Recruitment agencies help bridge the gap between employers and employees by identifying top talents, vetting them, and presenting the best of the lot to their clients. From IT recruitment agencies and engineer recruitment agencies to marketing recruitment agencies and more, you will find several agencies specialising in finding candidates from a specific domain to fill your open positions.
For many companies, hiring is a challenging job. Ever since the Great Resignation happened and the post-COVID job market became a candidate’s market, it has been increasingly difficult to hire the right candidates in the extremely competitive business landscape.
Research by ManpowerGroup published in 2020 reported that in the last decade, global talent shortages have almost doubled. But there’s worse news!
It’s anticipated that the number of unfilled jobs globally due to the skills gap will climb to above 85 million by 2030!
As the talent war is going to worsen, companies may have a hard time finding the right talent and onboarding them. That’s where recruitment agencies can help.
What’s a Recruitment Agency?
A recruitment agency acts as a middleman between employees and employers and helps match qualified candidates with job openings in their client companies. By making the entire hiring process significantly faster, easier, and seamless, such an agency can save your business time and help you find and hire well-qualified job seekers.
A recruitment agency can help your company hire suitable candidates for diverse jobs. Whether you need employees for temporary assignments (with a specific start and end date), seasonal openings (such as during the Christmas or New Year holidays), or want to make a direct hire for a permanent position in your company, they can help you find the best-suited professionals for the open positions.
Sometimes, the agency will have a suitable candidate readily available in its talent pool, which will help you hire them quickly. If not, it will usually advertise the position on job boards and social media, and leverage its network to find suitable candidates. Whether you seek a generalist or a niche specialist having a particular skill set, you can depend on a competent recruitment agency for effective hiring.
Recruitment agencies can be especially helpful when you are trying to hire mid-level or senior executives. Apart from helping you hire locals, partnering with such agencies can also let you expand your business to foreign shores.
Hiring professionals in foreign lands or hiring locals and helping them relocate to your new business destination on foreign shores come with several logistical and legal challenges. Partnering with a leading recruitment agency having an international presence can help you tide over these challenges and ensure your business kicks off smoothly.
Recruitment Agency vs. Staffing Agency vs. Employment Agency
At first glance, all these terms may appear to be interchangeable. Perhaps you think they are all related to a form of recruitment where you enlist someone else’s help to find the most-suited job seeker. But all these agencies are quite different from each other.
You already know what a recruitment agency is. Let’s check what the other two terms stand for.
A staffing agency specializes in helping you recruit candidates for temporary positions. Whether you need a temp to hire or a worker to work a specific shift, staffing agencies can help. Staffing agencies can also come in handy when your company needs to hire workers immediately to cover for your in-house staff who have fallen sick or gone on vacation.
An employment agency specializes in helping your company hire qualified individuals for long-term positions. Unlike staffing agencies that deal with every level of employment, from entry to management, employment agencies usually restrict their offerings to finding candidates suitable for mid-management or higher levels.
Quite often, staffing agencies restrict themselves to just a handful of related industries. In contrast, employment agencies usually deal with a lot of diverse industries.
How Does a Recruitment Agency Function?
Though the exact process may differ slightly from one agency to the next, most recruitment agencies typically use a 6-step process as mentioned below to speed up the filling of your job vacancies:
1. Finalising the Agreement
Once your company has decided to partner with a recruitment agency, you have to decide the terms and conditions and get an agreement signed. A crucial aspect of the contract will be the payment terms. You could opt for a contingency fee or retainer fee structure and negotiate a deal with the agency.
Additionally, you should clearly set your expectations regarding the agency’s work and understand what you will be getting in lieu of the stipulated payment.
2. Gathering the Requisite Information
Though the recruitment agency you finally hire already knows your requirements, it will seek the necessary details (a clear job description, skills and attributes required, experience the candidate should have, how critical the open position is, any other key criteria, etc.) once the contract is signed.
By gathering as much vital information as it can, the agency will be better equipped to identify and attract the best possible candidates for the role.
3. Sourcing the Candidates
At first, the agency will search its own database and ask people in its networks to find qualified candidates. Once the candidate(s) are identified, the agency could either use its own circles and networks to reach them or mobilize influencers for the same. If it can’t find a suitable candidate within its database or networks, it will post advertisements on job boards and social media to find one.
Recruiters in such agencies work pretty fast and typically take 6 seconds on average to scan a resume and shortlist candidates. After they have prepared a list of potential candidates, these agency recruiters will screen them and schedule interviews.
4. Interviewing the Potential Hires
This is usually a two-step process. At first, the recruitment agency will interview the candidates to decide who might be a good match for your company. The agency will shortlist these candidates, thus narrowing the talent pool further. Then, it will brief them about your company’s requirements, culture, and long-term vision.
Lastly, the agency will organise final interviews and help you conduct them to assess the narrowed pool of talents. Most recruiters say three interviews are essential before an offer is made to a candidate.
5. Making an Offer and Negotiating the Final Deal
Once you have found the right candidate, you can ask your chosen recruitment agency to make an offer and handle compensation negotiations with the candidate.
This will help you save precious time and effort while ensuring the potential hires have a primary point of contact to answer their questions and offer adequate guidance, where necessary.
6. Completing the Onboarding Process
Employee onboarding is a crucial step of the hiring process that needs careful handling. After a candidate accepts an offer, your chosen recruitment agency will help your company with seamless employee onboarding.
In addition to guiding and ensuring both parties complete the paperwork needed for employment, the agency will ensure your new hire feels excited and comfortable joining your company.
Final Thoughts
Working with a recruitment agency will give you access to a wider talent pool, thus increasing your chances of hiring some of the top talents. It will also speed up your hiring process. At the same time, the agency will help you save precious time and money, which you can invest in your core business matters instead of vetting candidates, checking their credentials, and repenting afterward if you end up hiring the wrong person.
If you are ready to find your next great hire without all the legwork and stress that comes with a DIY approach, count on a leading recruitment agency like InHunt World to help you find top talents for your company.
This article was written by InHunt World