Whether you’re looking for new staff or are thinking about changing your career, read this article and find out the benefits of working with a recruitment agency.
Why Use A Recruitment Agency To Find A Job?
If you know how a recruitment agency makes their money, you will know that recruiters work on behalf of the company looking for staff, not for the person seeking employment. Does this mean that candidates can’t benefit from working with a recruitment agency to find a job? No! You can still benefit, but a job seeker will need to put in some work themselves in order to get the most from a recruitment agency.
A job consultant will always be on the lookout for people with the right skills, and could open some useful doors for you to some opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible to you.
Advantages Of Using A Recruitment Service To Find Work
So, if you are a candidate who is looking for a job, what are the benefits to you of using a recruitment agency?
- Agencies are free for job seekers to use
- Recruiters have a large network of clients who are looking for staff that they give you access to
- Some job vacancies will only be available through a recruitment agency
- There are recruiters who specialize in each industry, like Engineer Rec
- A lot of agencies also offer tools to help you become more employable, such as CV writing
The relationship doesn’t have to be completely one-sided and to get the most out of the process, the job seeker will need to put in some work themselves with their recruitment agency.
How Can Candidates Reap The Benefits Of A Recruitment Agency?
Recruitment agencies can be a big advantage for job seekers, but what to the candidates need to do in order to make sure that working with an agency is worth it for them?
Developing an effective relationship with a recruitment agency is the most important factor for any candidate or client when it comes to the recruitment agency process.
Working closely with the right recruitment agency is important, whether you’re the client or the candidate. Choose an agency that will take the time to assess your skills, experiences, characteristics, and circumstances, in order to be able to effectively match the right company with the right candidate together. This adds a lot of value to the whole process.
Should Graduates Use A Recruitment Agency?
Although many new university leavers think that employment services are only of use to people who have a bit more on their CV, but in fact, many recruiters are always interested in making links with new talent.
As someone who is inexperienced in looking for jobs, the tasking of finding the right job can be tough. There’s no better way to increase the odds than by working with someone who understands the graduate job market, like a recruiter.
It’s important to make sure that you get into contact with the right recruitment agency, but a lot of recruitment firms do provide a service that will greatly increase your chances of securing your first graduate job.
As well as putting candidates forward for relevant job roles, recruitment agencies will also commonly offer more guidance to help a new graduate become more employable in the real world. This help could include CV writing tips or interview tips to help you make the right impression.
As recruitment agencies already have a pool of qualified candidates and the resources to attract more candidates, agency recruitment is usually quicker than recruiting in-house.
Regardless of the circumstances, and whether or not they have immediate vacancies, recruiters can help graduates to market themselves better in a competitive job market.
Why Use A Recruitment Agency To Find Staff?
Hiring can be a time-consuming process, and it can be expensive too, even if the process goes smoothly.
What happens if hiring doesn’t go quite to plan, or you as an employer are forced to take on the cost of hiring the wrong candidate?
Why Companies Use Recruitment Agencies?
There are a number of different reasons why an employer might decide to outsource their hiring process to a recruitment agency, rather than manage the process internally. The main benefits that a recruitment agency provide to a business include:
- Market knowledge
- A wider candidate reach
- Recruitment experience
- Reduction in the time of hire
- Lower risk of a bad hire
As businesses are often lacking the time, resources, and expertise to recruit effectively, using a recruitment agency is an attractive proposition. With most things, though, money is usually the deciding factor, but do agencies not compare well when it comes to considering the cost?
Are Recruitment Agencies Cheaper Than In-House Recruitment?
One reason why employers might decide to choose to carry out their own candidate search is that, on paper, it seems cheaper than outsourcing to an external company. But are they any hidden costs to managing the recruitment process internally?
While the fee for using a recruitment agency might be larger than the initial in-house spend, unforeseen costs can very quickly start to add up, which often makes it more expensive than using a recruitment agency.
The biggest advantage of using a recruitment agency, rather than in-house recruitment, is the time and money that your company can save by cutting out having to advertise job voles, vet candidates, shortlist candidates, and interview the shortlist.
Whether you can save the time taken from others in order to assess candidates’ applications, or cut down the amount of time that a job role stays unstaffed, time is not on the side of an actively recruiting employer.
How Do Recruitment Agencies Reduce Time And Costs?
As recruitment agencies already have a pool of qualified candidates and the resources to attract even more, recruiting through an agency is usually much quicker than recruiting entirely in-house. They also allow your managers and other hiring staff to focus on their own jobs, rather than finding time to hire people, which can help you to maintain higher levels of productivity in your workplace.
Additionally, there’s also no guarantee that a hiring campaign will find the right candidates on the first attempt. This could end up meaning that you need to repeat the process numerous times, and running up even more costs, as you try to find the right person. Recruiters are experts in what they do, and they can minimize this risk for you, as well as that reducing the risk of hiring the wrong person.
Why And When To Use Headhunters
Headhunting recruitment firms specialize in attracting candidates who are otherwise hard to find, usually for high-end or very highly-skilled positions.
When To Use A Headhunter
Are you trying to recruit for a more senior or better-paid role?
Sometimes referred to as an executive search, headhunting is often used by an employer who is looking for a very specific individual for a specific job in their organization. This will often involve having to approach passive job seekers who fit very narrow criteria.
A headhunter will usually have a much more intensive process to attract talent than a traditional recruitment agency will, and usually have a wider pool of resources and knowledge to call on to help them find the exact right person for the job you need to fill.
What Are The Benefits Of Using A Headhunter?
Headhunters operate a little bit differently from the rest of the recruitment world, with much more mysterious techniques to find the exact right candidates. Most headhunters work on a retained basis, so they have more incentive than most recruiters to find the right people.
Senior talent who are beginning to get itchy feet in their current role will always be of great interest to a headhunter, especially if getting them on board could earn them a hefty commission.
One of the big advantages of deciding to work with a headhunter is their contact book. Headhunters are known for having a strong list of contacts, and the chances are, they already have someone in mind who would be perfect for you before they have even heard all the intricate details of the role you need to fill.
Headhunting consultancies will also always look to attract both active and passive candidates, meaning that employers will be more likely to get the best person for the job, rather than just the best person who is currently looking for a new job.
Should A Candidate Approach An Executive Search Firm?
Contacting a search firm can’t hurt. It is more common to approach a candidate, but there’s no reason that you can’t reach out yourself if you’re looking for a career change.
If you have itchy feet and are in a senior position, a headhunter is sure to be interested in you.
The best professionals have probably developed the right personal brand to enable them to be found, but letting a headhunter know you’re interested in a change will ensure that you are near the top of the pile when the right opportunity for you comes up.
