Using an Employment Agency Might Result In a Fast Job Placement

An employment agency has a couple of other names like a recruiting firm, staffing agency, and a job agency. An employment agency connects job seekers with hiring managers. The opposite is also true; an employment agency provides employers with highly skilled job candidates who are a good fit for their open positions.

Staffing agencies are all over the world and exist in nearly all industries. Some employment agencies specialize in one or more niches, while others operate in a particular geographical area. These agencies help companies simplify the process of hiring entry-level and mid-level employees.

Employment agencies hire workers for all types of jobs, from part-time, temporary, contract, and full-time basis, in multiple career fields. Whether a client company needs an administrative assistant, a nurse, carpenter, or a manager, an employment agency can find the right candidate for the open position.

How Does an Employment Agency Work?

A job candidate doesn't pay to register with a staffing agency. Instead, the employer pays the agency to find them a good fit for an open position. There are multiple ways in which employment agencies get paid, but they earn a certain percentage of a candidate's first salary in most cases. This means that an agency makes money once a candidate is hired.

Why do employers work with staffing agencies? It may seem like a considerable expense, but it saves the company some money in the long run. According to researchers, small and medium businesses spent 40% of their time on activities that are not part of their core competencies, one of them being hiring.

Outsourcing such activities can free up time and resources that can be used to generate more leads for their businesses. An employment agency can handle every phase of the hiring process for an employer, including designing job descriptions, sourcing candidates, conducting pre-interviews, or even conducting the final interviews. However, using an employment agency has both pros and cons for a business.

Benefits of Using an Employment Agency

Recruiting new workers can be a time-consuming and expensive exercise for companies. Organizations recognize the benefits of filling open jobs with top talents who can boost their business. For that reason, numerous employers value the need for specialized support in the recruiting process. Here are the benefits of using an employment agency for businesses:

• Advertise Roles - In most cases, employers do not receive applications that meet requirements when they advertise for vacancies. Maybe they are looking for candidates with specific years of experience, but the CVs they receive don't meet the criteria. Often, this is a result of poor advertising. Employment agencies not only advertise roles but also continuously seek professionals who fit the job description.
• Ability to Identify Talent - Recruiting agencies have unique skills that help them hire the right candidate. They know how to measure a candidate's capability and know job seeker's salary expectations. A staffing agency has robust connections and has ideas on finding suitable individuals for a job position.
• Interview Candidates - Staffing agencies conduct interviews on behalf of an employer, which saves both time and money. An agency can conduct a pre-interview screening over the phone to learn one or two things about the individuals. They also conduct background checking on a job candidate, a daunting exercise for an organization's HR department.

Disadvantages of Using an Employment Agency

There are also some disadvantages to using employment agencies as well. They include: 

• Costs - Working with a staffing agency is a significant investment. The price charged by agencies varies with recruitment strategies and the salary. For a permanent role, an agency may charge a certain percentage of the annual salary. In the long run, these costs may go beyond a company's recruitment budget.
• Cultural Fit - When a company hires a recruitment agency to advertise a role, the agency won't market the company's brand fully. A company has to find a reputable recruiting agency to advertise its business in the right manner. Mostly, second-hand information is inaccurate and may lead to cultural fit related problems.It might be quite challenging for an employment agency to ensure that potential candidates are the perfect match for a company's culture. Often, staffing agencies strive to source the right candidate for the job but care less about cultural fit.