertisement and to target the right talent. A lot of mistakes are made by employers who simply throw up a never ending job description as a way of attracting top talent. Really…….. are they serious? Try finding the organisation’s selling points in the advert – and who wants to read through all of that anyway? The majority of candidates either go straight to the section on what is in it for them., don’t ready past the job title or have no idea they applied given they have their account set up on the job board’s auto pilot mode. Even if you have the job right then it doesn’t automatically mean that the best available candidates are going to see it. There are hundreds of job boards and industry specific publications or websites as well as understanding the multiple categories and sub categories within these online advertising black holes!!! The good recruiters understand these pitfalls and can have your job placed in the right way and in the right place. Without their expertise you could be wasting your advertising and marketing dollar as well as sitting back and waiting for that perfect candidate that never applies.

2. Increasing the candidate pool – Recruiters are known to place approximately 80% of their placements with a candidate from their existing talent pool. Good recruiters don’t simply “wack up an ad” – Employers with little or no Recruitment experience can do this, albeit a lot of the time not very well. But even with a good advertising search, there is a large part of the talent pool not actively looking at job boards. Recruiters are constantly busy making connections and networking their talent who are in the “passive” market. They are those candidates who are currently employed not having the time to look themselves, and would like their recruiter to let them know “if there is ever a job like that one that ever becomes available”. Make sure the search for your new employee is coming from a broad based search utilising your recruiter’s database and network and not just the best of the small group that happen to find an advert by pot luck.

3. The positions vacant are pre-qualified before going to market. It is not just a one-way street and every good recruiter will know their employer and the employer will trust the advice of their recruiter. Most new vacancies start with an interrogation of the job role as it is a good opportunity to possibly redesign the position. It might also be an opportunity to discuss why perhaps the role has not worked out with several different candidates, a continual problem within the job responsibilities itself. Successful recruiters usually walk away with realistic expectations of the employer and a clear defined job description.

4. Recruiters will always interview and gain a good understanding of what a candidate is really looking for in a new job and employer………. well the good ones will! Recruiters usually get to know their candidates and gain a better understanding of their drivers, strengths, weaknesses, their work history and reasons for changes over their career. It can sometimes just be down to a recruiter “gut feel” about the candidate – instincts that are developed over time with extensive experience. Salary expectations is another issue a good recruiter will manage with a prospective employee. This conversation is sometimes difficult to have between and employee/employer – an employer trying to cut costs for the firm while an employee trying to beat up their salary. There is an element of trust with the recruiter that makes this conversation more realistic.

5. Speed and Agility: Sometime a new hire is required immediately which is something recruiters are good at – they have a broad range of candidates already in their database and have the ability to act quickly. They normally have an active list of candidates who are able to move at a moment’s notice. They also have a pool of temporary candidates who may be able to step into the role and offer cover while the permanent talent search is being conducted.

6. Getting it Right the First Time: One of the best reasons for using a recruiter is that their work is guaranteed. Guarantees can range from the standard industry three-month period out to six months which lines up more and more with the standard probationary period. Recruiters hate doing a refill and let’s face it, no one likes working for free, so they are making a concerted effort to ensure they get it right the first time with the best candidate possible. Using a recruiter will save you time and money not having to run the process yourself but also safe guards against making a wrong hire. Making a wrong hiring decision costs an organisation dearly.

Topics: Employment