6 Reasons to Work With a Recruiting Agency for Your Next Hire

Recent research shows that in-house recruiters are relying less on recruitment agencies to fill vacancies, but most staffing businesses are still posting strong results, whilst the RECs monthly “Report on Jobs” shows vacancy levels rising on a monthly basis.

Many industry commentators have long been forecasting the decline of agencies, in the face of growing competition from job boards, internal recruitment teams and social networking, but the industry continues to grow, and offer an important route for sourcing the best talent.

Newer sourcing or attraction models may seem to preclude the third party recruiter, whilst client and candidate expectations change and evolve in line with technology, but there remains a core need for recruiting specialists to find talent for companies, and to help that talent become hireable.

Most firms view agencies as advisers with focused efforts on attracting great candidates. An agency’s value proposition was usually the candidates they could find, and their overall market intelligence regarding shifting trends, pay scales, and competitor activity.

So what are some of the main advantages of using a full-service agency today?

1 – Knowledge of the market

The best recruiters will have their finger on the pulse of their specialist markets, and can give the hiring team valuable insight. They know the available talent, where they are and how to reach out to them, as well as salary rates, career expectations, available skill-sets and current hiring complexities. A great agency will act as a partner and collaborator, and be your eyes and ears in the market

2 – Extended reach

Some candidates are hard to find. They may be passive or selective. If they aren’t responding to job advertisements, perhaps they don’t see themselves as part of your ‘talent pool’ or are too busy to search full time. Chances are these candidates may have a relationship with trusted specialist recruiters in your sector.

Agencies have many networks – each consultant, candidate, client or collaborator has the potential to leverage their networks to help connect you to people with a range of skills and experiences, many of whom would be beyond the radar of an in-house team or hiring manager.

3 – Candidates not applicants

A lot of in-house talent attraction is aimed at attracting applicants, whether they are responding to an advert, applying on spec, or through your website. A lot of these people may not be good matches for the role hence a lot of time will be invested in filtering, assessing, matching and communicating with them.

When we talk of a “bad candidate experience” it’s normally an applicant experience that we are referring to. Time and resource poor recruitment teams may not be able to run a thorough matching process. Using a recruitment agency should mean that you see only candidates – job seekers who have been pre-selected to match all the criteria that you are looking for and who are worthy of consideration and interview.

4 – Help with employer brand

Large companies invest a lot of time and money in developing and marketing their employer brand, but many SME and smaller businesses don’t have the same resources. If you chose your agency wisely then they can give potential candidates insight into your business – what it’s like to work there, benefits and career openings available, and a feel for the culture. When you work with agencies, let them spend time getting to know your company’s brand and key managers, then they should be able to represent you as the employer of choice.

If a candidate checks your business out on social media, either through a site like Glassdoor or by searching for people who used to work with you, then a fully briefed recruitment partner should be able to help clarify any points that may arise.

5 – Access to key strategic skills

In the RECs most recent Jobs Outlook, the number one reason that companies gave for using a recruitment agency was to gain short term access to key strategic skills, a reason that been growing in importance over the last 3 years, now overtaking covering leave and peaks in demand.

Whilst some of the reasons I’ve already given may refer more to permanent recruiters, many also offer the opportunity to bring in qualified, experienced help at short notice. These flexible solutions are particularly crucial for a long term project or initiative.

6 – Budget/Resource

Whilst the FIRMs recent in-house recruiter survey did hint at a decrease in agency use, it also showed a tightening of budgets and resources. When asked why they use agencies many corporate recruiters answers involved budget and resources.  There are are time constraints to performing a thorough search, so it is often easier for managers to interview from an agency shortlist – in fact many hiring managers, themselves possibly placed by recruitment agencies in the past, often favor third party recruiters.

There is little doubt that a hard pressed HR or in-house team can benefit from the reach and networks of a trusted agency partner.

If you or your team are looking to bring on the best tech talent available, work with Blu Chips for a full-service recruiting partnership. Talk to us today, and we’ll develop a customized plan from advertising positions to best on-boarding practices.