How to Hire a Recruiting Agency
Table of Contents
If hiring has become overwhelming, it might be time to outsource your company’s recruitment process. Learn more about the various types of recruiting as well as the pros, cons, costs, and traits to look for when hiring a recruiting agency.
Hiring the right person for the right job is essential for the success of any business. However, it can take a lot of effort, skill, and time to find the best fit. The good news is, there’s help out there. Using a recruiting agency can be the perfect service for any company needing extra support and expertise. This article will explore how to hire a recruiting agency that fits your business needs.
What Is Recruiting?
Recruiting within the sphere of employment is when a business is in need of hiring a staff member and goes through the process of sourcing the position, curating a list of the best talent, and interviewing them. One of the main tenets of Human Resources (HR), all businesses have used the process of recruitment at some point in their company’s lifespan, whether for short-term contracts or long-term hiring.
What Are The Different Types Of RecruitingAgencies?
There are different functions and specialties within recruitment. However, when considering using a recruiting agency, these are the most common types of firms:
TEMP AGENCY
Also known as staffing agencies, these organizations recruit staff members that are only meant to work at businesses for a limited amount of time. This could be as short as one day to a year-long contract to fill a specific need at a business. Temp agencies also act as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), so they act as a co-employer for your business and take care of all HR needs (including payroll) for the person hired.
TRADITIONAL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES
Traditional recruitment agencies provide all recruitment services. If you are looking for a temporary or full-time staff member, they are there for you. You can also start with a contract term as a trial and then hire the person as a full-time internal employee down the road. Traditional recruitment agencies work hard to find the right candidate because their service fee depends on it.
EXECUTIVE SEARCH AGENCIES
If you need an executive-level or higher employee, an executive search agency would be the right choice for you. These companies, also known as head-hunters, specialize in finding the right person for your organization. Their search may use traditional methods, but more likely than not, they conduct significant research and use their wide network to identify the perfect person who may not be looking for a new job but shows the skills and right temperament for the role that you are looking to fill.
SPECIALIST AGENCIES
These agencies work in niche markets to find the right skillset that you are looking for. Examples of specialist agency industries include engineering, accounting, or health care. These agencies can find employees on a temporary or full-time basis at any level, including management. These companies are great when you need someone with a unique experience that another agency may not have the skills to find.
When Should You Use A Recruiting Agency?
Any industry, size, private, or public institution can outsource its recruitment needs. Who “should” outsource, however, depends on the needs and budget of the business. Typically, large companies can afford to have a large HR department, who can manage the recruitment process in-house. However, for many small-to-mid-sized businesses, hiring a recruitment firm would be a smart choice.
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What Are The Differences Between A Hiring Manager Vs. A Recruiter?
The terms hiring manager and recruiter are often used interchangeably. However, while many companies have a designated staff member that does both activities, the roles are in fact different. A recruiter is responsible for the process of recruiting a candidate—from advertising the position, finding candidates, matching qualified candidates for the right role, and sending out job offers. A hiring manager is responsible for creating the job description, highlighting the most important attributes and skills for the role, interviewing, and ultimately making the final decision.
It is important to distinguish between these roles because if you end up outsourcing your recruitment, then the recruiter will look to you for the job description and most important attributes; they will not be able to come up with this information as they are not working for your company, nor are they the expert on what your company needs.
Another distinguishing factor is that if something goes wrong with the person ultimately hired, the fault will rest on the hiring manager. You may not be satisfied with the recruiter, but the hiring manager does not need to hire any of the candidates they provide. The responsibility of the final hiring falls with the hiring manager.
Should I Hire An Agency Or Handle Recruitment In-House?
The process of recruiting the right candidate can be exhausting. Hiring the right person takes skill and time. If you feel that you are not able to dedicate the time to find the right person, then hiring a recruiter could be the right choice for you. You do not want to regret your choice later and have to go through the recruitment and hiring process all over again.
Positives And Negatives Of In-House
In this section, we will discuss in more detail the functionality and positives and negatives of using an in-house recruiter vs an agency. While using someone in-house within your business can sound like an ideal option, many small to midsize companies will outsource their recruitment needs and should know the opportunities and challenges that come with working with these HR professionals.
In-House Recruitment
Positives | |
CONTROL OVER THE PROCESS Hiring someone to come work for your company is an important process for any business. The point of hiring the candidate is so that they can build revenue and support projects that need to get done. By having an in-house recruiter, you can control how the job is advertised, and get to know the candidates from the on-set; potentially leading to deeper conversations before making the hiring decision. |
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STANDARDS AND VALUES Skill sets and educational backgrounds are important when hiring, but so are values and standards. While you would be able to explain these to a recruiter, it can also be hard to explain the personality or je ne sais quoi factor to another. By doing the process yourself, you would be able to easily identify when someone is the right fit for your company.
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| Negatives |
LACK OF EXPERTISE Many small to midsize businesses lack the expertise to properly advertise a job position and weed out resumes that come their way. And why should you be an expert? You are running a business that fits a different specific skill and learning how to recruit the perfect candidate takes time and energy to learn. This is where a recruitment agency comes in—they have years of experience with the process. | |
TIME-CONSUMING Many people do not realize just how difficult it can be to find the perfect candidate until they go through the process themselves. It starts with a job posting that is written clearly and is interesting enough for the candidate you want. Then the posting needs to be advertised on a site that your candidate is likely to look at. Next, there will be a flood of resumes and cover letters from candidates stating why you should pick them; many written poorly, many written non-traditionally but could still be right for you. Finally, after going through the process you may find the right candidate, but they have already accepted another job. While the final step can happen whether or not you use a recruitment agency, you can certainly save a lot of time by outsourcing a recruiter to save you tons of time and anxiety. |
Why You Should Hire A Recruiting Agency
You may have a small HR team or even no one dedicated to HR tasks. So, by hiring an agency, you are armed with the necessary skills to complete required human resource programming.
One common complaint from staff is that they do not feel supported enough in their professional growth, or do not feel adequately trained for their job. A great reason to outsource your HR needs would allow you and managers the time to focus on professional growth and training for staff so that the work culture is overall more positive.
Hiring A Recruiting Agency
Here are some tips to consider once you get to the contract phase with a recruitment agency.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Recruiting Agency?
The first thing to note is that all recruiting agencies charge their client for their services, and the client in this case is you. They do not charge job seekers for their services.
SHRM has come out with a report that the average new hire costs about $4,000. So, when starting your budget, this is a great first calculation. However, note that industry standards and level of leadership for the position may change this number. The cost of using a recruiter will include job board fees, candidate assessment costs (if applicable), recruitment events, and general recruitment fees. Depending on the agency, their fee structure may be a percentage of the position’s salary, one-time fee, or on an hourly basis.
It is also worth noting that the International Labour Organization has published guidelines on fee structures for recruiting to prevent and eliminate possibilities of human trafficking.
How To Find A Recruiting Partner
UpCity has this taken care of for you. We have curated a list of Recruiting agencies that will fit your needs. If you are looking for an award-winning firm, you can also find them here.
Of course, you can also begin with looking at HR trade organizations, like the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as well. And again, this method is like using UpCity in that you can compare locations, various specializations, see previous work, and more.
Likewise, take some time to read reviews across many different locations on the web to get a feel for what working with these partners is like and if they might be a good fit with your organization.
And then there are good old-fashioned referrals. Reach out to your network and ask who they have used for recruitment needs in the past. This is where you will likely get the most candid responses, which is important when considering an investment of this magnitude.
Skills To Look For In A Recruiting Partner
When talking to different agencies to figure out if they are the right fit, keep the following things in mind:
How Does Their Marketing Look?
When looking at the company’s website, how engaging is it? Is it somewhere you would go if you were looking for a job? If not, it is unlikely that the type of recruit you are looking for would go there either.
What Is Their Experience?
Recruiting is a human art. In order to understand different types of businesses and candidates, then the recruiter should have significant experience. While the experience does not have to be lengthy, it should be quality.
What Are Their Credentials?
Recruitment is a subset of HR. Take a look at their accreditation through associations (like SHRM) and awards they may have won.
Post-Hiring Expectations
If you have already decided to hire a recruitment agency, you can expect them to gather information, identify key opportunities, and use the information collected to build out the deliverables.
After signing with an agency, you can expect:
Conversations around hiring needs, objectives, and budget
Establishing a communication protocol that instills collaboration and consistency
Regular reports on successes and opportunities for change or growth
Do you have any questions about hiring the best recruitment agency team for your business? Check out our picks for the top recruitment agencies in both the United States and Canada for further information.
About the author
Haldis Toppen
Haldis Toppen is the Director of Communications of the cultural exchange organization, Greenheart International. With 10 years of experience in leading marketing and communication teams, Haldis has a proven record of successfully leading national campaigns and international programming. She is passionate about bringing the right message to the masses and finding those audiences who need to hear it!
