Most of my contemporaries have expressed negative impressions about using recruitment or staffing firms in finding a job (they are technically called recruitment agencies, or employment agencies). Indeed, job seeking through recruitment or staffing firms qualifies under the many contentious topics in human resource.
If you’ve used recruitment agencies before no doubt your opinions will range from some are good, some bad and “OMG! Seriously? Why did I bother?”.
In this post, we’ll talk about how they can help you and more importantly how you can help yourself get the best out of the services they offer.
What is a recruitment agency?
For starters, recruitment agencies (or recruitment firms) are outside firms who go and find candidates for employers.
However, please do not confuse recruitment agencies with employment agencies. The main difference lies in who ends up being your employer.
On the one hand, if you get a job through a recruitment agency, you will be an employee of the employer. On the other hand, If you get a job through an employment agency, you will be an employee of the employment agency.
Usually, employment agencies provide IT support people to firms (e.g. IT staffing and recruitment), and professional engineering roles are normally found through recruitment agencies.
Why do employers use recruitment agencies?
Well, it’s pretty simple. Employers N.E.E.D. them.
Network. Recruitment agencies typically have a vast database of candidates. This vast database can easily be tapped when the need arises. Aside from the database, recruitment agencies are actively sourcing candidates.
Expertise. Employers often rely on recruitment agencies to recruit for roles they have little expertise on, such as IT and engineering roles. Without the necessary knowledge in these fields, recruiting the best candidate for the role could really be challenging and difficult.
Efficiency. Recruiting people is cumbersome. It takes a lot of time and patience (and people). For many firms it is a real struggle to find enough time to do it well. Imagine, an employer has to go over plenty of applications to look for the candidate perfect for the job. As mentioned, there are roles to be filled that require a good grasp or knowledge about on the part of the recruiter. So if an employer does not know much or has very little appreciation about a particular job they want to fill, a recruitment agency might come in handy – plenty of applications and low knowledge about the jobs to be filled is an ugly combination.
With the help of a recruitment agency, recruiting becomes easier and more efficient for the employers. Recruiting agencies source their candidates from various channels or media, and screen them to get the best fit for the jobs employers wish to fill. This saves a lot of time, and at the same time increase the quality of hires.
Dependability. Recruitment agencies seek to please all parties involve, the employer and the candidates. A recruitment agency’s social capital is its biggest asset; so, they’ll see to it everyone is happy.
And you N.E.E.D. them, too.
It’s established that employers use recruitment agencies. If you wish to land a job, you need to tap the benefits a recruitment firm can offer you.
Take advantage of their network. Not only do they have a vast database of candidates, they have an extensive network of employers, too. So, if you are working full-time, recruitment firms can work to source opportunities on your behalf.
Specialist recruitment firms such as IT staffing and recruitment firms have the latest labor market information about their sector and can provide useful application tips and assistance to you. Their expertise in their field of specialism (say IT staffing, or engineering recruitment) ensures you get the best and the latest opportunities out there in the market.
Ultimately, they are dependable because they have a stake in your success. It’s in their best interest to prepare you well for a potential job, for their reputation greatly depends on the people they place or recommend to employers; so if you look bad, then they look bad. So, they’ll help you in ways that are possible to prep you up for the job.
Just a take home insight: In the IT sector, there is a vast gap between demand for and supply of qualified IT professionals. Companies are turning to IT staffing and recruitment companies to go after the best talent. So, yes, you should use recruitment agencies in finding a job.
So, if you are an IT professional looking for better opportunities, do not hesitate to contact us today!