8 Tips on Choosing Your Right Recruitment Agency

You are currently looking for staff, but not sure which recruitment agency services suits you? Need some help on the decision? Here are the fruitful tips on how to choose a recruitment agency that fits your hiring needs and your budget.

1.     Do your research 

You are always encouraged to do your own research when choosing a recruitment agency such as their experience in the area that you would like to seek their help in? Is there any evidence of the experience that they mentioned?

2.     Ask them questions 

Ask questions for information that you need to know such as: do you have candidates for my position in your database? How will you find the candidates for my position? How do you update the status of candidates? How long does it take to fill the position I need? The agency might miss out some information during their bidding presentation. Therefore, it will be great to ask them questions like how you interview a candidate for employment to understand the agency better.

3.     Find out how much experience the recruiter has

You might want to find an experienced recruiter when recruiting for position with hard-to-find skills. Recruiters with a reasonable amount of experience would have spent years setting up networks with good candidates. It is also important to work with an agency that has expertise in the area that you hope to recruit in. The time to fill will be shorter and the qualifications of the candidate will be better. These are the most important criteria in hiring a candidate and would be the best if you could engage with an experienced recruiter. 

4.     Know what you need 

It is important that you know what you are looking for in order to communicate your candidate requirements to a recruitment agency. For example, is the position permanent or temporary? Junior, senior or managerial role? Basic skills sets or wider skills sets? Recruiters can be good salespeople but it will not be easy for them to find a good fit for your position if you do not know what you want. 

5.     Engage an honest agency

Make sure that the agency that you are engaging is honest about the company and the candidates they represent. A big red flag if they don’t tell you their company name or deliver what they have promised. You can always search for client testimonials on their website or Google the company name. You might find yourself some good amount of reviews about the company. 

6.     Should cost be your concern?

Agencies usually charge on a percentage basis rather than flat rate and fee rates are likely to be around 15% to 20% of the position’s salary. You may browse around to know the cost of different agencies but these percentages do not differ a lot. Remember that cost shouldn’t be the major factor in your agency decision. 

7.     Get to know their process 

Roles such as project management or client implementation requires a better understanding of the candidates’ communication skills rather than what was written on their CV. Most companies will engage recruiters to pre-screen candidates for suitable softer skills before sending to client. Therefore, please make sure that the pre-screening is either face to face, phone or video interview as part of your agency’s process. Besides, it is also important to know if their methods of work match your internal processes. For example, is there any portal or email that they submit their candidates? Every companies have their respective processes, so, it is advisable to find out if the agency that you have chosen fits as much as possible with your processes. In this way, this will avoid any problem that might arise during the collaboration progress.

8.     Is the agency referring you good candidates?

Even though the agency you chose seems to blend well with your company culture having everything being said right. If they haven’t been placing you the right candidate for your position within an amount of time, they might not be the right agency for you. Usually by working with a few prospective agencies can be a reasonable way to see which agencies can be a value for the long term. Most companies are working with at least one external recruitment agency to help with their recruitment needs. To make sure if they routinely adding value to your company, be diligent and do your research. 

The bottom line

You will find yourself facing challenges by wanting to choose the right recruitment agency for your hiring position. However, you are connecting with not just a consultant but a pool of consultants in the discipline. Why not make your business run more efficient and effective? If you are currently finding the right recruitment agency, we are here for you. Contact Adecco now at 03-2781 0000 or email us at marketing.my@adecco.com