Finding a perfect candidate who fits the bill is not everyone’s forte. Many businesses lack enough resources to pour into finding the right hire.
When time-crunched to fill in a job role, working with inadequate recruitment capability, or eliminating the hiring hassles, partnering with a proven recruitment partner can be the answer to your woes.
However, selecting the right recruitment agency may be more baffling than you think.
Before we move ahead to how to select the best recruitment partner, it is paramount to understand the different types of recruitment agencies.
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Different Types of Recruitment Agencies
Generally, recruiting agencies may be classified as below based on their expertise and staffing capabilities:
General or Contingency Recruitment Agencies
Such recruiting agencies are industry-specific. Their expertise lies in hiring candidates for higher-level roles. Since their talent pool and industry experience are wider, they can help you hire software developers who are technically adept and will require minimal training.
Staffing Agency
Usually, such agencies can be beneficial when you are looking for a temporary fill-in. When you need seasonal workers, or someone to fill in for an employee on a long leave, these agencies are the place to go. These agencies can be especially beneficial for temporary hires, and small businesses as well.
Executive Agencies
As the name suggests, these recruiting agencies are ideal help to fill in top-level or executive positions. Executive agencies are saviors when you need highly-skilled people for the job.
Now that you have narrowed down the type of recruitment agency that solves your pain points, you need to know how to select a recruiting agency.
Why is it Important to Choose the Right Recruitment Partner?
Selecting the right recruiting agency is important to ensure that the candidate that you hire is fit for the job, and will benefit your organization.
With several recruiting agencies vying for your attention and amidst changing recruitment trends and talent crunch, how do you select one with a good talent pool?
Here are some pointers that guide why to choose the best recruitment partner for your hiring needs:
- Recruiting agencies should be dedicated to finding the right hire for your company, but not every agency is the same in this regard.
- While it is their job to vet the candidate and ensure that they will deliver the desired performance, sometimes, recruiting agencies may be more focused on finding any candidate, rather than a suitable one.
- Often, an ideal candidate on paper may not be the right fit for your company. Since it is up to the recruiting agency to keep things working behind the scenes, when you do not pick the right recruiting agency, it can cost you time and money.
- If you find that the candidate they selected for you does not fit the bill, you will need to go through the long-drawn process all over again.
Hence, it is crucial to select a recruitment partner that finds candidates who will improve your business productivity and ensures return on investment.
When you tie up with the best recruitment agency and find that a candidate is not able to mesh well with your organization’s work environment, you do not have to worry about wasted resources.
Best recruiting agencies will usually issue a full refund and will also help you find a replacement as quickly as they can; so, even if you cannot avoid a bad hire, you can avoid the hefty dent in your resources.
Hence, with a well-established and best recruiting agency, you have a safety net to fall back on.
Strategy to Select the Best Recruitment Agency
Finding a perfect match is hard, no matter what the task. Understanding which recruitment agency may be the best choice requires you to evaluate your business as well.
While it can be challenging to find the best recruiting partner, once you find that match made in the recruitment heaven, all your hiring woes will be solved.
Besides, it is wise to spend time finding an appropriate recruitment agency, rather than conducting endless interviews every time you need to fill in a position.
For a business that often needs seasonal workers, or has their employees on leave, a recruitment agency is a better option than conducting interviews.
So, how do you find the best recruiting agency that works for you? Follow these steps:
Step #1: Be specific about your needs
Defining your hiring needs helps not only in clearly defining job roles and duties but also in selecting the right recruitment agency.
- Do you need entry-level executives?
- Are you in search of mid-range expertise candidates?
- Is it a higher-level position?
- Are you in need of high-volume hiring?
- Will it be temporary or permanent?
- Do you need a single candidate or multiple?
- Are you looking to hire teams?
- Do you intend to hire remote employees?
- Do you want to leverage the gig economy?
When you answer these questions precisely, your task of finding an agency skilled at providing perfect candidates for such roles becomes effortless besides helping in narrowing down the possible list of candidates.
Step #2: Do your research
“Be prepared” is not just a motto for scouts; it is helpful to anyone and in any situation. Before you approach a recruiting agency, understand what they are, what they do, and assess their capabilities.
Recruitment agencies may be of many types, and there are several “specialized” recruitment agencies that may be more suited to your purpose.
You could review their testimonials, get in touch with other companies who took their services, or check the reviews online.
Step #3: Choose an agency that fits your type
This point ties in with the previous one and is important enough to have its section.
Defining your hiring needs is crucial because it also helps in selecting the agency type. Without defining your hiring needs, choosing an appropriate agency might not be possible.
You may know that you need to fill in an executive position, but if you end up at a staffing agency, it won’t help you find the right fit for your company.
When hiring temporary staff, a staffing agency will get the job done, but when looking for candidates to fill in higher-level positions, it is best to turn to an executive agency.
Step #4: Research pricing and affordability
Finding the best recruitment agency out there may be a piece of cake, but affordability is also a vital aspect to consider.
An agency may offer you great results, but if their services are out of your budget, it might not be profitable for your organization.
When working on a budget, it is best to narrow down your list and opt for ones that fit within your budget.
Ask them for a direct quote, or look around on their website to gauge how much they charge for their services.
However, in some cases, price may not be an index of quality. Some recruiting agencies may ask for a lower price, but still deliver great results!
Step #5: Check their niche experience
Evaluating the recruitment agency is just as important as evaluating any candidate. Learn about their niche experience, and if possible, check out reviews from other firms.
Were they able to find a good candidate that was fit for the company? Or did the candidate need to be replaced?
Taking a look at how long they have been in the industry is important as it helps you gain an accurate understanding of whether or not the agency’s services will be satisfactory.
Step #6: Evaluate terms
When hiring someone through a recruitment agency, you need to read the terms beforehand, so that you are not caught off-guard.
Check if there are any non-negotiable conditions. Usually, agencies will work with you to come up with an agreement that works for both parties. If the agency is not flexible with its terms, it can be challenging to work with them.
Take a look at the terms they have for you, and their talent as well; this helps ascertain whether they are rigid in their demands or willing to work for the benefit of everyone.
Bottom Line
Most of these tips to choose the best recruitment partner demand careful planning and deliberation. Investing time in assessing the recruitment agency is vital since this will be an irrevocable step in building a productive team and build your employer branding. Once you find the perfect recruitment agency, you can sit back without any worry about how you’re going to find your next hire!
Cloudely for Recruitment
Need help in finding proven candidates? Cloudely can help. We hold immense expertise in bringing to your table the best candidates that fit your needs in the shortest possible time you could ever have experienced.
Get in touch with us at hello@cloudely.com or drop a Hi at our social media channels to learn more about how we can help with your recruitment needs. Find us on LinkedIn.
