Recruiting agencies can range from 2,000 to 2 employees, have multiple specialties, and may claim to be experts when they’re not.
Fortunately, there are ways to navigate through this information and discover a recruiting firm that will be successful in finding you top talent.
Identifying your needs, researching various firms, deciphering whether the firm is a specialist or a generalist, and hiring flexibility are four factors to consider before partnering with a recruitment agency.
Identify Your Needs
Before you start researching recruiting agencies, you must first evaluate your needs of the open position. Write down any specific requirements, experience, and skills needed from the candidates and why you’re having difficulty filling the position.
Does the candidate need experience working in a certain industry or need to be located in a remote area? Do they need experience with a specific technology that not many people have? Once you’ve identified these needs, you should then ask potential recruiting partners how they would find candidates with these requirements during the recruiting process.
Next, you should evaluate what you’re looking for in a recruiting firm. Are you looking for a close partnership or a more hands-off relationship? Do you want a team of professionals working to find your candidate or just a single recruiter? These needs should also be addressed beforehand so you can ask recruiting firms specific questions about their process and how they approach working relationships.
Research Various Firms
What types of placements have they made in the last year and how many placements do they make on a monthly basis? What kind of client references do they have? And most importantly, what is their recruiting process and execution ability? The answers from these questions will help you get an idea of how successful the recruiting firms is and what size and type of clients they generally work with.
If you want a hands-on recruiting firm, for example, then ask detailed questions about what their communication will be like during the process and how you will be involved. The answers you receive should be in line with the needs you identified.
What’s Their Specialty?
When researching recruiting firms, there are many companies that say they specialize in a certain area, but won’t have any evidence to back up this claim. Also, companies will work many different jobs across many industries, but not have an expert understanding of any of the areas.
Look for companies that are immersed in their specialties and are staying in front of that audience. Not only should you check their website, but also check to see if they have a blog or social media profiles. Are you finding articles or information related to their expertise? Or is it apparent that they don’t have a specific focus or audience?
Hiring Flexibility
Another area you need to consider before choosing a recruiting firm is whether you want to hire on a contract, temp-to-perm, or full-time basis. Recruiting companies may specialize in permanent placements, contractors, or both. The position you’re looking to fill will help you decide which option makes the most sense for your company.
For example, if you need to hire a web developer to redo your website, then this is a small project that doesn’t need to be hired on a full-time basis and can be filled using a marketing contractor. Also, if you’re in need of top talent right away, you shouldn’t feel rushed to hire a full-time professional without really knowing how they work. You can hire someone on a temp-to-perm basis and make a full-time hire if you’re impressed with they’re work or end the contract if they don’t work out.
Finding the right recruiting firm for your open position can be the difference between finding a successful candidate and growing your business, or making the wrong hire and losing money in the process. Use these 4 factors to help you find the right recruiting firm to fit your needs.
RELATED ARTICLES
