We are often asked to work on jobs alongside other Recruitment Agencies. The client believes that multiple agencies have different candidates on their books and therefore this approach offers more choice. Is this true?
The simple answer is… no.
What is actually happening is that the same candidate is applying for the same job with 3 or more different agencies. You will only see the same candidates from what is a very small pool of people actively seeking work. This is further exacerbated where there are skills shortages, which we have seen as particularly acute in Conveyancing and Specialist Precision Engineering roles.
Think of it from a candidates perspective too. The candidate will be contacted by multiple agencies about the same job, which will make your role look desperate, difficult to fill, at worst a poisoned chalice.
So what should you do? We suggest you choose your Recruitment partner carefully and list with one, at most two, trusted Recruitment partners.
When listing your job, ask the Recruitment Agency what they are doing to secure the very best candidates.
If they say advertising on job boards and in the newspapers, think again! They will only target the active job seekers that all the other agencies are chasing too.
You are looking for recruitment partner who will proactively source passive candidates who are not necessarily looking for a job, nor have their CVs on the job boards. These candidates are often the very best candidates and can be enticed into joining your company with the right Executive Search and Selection approach. A good agency will also look for the right attitude and cultural fit to your company, which will help employee retention.
You should also look for a personalised approach, a Recruitment Consultant who is easy to contact via phone and doesn’t hide behind e-mails. This is super important in roles where there are candidate shortages, as once you have identified your ideal candidate, you need to snap them up quickly.
