Advantages and disadvantages of working with a recruitment agency

Working with a recruitment agency can help you save time both in recruitment and in running your company. However, before you begin to search for the right recruitment agency, it is worth taking some time to consider whether or not it is worth using a recruitment agency at all. The decision to hire a recruitment agency could make all the difference if you are looking to fill certain types of roles within your business, quickly. This article discusses the pros and cons of using a recruitment agency and steps to follow to work with one.

What is a recruitment agency?

A recruitment agency is a company which helps companies streamline their hiring process by sourcing suitable candidates for their open vacancies. A recruitment agency will receive a placement fee if the company hires one of their candidates.

What are the advantages of working with a recruitment agency?

Sourcing candidates quickly

Recruitment agencies work with candidates who are seeking new positions which means that a recruitment agency will potentially already have a set of candidates for your vacancy which can save you time searching through talent pools on LinkedIn. If you are hiring for multiple new jobs, a recruitment consultant can help you shortlist the best candidates quickly.

Frees up internal resources

Working with a recruitment agency means you do not need to invest as much in your own internal recruitment function and can instead allocate resources to other business functions. For this reason, working with a recruitment agency can be useful at the start of your journey as an entrepreneur.

Improve your Employer brand

If you are at the start of your journey, you might not have enough of a track record as an employer to naturally attract quality candidates. Working with a recruitment agency can help you be noticed and have conversations with top talent. Moreover, recruitment agencies know what the best candidates are looking for in potential employers which means that they can help you improve your employer brand.

What are the disadvantages of working with a recruitment agency?

Expensive and time consuming

The cost of hiring with recruitment agencies can be expensive as placement fees are usually a percentage of the candidate's remuneration. Moreover, briefing headhunters about your requirements both in terms of skillsets and company culture can take a large amount of time which could be saved if you had your own in house recruiters.

Recommended candidates are not always qualified

Despite spending time writing job descriptions and briefing recruitment agencies about your requirements, recommended candidates might not always be relevant for your job and company when you are looking for niche roles. For example, recruitment agencies won't always appreciate the differences in software development roles and languages unless they are a specialised firm.

Conflict of interest with your own recruitment process

When you post job adverts on job boards like LinkedIn you are likely to attract qualified candidates on your own. Using recruitment services can go against your own recruitment efforts which is why you need to determine if both can coexist or if you should use agency recruiters in the first place.

How to work with a recruitment agency?

Once you have determined your staffing requirements and that your hiring managers are comfortable working with a recruitment agency, you can start by identifying specialist recruiters to support your own recruitment efforts. You should then enter into a recruitment agency terms of business agreement to define the nature and terms of the recruitment services. You can then brief them on the job roles and communicate objective suitability criteria to help them determine the right candidates as efficiently as possible. Finally, when are ready to make a job offer, you should ensure you have the right employment contracts in place to offer a professional contracting experience and great first impression to your new employees.

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The opinions on this page are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice on which you should rely.