Preparing to make your next wave of hires? If you find that you’re already overwhelmed, acknowledging that you need external help is an important first step. Hiring the right recruitment agency is another challenge entirely.
Recruitment agencies come in many varieties and specialities, and often serve different functions. While many agencies may specialize in quick, temporary staffing, others will focus on headhunting C-suite executives.
Much like hiring the wrong employee, hiring the wrong recruitment agency might cause you to miss out on top talent or make the wrong hire. When searching for the right recruitment agency, there are six qualities every strong agency should have. Here's how to find a good recruitment agency.
They embrace technology
Although there are plenty of recruitment methods, programs, and techniques that recruiting agencies can use to improve and expedite the hiring process, there are many firms that revert back to crude systems and manual processes—whether it be spreadsheets, cold calls, or other outdated methods.
Choose a recruitment agency that harnesses technology to create a positive experience for both the employer and the candidate. This will result in a more efficient hiring process, transparency throughout the experience, and quicker hires.
They have access to a wide network
Make no mistake about it—recruitment agencies frequently scour job boards and social media networks to find top candidates. In fact, 87% of recruiters have success on LinkedIn alone.
Most professional recruitment agencies, however, also lean on their top employees’ own personal networks to find suitable candidates for their clients. While this practice can often yield results, it limits the pool of talent to only candidates that the agency knows.
Rather, look for a recruitment agency that has built an open network of industry professionals and experts. This will allow you to tap into a much wider talent pool and offer access to more high-quality candidates.
They advance your employer brand
In recruiting, finding top candidates is only one piece of the puzzle. Even after all of the screening, interviewing, and scheduling, the agency still must position your brand as an attractive employment opportunity and build trust with the candidate.
This means that you’re going to want to partner with a recruitment agency that fully understands your employee value proposition and your business’s top selling points. Additionally, the recruitment agency needs to be able to effectively communicate and represent your employer brand to candidates.
Don’t underestimate the positive impact of showcasing your brand in its best light. 80% of recruiters say that branding affects hiring significantly. If a recruitment agency doesn’t have the ability to advance your brand and amplify your employee value proposition to candidates, there’s likely a better option.
They become an extension of your team
Of course, your end goal in hiring the services of a recruitment agency is to acquire the best candidates for your organization. Despite the agency’s collective experience and skill set, this is only made possible when recruiters invest in the process and become an extension of your team.
At the front end of the hiring process, this means sitting down with you and your team, offering a professional overview of the market and compensation for the type of position, and helping you flesh out the skills and qualifications for the role you need filled.
During the hiring process itself, good recruiting agencies make the hiring experience as painless and hassle-free as possible for you and your organization. A good recruitment agency will handle all of the searching, communicating, screening, and preliminary interviewing on your behalf, and will even coordinate with you and your schedule in planning final interviews. In short, look for a recruitment agency that will take recruitment completely off your hands.
They understand the talent you’re looking for
When in pursuit of the best candidates, it’s important that your recruiting agency possesses a deep understanding of not only the type of hire you’re looking to make, but your company and industry as a whole.
Partnering with a recruitment agency that specializes in your industry can pay dividends in a few different areas:
- Deep knowledge of industry language, positions, and skill sets
- Ability to assign greater weight to key skills and qualifications
- Understanding of industry and company hiring cycles
- Familiarity with companies and candidates
- Existing relationships with active and passive job seekers
They’re agile and creative
Hiring is both expensive and time consuming—a damaging combination for many businesses. The average cost per hire is $4,129 and your company may very well lose even more money the longer a position is left open, meaning time is of the essence.
What’s more is that the average job opening takes 42 days to fill. If you’re in desperate need of a great hire but don’t have the luxury of time, you’re going to need help from a recruitment agency that has quick and creative solutions—ones that help you conserve time and money without jeopardizing the potential of making the best possible hire in the process.
A recruitment agency with plenty of experience—not only in recruiting but also within your industry—will be able to navigate the market quickly and find you top candidates during a time sensitive hiring process.
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