As a recruiter, you would expect that I'd recommend using a recruitment agency ahead of any other means of filling a role. I will and this is why.
Advertising a role doesn't necessarily mean the right people see it. Even advertising in a specialty publication or on an industry website relies on the chance of someone seeing your ad.
People at the top of their game are busy doing their job. How do you get to them? A recruiter can target and contact people who are appropriate for a role in a way an employer can't. A recruiter will have an existing database to peruse and a network of contacts. They will have interviewed people who have said: "When a role like this comes up, contact me".
When advertising a role, you can only choose from the people who apply. You're choosing the best of the bunch, rather than the best of the best.
The other thing is, often people write terrible, terrible ads. Mostly the ads don't say what the job is or make any sense. Job ads aren't only to attract candidates: they are a promotion of your business.
Hiring badly outweighs the cost of using a recruitment agency. Cheap and fast doesn't deliver the best results. Last year my company conducted an independent survey on recruitment and HR in the public and private sectors of the media and entertainment industry. We had more than 600 respondents.
Our results showed that while 72% of employers thought social media was the cheapest way of recruiting and 63% considered it the fastest, only 14% thought it delivered quality.
When asked about using recruitment agencies, 42% said using an agency was time efficient and 68% thought a recruiter delivered the highest quality candidates and best results. It's true that using a recruiter is more expensive than using social media to find your next employee, but it's going to give you the best results.
You don't want to be inundated by wannabes and gonnabes. You want the gun.
Employing the best candidate means they will stay for a long time. They will deliver results and have a positive impact on other people in the business -- as well as meeting both your expectations and their KPIs.
Before setting out to find candidates for a client, a good recruiter will determine what the employer's real needs are. A recruiter can help define whether changes need to be made to a position description, rather than just filling the role that someone has left.
When you look for a recruiter, you should look for a partner in your business, who understands you and who you like to work with.
Every time a recruiter recommends a candidate, the recruiter's name is on the line. So an important part of the process for the recruiter is getting an honest understanding of where candidates are at. When good recruiters interview people, they are exploring the real candidate: their aspirations, driving factors and limitations along with their experience, skills and qualities.
This is all aimed at delivering the best candidates to the client to choose from. The best of the best, not the best of the bunch!