What to look for when choosing a recruiting agency
There are several factors which you have to take into consideration:
- Reputation and experience. You should look for a recruitment agency that has more than a few years of experience in the field because more often than not, experience means know-how. This indicates that they will be looking for quality of employment, not void quantity. They most likely already have an extended database and don’t feel the need to impress by bringing a large quantity while skimping on quality. It can also help to see if they have any references or testimonials available.
Moreover, if the recruitment agency has experience, their Consultants are more likely to identify your needs and help you find the best solutions for you.
- Candidate database. How many candidates they have in their database is a good indication of how much they can do for you. Most often it comes down to numbers because the main purpose of any recruitment agency is to match the employer with the best-suited candidates. This is translated into a large directory of job seekers who can be correlated to the jobs that are made available. The larger the database, the faster the recruiting process can take place. Feel free to ask about the candidate placement success rate, how the recruiters do their recruitment and any other relevant questions about their candidate pool.
- Transparency. If a recruitment company gives you a large amount of information about itself it usually means they don’t have anything to hide. Things such as the recruitment process and hiring strategies should be made available to you by the agency from the first contact. For employers, it is important that the recruitment agency does all the hard work, sending only the best matches for the vacancies.
Do not however mistake transparency with confidentiality. Don’t ask for names or addresses of the clients because a good recruitment agency can and should not disclose this information to you or any other third party without consent.
- Getting to know you and understand your needs. A reliable recruitment agency will take the time to get to know your company to make sure they get you the appropriate candidate. They should focus on what your business goals are and understand how the right candidates will help your company reach its objectives. A good recruitment agency will always be interested in providing you with the best solutions for increasing your staff retention rate, even if this means more time consuming for them and less vacancies to be filled by them.
For job seekers, it is important they feel their Consultant focuses on their profile and finding the best job match. This means the Consultant will ask you several questions not only about your experience, but also about your personal needs and preferences.
- Customer Service. It is very important that the recruitment agency you choose to work with is there for you every time you need them. You should not feel abandoned or confused during any part of the hiring / recruiting process. The agency should make different communication streams available.
Another thing to look out for is post-placement service. The job of the recruitment agency is not finished after the candidate is placed. They should make sure that all parties are content with the arrangement and things are going smoothly.
- Quality guarantee. A professional recruitment agency should offer quality guarantee to both companies and candidates and the guarantees should be stipulated in the collaboration contract. Some agencies offer a money-back guarantee, while others offer a free replacement guarantee. Money back is fine, but it does not solve your problem and you have already wasted time.
You can get most of the information listed here straight from the recruitment agency, but for additional information you can always ask around, see if anybody you know has collaborated with the recruitment agency you chose and get feedback from them.
You should also pay attention when you talk to them. Does your Consultant have a professional discourse or does he/she sound superficial? Do you feel that they are making a true effort to know you, are they asking enough questions? Will you also receive an email with full details after the phone conversation? Watch out for promises which sound too good to be true. Real professionals do not promise what they cannot deliver. They have to be truthful and direct and also give counseling and solutions.
- Commitment of final selected candidates
Do not hesitate to ask what the agency’s successful placement rate is. A professional recruitment agency is not only introducing you to suitable candidates, but also to candidates which have already proved to them that they have a real interest of being employed by your company. The true professionals are careful not to waste your time with suitable candidates which are not interested on your offer. It is important for an agency to have a big database of pool of talents, but also important to have know-how in place for attracting them to your offer and making sure they know how to extract in full, correctly and without exaggerating the advantages of your offer compared to other similar jobs.
- Level of recruitment fee
A cheap fee doesn’t mean a good deal. A good recruitment involves a great amount of time, money and human resources and the costs should reflect this. You should put a big question mark if an agency is working on a cheap fee, as usually when this happens it affects the level of the recruitment quality. The damages of a less qualitative recruitment services can cost you in the end more money than you would have paid to a more expensive agency. Therefore when you analyze if a fee is worth it, make sure you understand all services they offer, the more support they offer before and after placement the more expensive should be their fee.
