Finding top talent remains a challenge, especially for smaller organisations that have limited resources. Evaluating applications, interviewing applicants, and negotiating contracts all take much time and effort. They prevent you from focusing on your core responsibilities thereby hurting your company in the long run.

For this reason, many businesses partner with recruitment agencies to shorten the duration of the headhunt. They tend to have their own pool of candidates that they provide for open roles too. There would be no need to look elsewhere or filter more resumes in that case.

What does a staffing firm do?

They recruit employees for companies that are aiming to fill certain roles. Those who are looking for new staff and have decided to work with an agency may expect the following:

1. You reach out to an firm specialising in your industry, specifying the details like the tasks and salary.

2. The agency makes the job description and shares it across different boards or mediums online.

3. The firm begins evaluating the applicants by checking their skills, experience, work history, and more.

4. You make the final hiring decision after interviewing the candidates the agency has endorsed.

5. The firm handles the necessary paperwork and provides the initial briefing for the role.

Why should you work with an agency?

Partnering with a staffing firm is beneficial not only to your hiring managers but also to your company as a whole. Here are some of the benefits that come with using an agency for your headhunting needs.

• Higher-quality candidates – you gain access to a larger pool of candidates who have already been screened according to industry standards.
• Wider reach – some candidates aren’t actively looking for a career change so you want to have access in the passive job market too.
• Quicker processing – they have a network of connections that they may leverage along with more time so finding applicants is more efficient.
• Technical knowledge – there are instances when you need to interview for positions you aren’t familiar with so you want someone with better knowledge of technical roles.
• Market knowledge – they are familiar with the salary rates, market trends, career expectations, and other information regarding the job market.

How do you find the right agency?

a. Clearly explain what your needs are

Think about how many people you want to add to your team along with the things that you want them to do once they get hired. Discuss these with the firm in detail so they have a clear idea as to the type of talent you are searching for.

It’s a good idea to talk to them about your company too. Be sure to include information like your mission and vision statement, the existing corporate culture, the work environment, the company values, and even a little about the people in management.

b. Interview your options like candidates

Treat agencies like they are candidates themselves. After introducing your company and yourself to them in the above step, it’s your turn to get to know them. This is so you know whether they are capable of providing the candidates that you’re looking for.

Ask them questions like: “which companies have you worked with in the past?” or “how long has the agency been running?” You may also enquire about the average duration it takes for them to find the right talents. Dig deep into their background, including their hiring process, to reveal how professional they are.

c. Check if they’re within your budget

There’s no point to finding the best recruitment firm when you’re unable to afford their services anyway. You may be sure that they’re capable of getting top talent but you want to compute the numbers properly. A new hire is an additional expense already so you don’t want to go overboard with your spending.

Talk to the rest of the team, especially your superiors, about this. There are instances when it’s worth going a bit over budget when you believe it will provide better value to your organisation. You may be able to find information about rates on their websites so do your homework beforehand.

d. Look at their experience in recruitment

Make sure to pick an agency that produces quality results. Have a look at feedback or testimonials from their previous clients, noting how long they worked with each other. If most of them are negative, understand that there has to be a reason why people are dissatisfied.

Compare their work with their competitors as well. See how well they perform against others who have been in the industry for as long as they have, who have worked with similar clients as them, and who have filled positions like what you are aiming to fill.

e. Check out how they do their job

It’s one thing to hear from others how a firm does their job, but it’s another thing to see their services for yourself. Talk to them directly about their methods for creating job descriptions, posting listings, screening candidates, and endorsing them to clients.

Maybe you prefer a recruiter who sources their talents from social networks like Facebook or Twitter over the typical LinkedIn or job boards. Observe if their process is efficient or if it requires improvement. You don’t want to work with someone whom you believe is less productive or valuable than your internal recruiters.

Here’s a recruitment agency to work with

Based on this article alone, it takes at least five steps to choose the right recruitment firm for your needs. It seems short when you count it, but when you actually perform steps, you’ll realise that it takes up much time and effort itself.

Ease your worries about finding a good agency by choosing us at Remote Workmate. We specialise in connecting remote professionals to employers like you. We pre-screen all of our candidates before we endorse them to you to ensure they meet the most stringent of standards.