Choosing a Recruitment Agency

The alternative option to DIY recruitment is to contract a recruitment agency. This is the best option if you have considered your options, the cost to your business and the risk of losing more than the cost of the services.
Now before you think this option is the safest way you need to be aware of the pitfalls here too.
With so many recruitment companies out there how do you choose???
The main advice I can give you here is the interview process starts by interviewing the recruiter.
You need to make sure which ever company you choose, they must have a very clear understanding of what you are looking for and their processes are professional and effective. You could find you have contracted the service of a recruitment agency yet you still become the person doing all the work which is not too far away from the DIY recruitment option. In my experience I found that I was receiving so many CV's and questioned why these candidates were being sent to me. If that starts to happen you can be sure the recruiter has no idea what you are looking for and just hoping they get lucky with one. In the mean time who is the one filtering through all the CV's? Yes you!

Here are a few tips to consider before you decide which recruiter is for you:
• Are they industry specialists?
• What is the consultant's industry experience?
• Ask them to explain their interview process including questioning?
• How do they match their candidates to the role?
• Gain knowledge of their previous work. Ask for references and call them.

You need to beware of the recruiters who phone you offering CV's that may be of interest.
How do they know this person may be of interest? Does the candidate know their life story is being touted around town? Don't just accept these CV's ask them about the candidate in detail. Find out just how much they know about this person and if they have already done reference checks.
Most of the time these agents are trying to win a quick sale at your expense. Don't get me wrong there are others who have a genuine understanding of your business or the skills of their candidate. So how do you know who to trust?

Ask the following:
• How did you identify this person as a suitable employee for my business?
• How did you come across this person?
• When did you last interview this person?
• Why are they available or looking for a new role?
• How long has this person been looking for a job?
• How many interviews has this person had?
• Why where they unsuccessful in previous applications?

A good recruiter would have been through the interview process with their candidate and identified the right companies to approach. By asking these questions above you can quickly identify time wasters and a lack of ethics.
The last thing you want are dozens of CV's on your desk to review. You are paying for a service not for someone to send you CV after CV which ends up seeing you doing the work.

Short lists are usually 3 candidates depending on the role, at a max 5.

Another danger area is using multiple recruiters. The pitfall is desperation on the recruiter. The normal rule here is the 1st Recruiter to send the CV and that candidate is successful then they win the business. So think about that for a moment. What incentive have you just given them? You have added a fear factor which in most cases creates panic and failure in a process. There will be a point when they will just send any half decent candidates to the client just to make sure any CV is in front of them, even when that person has not been interviewed and possibly has no idea they have applied for the role. I have had this experience with my candidates. I have put them forward for a role only to be told they already have their CV. The candidate has no idea and has never met the agency. What happens now is you have more than 1 recruiter sending you CV after CV. You now have 2 or 3 or more times the amount of CV's. Again who is doing all the work?
What if you have a recruiter providing a professional service while another is just sending CV after CV and gets lucky? They will just give up as they have no chance of competing unless they drop to the same standard. Which business model are you promoting?
It is your choice, your money and your resource so use it wisely. If you are going to go with multiple recruiters for whatever reason, then please make sure their processes are similar, they have the right industry experience to meet your needs and their reputations are professional by following the above tips.

Other topics of interest:

• The Pitfalls of DIY Recruiting
• Hidden Cost of Staff Replacement
• Taking advantage of a recession