The right Recruitment Agency will solve your hiring stress

The right Recruitment Agency will help you find the best talent

Choosing the right recruitment agency is an important call for businesses looking to hire new talent and also from a jobseeker viewpoint. Recruitment agencies are a natural link between employers and potential employees, meaning the right candidates are matched with the right roles and environments. Now more than ever, the huge range of agencies can make this venture seem a little daunting.

Not every agency will suit every business, so it’s important to know what factors to consider. Are you hiring for short or long-term roles? Do you need a special set of skills for a short or long period of time? Parental leave cover perhaps?

Understanding Your Recruitment Needs

It’s essential to understand your own hiring needs before choosing a recruitment agency. Start by defining the specific role you need to fill and create a Position Description. Often nailing the skills needed is the easy part, but defining them early means you can cut down the volume of ‘maybes’ to consider. When we have a person or skills brief to work with, the accuracy and speed of placement immediately goes up.

Contract vs Permanent Positions

Contractors are common for businesses with short-term projects or seasonal work, while permanent roles are better suited to replacement or longer-term business needs. Some agencies tend to specialise in one or the other – Sourced happens to do both. Contractors make up more than half of our active ‘Top Candidate’ list, but we also have a long-held reputation for finding-the-unfindable permanent people.

Evaluating Agency Expertise and Industry Knowledge

It’s important to assess the recruitment agency’s knowledge of your industry. Some agencies are generalists, meaning they work across multiple sectors. Others are specialists, focusing on a particular field, such as technology or healthcare.

Specialised Agencies vs General Recruitment Firms

What kind of role are you hiring for? Are you set on a specific sector (like IT) or are you open to other areas as well? If you’re set on a specific kind of work, like most, then you’ll want to work with an agency that specialises in that space as well. You can uncover this by asking around with people currently in that industry or at networking events or just doing a bit of research online. You want to work with a recruitment consultant who’s got strong industry knowledge – the number of years in the industry is important when you’re talking network size. If you’re open to a variety of industries, a generalist agency may be the way to go, or working with a couple of agencies that specialise in those areas which interest you most might be effective too.

Experience and Reputation in Your Industry

You want to work with someone who’s genuinely concerned about your wants and needs. The best way to uncover the quality of a consultant is by asking people you trust and/or reading their reviews – in recent times Seek has supported the use of Sourcr for gathering reviews and this has had a huge uptake in the recruitment industry. Talk to people who have gotten work through the consultant or recruitment agency and ask about how things worked out for them.

Only work with a consultant you feel comfortable with.

This isn’t just about being able to have a conversation with someone. It’s about feeling listened to and understood. A good recruitment consultant should be working to uncover not only what you’re interested in but also what you’re suited to. They’ll be matching that with their client’s requirements and culture. Of course, bear in mind, that if you have expectations of the jobs market that are unrealistic, a good consultant will bring that to your attention. One key is to listen to your gut feeling. If you don’t feel that this person has your best interests at heart, feel free to withdraw your application. Remember you are in control of where your resume goes and have the right to ask an agency not to represent you anymore. No explanation is needed.

Understanding the Terms or Fee Structure

In New Zealand, our clients are invoiced for finding them team members. We do not charge job seekers $$ for finding them work – this is a different type of business and not common here. It is a good idea to get your hands on Terms and fees at the beginning of a recruitment process so there are no surprises when it comes time to supply employment contracts. Fees tend to be lower when you engage with a single agency so keep this in mind. There are benefits to both an exclusive arrangement (certainty of engagement for the Agency and then accountability for the client – placement guarantees and attentiveness from the agency being the obvious ones) and spreading it far and wide (more eyes looking for you, greater range of people and skillsets to choose from). You can even do both (though not at the same time!).
Terms should be read to understand hidden costs, guarantee periods (how they work or fail – like if you don’t pay the invoice on time) and anything that doesn’t align with how you need to work.

Clear Communication and Updates

Regular, two-way communication is key to a successful recruitment process. Choose an agency that keeps you updated every step of the way, from presenting candidates to arranging interviews and finalising contracts. A lack of communication will slow things down and create tension between parties, importantly both your brand and the agency brand are under fire from the job seeker’s perspective when communication and feedback is poor. Building a comfortable set of expectations around comms and delivery is key to establishing a longer-term relationship too. Recruitment isn’t just about filling a single role; it’s about building a partnership that helps your business grow over time. This is something that we truly value and seek to establish with every person/business we talk to.

Conclusion

Choosing the right recruitment agency can make all the difference when it comes to hiring the best talent. By understanding your hiring needs, evaluating agency expertise, and considering factors like reputation, fee structures, and communication styles, you can find an agency that suits your business. Establishing a long-term partnership with a recruitment agency can also help your business grow more efficiently over time.

If you want to talk to someone with the experience and reputation to objectively clarify any of the above, or any questions of your own, give us a call. Using our above thoughts will absolutely set you on the right path to selecting a recruitment partner that will help your business to finding top talent.