ARE RECRUITMENT AGENCIES VALUE FOR MONEY

As the jobs market shows continuing signs of improvement, businesses and candidates are often left with the same dilemma – “are recruitment agencies value for money?”

Talking among colleagues you may hear snippets such as ‘agency XXX will only charge £500 to fill this role’ or ‘I can advertise in the local newspaper for £1,000′.  Sometimes you may even hear of candidates being charged by agencies to find them work. So how can businesses be sure that they are getting value for money from a recruitment agency? 

Cathy Bates of Essential Personnel offers some good advice to put you on the right track:

“If you are paying a recruitment agency to find you a job, STOP NOW!  You should not pay money to a recruitment agency to find you work. 

“The very best agencies will pre-screen and target employers with your CV, offer interview advice, give feedback, appraise interviews you have attended and post useful blogs & information to help you find a job.”

Similarly valuable advice is also available to clients looking for candidates; Mark Murphy from Hiring for Attitude has some interesting stats to share: 

46% of new hires fail in the first 18 months and only 19% will be highly successful

A good agency will target the very best candidates for your role, the 19% who will be highly successful, the passive candidates who are not actively looking for work.

Essential Personnel’s Marketing Manager Joanne Rowbotham advises on best practice to ensure a successful experience:

1. Recruiters must take time to understand your business, the niche skillsets and most importantly, the attitude required to be a top performer in your business. 
2. A good agency spends time building a pool of candidates for each role through headhunting, networking and social media
3. Next stage is to filter out unsuitable CVs and meet with candidates face to face. 

“If an agency offers to fill your role for £500, I would ask what they are doing to fill your role.   Are they targeting the best people, or are they merely trawling the available CVs on the job boards and sending them to you? 

Cathy concludes by saying:

“The only time you should pay for a recruitment agency is when they have successfully placed the candidate. With the right approach, a recruitment agency can be phenomenal value for money.”

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