You have an open position in your company and you‘ve decided to use the knowledge and expertise of a recruitment agency to save time and money, source qualified candidates, take advantage of deep market knowledge, and reduce risk. But first, you have to figure out which agency is right for you. Below we’ve put together tips for you on how to choose a recruitment agency.
Determine Your Needs and Challenges
Meet with your team and list your company’s hiring needs and challenges. Prioritize these needs, then use that criteria when deliberating on prospective agencies.
Ascertain the Type of Agency Needed
There are many styles of staffing agencies, such as generalists (recruit for any position), specialists (recruit for specific industries), micro-specialists (serve a niche-within-a-niche), and executives (recruit for only top-level positions).
Which is right for you? Not sure how to choose a recruitment agency, then work with an agency that has experience in your industry as they will understand the skills and experience you are looking for in candidates.
Do Your Research
Look at the agency’s social media presence, including their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles. Note their guarantee period and terms, and determine if they belong to relevant professional associations.
Devote your attention to finding answers to the following questions:
- Have individual recruiters obtained professional certification?
- When was their most recent fill?
- Do they have passive candidate networks?
- What are their strategies for discovering new candidates?
- Do they have a rich pipeline of job seekers?
- Do they have access to candidates you do not?
- How large is their database?
- Do they already have candidates for your position in their database?
- How will they keep you up to date on the search?
Finding answers to these questions will help you find a transparent and safe recruitment agency in Calgary.
Interview Prospective Agencies
Ask about the recruitment process and how they attract candidates.
Other important questions:
- How long has the recruiter been with the company?
- How do they assess applicants before they are presented as potential hires?
- How long is the search likely to take?
- How many candidates will they present for you to interview?
- Is the recruiter committed to making an ideal placement for you?
Be sure you understand exactly what you are buying and how their process works.
Try Before You Buy
Find an agency that you like. Ask if they will recruit for a current position before you commit to a long-term contract.
How to Choose a Recruitment Agency: Finding the Right Agency
Begin by searching for staffing agencies online, ensuring to include your location and industry for specialized options. You can try searching for something like “a recruitment agency in Calgary for IT jobs.” Keep an eye out for recruitment agencies that advertise specific positions in job ads as well.
Alternatively, utilize online maps like Google or Apple to locate recruitment agencies in your area.
Seek referrals from friends or colleagues who have had successful experiences with recruitment agencies. Learning from others’ experiences can provide valuable insights into responsiveness, understanding of your needs, and industry knowledge.
Utilize social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, to search for recruiters posting jobs in your area of interest.
Contact several employment agencies to gauge their communication styles, placement services, and pay structures. Inquire about the availability of open positions and prioritize agencies that have specific positions matching your qualifications.
Look for agencies interested in establishing long-term relationships with employees for better prospects in the future.
Understand the registration and placement processes of the agencies you’re considering. This involves knowing the registration steps, potential employers they work with, expected salary range, hiring process timeframe, and how they market your skills to employers.
Preferably, schedule a one-on-one meeting with agency representatives to ensure clarity and organization.
Ask probing questions during your interactions with the agencies. Prepare questions in advance regarding agency size, success rate, industry specialization, current job openings, fees, resume assistance, and types of positions offered (temporary or permanent).
Take notes for future reference to compare different agencies.
Explore the additional services offered by staffing agencies, such as resume revisions, software training, or interview coaching, to ensure they align with your needs.
Verify the reputation of the agency by ensuring they are not involved in any fraudulent activities. Seek feedback from business colleagues who may have previous experiences with agencies.
Be vigilant for warning signs such as agencies charging fees, lacking knowledge, or making unrealistic promises. Agencies should not charge fees to job seekers, and overly grand promises should raise concerns about honesty and reliability.
Select the agency that best fits your requirements after thorough research and interviews. Inform them promptly once you’ve been successfully placed in a job to cease further search efforts on your behalf.
How do Recruitment Agencies Operate?
Recruitment agencies serve as intermediaries between hiring organizations and job seekers, facilitating the process of finding the right candidate for a company’s needs.
Their primary goal is to swiftly locate suitable candidates for your company. This efficiency is often achieved through their extensive networks of highly qualified professionals within specific industries.
These agencies invest in top-notch tools and technologies, enabling them to effectively attract passive job seekers and tap into existing networks within your industry.
Upon successfully placing a candidate with your company, you’ll compensate the agency with a predetermined fee, typically calculated as a percentage of the new employee’s salary. However, this fee is not deducted from the employee’s salary; it’s a separate expense for the hiring organization.
Moreover, recruitment agencies don’t just focus on filling one position and moving on. They prioritize nurturing long-term relationships with both hiring businesses and talented professionals, ensuring a robust network of contacts over time. This emphasis on building enduring connections often leads to repeat business opportunities.
Advantages of Utilizing Recruiting Agencies
Here are some benefits of engaging with recruiting firms:
- Enhancing company image. In the recruitment process, companies must present themselves positively to potential candidates. Just as candidates are evaluated, companies must also showcase the value they offer as employers. This is particularly vital in competitive job markets. Recruiting agencies play a significant role in this aspect by highlighting the merits of each company they represent to potential candidates. They assist in articulating the value proposition of your workplace, complementing the efforts of your HR department and attracting top talent effectively.
- Expert market understanding. Recruiting agencies often specialize in specific industries or sectors, such as technology or healthcare. This specialization equips them with in-depth knowledge of the market landscape. They are well-versed in prevailing salary ranges, benefits packages offered by competitors, and prime candidate sourcing channels within the industry. Leveraging their expertise ensures that you not only find top-tier candidates but also compensate them competitively according to market standards.
- Efficient time management for HR teams. Posting a job opening typically results in a deluge of applications, which can overwhelm internal HR teams. Reviewing and filtering through these applications demands significant time and effort. Recruiting agencies alleviate this burden by efficiently handling the initial screening process. Their specialized expertise enables them to swiftly identify qualified candidates, sparing your HR team from the time-consuming task of application review.
Additionally, recruiting agencies can manage preliminary phone screenings and initial interviews, ensuring that only the most promising candidates progress to in-person interviews with your team. This streamlines the recruitment process, enhancing overall productivity and resource utilization.
How to Choose a Recruitment Agency in a Risk-Aware Manner?
While there are numerous benefits to enlisting a recruitment agency for your hiring needs, rushing into a decision and selecting the wrong agency can lead to significant costs and risks. The two primary errors individuals make when utilizing a recruitment agency are either choosing an ill-suited one or failing to actively participate in the process.
Opting for the wrong agency that hastily sources candidates can result in the acceptance of a seemingly ideal candidate who fails to meet expectations. Despite appearing impressive on paper and during interviews, some candidates might not align with your company’s culture.
Having to restart the entire hiring process, from crafting job ads to conducting interviews, essentially doubles the time and expenses for that single hire. Additionally, this situation amplifies stress levels due to time constraints, impacts on deadlines and deliverables, and the potential negative effects on team morale when a bad hire enters and subsequently leaves the organization.
While some bad hires may be inevitable, engaging a reputable recruitment agency usually provides options for refunds or immediate replacement searches based on agreed terms. Every mistake, including bad hires, presents a learning opportunity and can contribute to refining the hiring process for future endeavors.
How and Which Recruitment Agency to Choose in Calgary?
Are you ready to work with a recruitment agency to solve your hiring challenges? Consider Equation Staffing Solutions. Our goal is to find you the talent you need. We provide deep industry knowledge, the latest recruitment technology, extensive market research, a nationwide network of recruiters, and open dialogue with clients and candidates.
Contact our office today at (403) 930-6080.