Before anything else, let’s align ourselves first with what we mean by a recruitment agency.

In a nutshell, it is a firm that acts as a medium between employers and employees. They are external recruiters that work with various companies and businesses to help them source, screen, and successfully hire candidates fit for the organization and, of course, the position.

They are perfect for getting in touch with, primarily if your in-house recruiters are occupied and need more time to procure top talents. This is an excellent idea because such firms do their best to search for suitable candidates. After all, they only get the commission once their suggested prospect is onboarded.

This allows you to avoid bad hires and those with low stick rates, which proves genuinely beneficial in terms of overall ROI.

To encapsulate the point above, here are three main reasons you should work with a recruitment agency.

By working with recruitment agencies, you can cut down the days needed to get the talent that your company needs. Dedicated recruiters will find the right individual for the role as efficiently and effectively as possible through their broad network and resume database. Aside from sourcing, they’ll also handle most of the time-consuming aspects of the recruiting process, like screening, initial interviewing, etc.

You can also reduce costs in some areas like job adverts posting, overtime costs, training costs, and more.

With their undivided attention and better sourcing capacity, they take extra measures to source candidates across multiple platforms and screen them thoroughly.

Be it via phone interviews, assessment tests, and others, they ensure that only the ones that would be acceptable for your company would go through. They will weed out those not the right fit and only proceed with qualified people who can adapt to your organization’s goals and objectives. Plus, to connect it to the previous point, they can use the saved time to ensure quality candidates are appropriately screened without a rush.

Often, people work with recruitment agencies to seek assistance for hard-to-fill positions. It may not be a matter of time restraint but rather the fierce competition over certain positions.

This goes especially for senior-level positions or high-demand fields like technology, digital, marketing, hospitality, etc. Many companies are fighting for the best of the best, and it takes excellent skills.

Recruiters of such recruitment agencies are trained to negotiate well and convince candidates to be on board. Their accrued experience in the matter also helps them get better each time.

This is the most crucial step and will help you with the succeeding parts later. First and foremost, what type of recruitment agency do you need? A staffing agency is the best option if it’s a temporary or contractual worker. How about top-level executives? Headhunting agencies are best in that area. If you’re looking for full-time employees, then the traditional recruiting firm is what you should search for. You have to remember that there are niche agencies, too. As opposed to general ones, this recruiter agency has the edge in finding highly skilled talents who specialize in their fields. Why? Because they understand the talent gaps in the market and help fill positions faster by providing candidates best suited for such speciality roles.

The second step in selecting the perfect recruitment agency for your business is elaborating on your organization’s needs. It is best to be clear about this, so they know what type of talent you need. Plan before contacting them. Do you need to fill only one position? Or are there a lot? What role are you trying to fill? Is it a permanent or temporary job? Is it entry or management level? What kind of prior experience do you want them to have?

These fundamental questions will help the firms lead you to the right talent accurately and precisely. Also, feel free to talk about your company. There are lots of points to discuss:

• Company background
• Company mission and vision statement
• Company values
• Existing corporate culture
• Description of work environment

It may seem tedious to expound on such topics, but best believe that they are necessary if you truly want to get the best of the best in the market.

Please don’t be shy to interview the recruiting agency like they are the candidate themselves. In the second step, you took the time for them to get to know your company. Now, it’s your turn to probe more about them.

You can ask the following questions:

• How long has the agency been running?
• Who are you working for so far?
• How long does it take you to find the right talent?
• What is your hiring process?

All of these will give you an immediate impression of whether they can meet your needs. Think about such queries and dig deeper into their background. This will reveal how prepared and professional they are, as well.

Asking about the agency is one thing, but knowing how their recruiters work is another.

The fourth step in choosing the best recruiting agency is checking the experience of their staff. There are plenty of ways where you can go about this. 

You can talk to them directly and ask what their methods are. What do they do to pre-screen candidates? Is it in person, or is it conducted online or via phone?

You can also ask how they source candidates. Seeking actively on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and others is given. This is effective because you know that individuals are looking for employment. However, remember that they only represent a portion of the talent market.

A good recruiter knows that there are more passive candidates worldwide (70%, as told by LinkedIn), and these individuals can bring higher ROI than active candidates. They have more experience, and they are what you can say is “in demand” in a way.

The challenge is that they are looking for something other than a new job but are interested in hearing more about other opportunities elsewhere. If the recruiter is capable, they can convince them to move eventually. Be sure to remember this!

They are movers of the firm. They should be strategic and persuasive enough to convince talent to join your company.

This probably is a no-brainer for businesses, but it’s still important to highlight. Once you feel they tick the criteria mentioned above, check if you can afford their services.

This is a vital step to consider. You’re already well-assured that they can provide you with high-quality talents, but it’s just a matter of discussing numbers.

Talk to your hiring team and superiors about this. Will it be worth it? Is it still within budget? How badly do you need to fill the position? This can influence your decision.

Alternatively, you can look at the prices of their services beforehand. It could be a better time to get to know a recruitment agency and its recruiters than to find out they are way too expensive. You can get such information listed on their website or via online reviews. 

Remember to look at the bigger picture. While it may seem costly initially, think about the return in the long run.