Recruitment agencies FAQ: A comprehensive guide

Recruitment agencies FAQ: A comprehensive guide

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What do recruitment agencies do?

Most people will be familiar with recruitment agencies in some way, but a lot of people don’t know how they actually work. In the simplest of terms, recruitment agencies work with clients directly on job vacancies and source quality candidates to fill those vacancies. Clients then essentially pay a finder’s fee to the agency.

However, the world of recruitment has been evolving and expanding its services to include work around consulting, payroll services and executive search. At RECRUITERS, we offer all of these services to employers as well as a care model for companies’ contractor workforce. This means that companies are protected by legislation because we essentially employ the contingent workers and look after them through our care model, offering additional benefits such as Taxsaver tickets, VHI cover and even an annual summer BBQ.

How do recruitment agencies work?

Recruitment agencies work for both clients and candidates. Clients come to them with job vacancies they want to be filled, agencies will then post a job vacancy through various tools such LinkedIn, job boards and their own site.

They will also have a database of candidates, which they can already start searching through to come up with the perfect shortlist. They then pre-screen the candidates, prep them and put them forward for an interview with the employer.

If an agency’s candidate is successful, the client will pay the ‘finder’s fee’, which is usually a percentage of the successful candidate’s salary. Fees vary between recruitment agencies and they can vary for other factors. For example, some fees might be lower in cases where there is high volume and the fee is guaranteed. On the other side, certain fees might go above average for a hard-to-find candidate.

I’m a jobseeker. Do I have to pay recruitment agencies?

No. In Ireland, to have an agency license you cannot charge candidates, you can only charge clients. Typically, the client pays a fee for you to hire someone for them. This is usually a percentage of salary.

The services of a recruitment agency are completely free for candidates and jobseekers and the benefits are enormous. A recruitment consultant can help you position yourself better, give you solid interview advice and give you access to jobs you may not even know about.

So, how do consultants get paid?

Recruitment consultants have a base salary and then make a commission on the candidates they place, which is paid by the employer as a percentage of the candidate’s salary. There may be a ‘fees’ threshold that consultants have to reach before they start making commission and that threshold will increase as they become more senior, but so does their base salary and target.

Does that mean the candidate earns less money when placed by a consultant?

No, it means the clients pay the recruitment agency the fee directly. It is not taken out of the new employee’s salary, that is merely how it is calculated. However, it also means clients don’t have to pay the fee until the consultant gives them a successful candidate.

Why do job ads on recruitment agencies not show company names?

Candidates who are familiar with recruitment agency job ads may have noticed that they commonly leave out the name of the actual company. There can be a number of reasons behind this. Sometimes this is a client-driven decision because they haven’t communicated internally that they’re hiring yet, or the recruitment agency may have been asked to work in the background and not make it known yet.

The other reason behind it is to eliminate bias on the candidate’s side and to capture a wider audience. As a candidate, you will more than likely have your own opinions about companies or industries and seeing that information on a job spec could turn you off before you even look at the role. Leaving out the company’s names can help you focus on the role itself.

Who are recruitment consultants really working for?

The nature of recruitment work means that agencies and consultants have two customers: clients and candidates. Without one or the other, they cannot be successful, so they are genuinely working for both.

However, there is an important distinction that can often be forgotten about. The employers are the ones that pay the fee. Candidates receive a free service from recruitment agencies, while employers pay for the privilege of being offered a top-quality candidate, so it’s important that agencies work hard to find the perfect candidate for their clients.

That’s not to say that consultants don’t have their candidates’ best interests in mind. After all, a well-matched candidate who is happy with their new job means a better relationship with the consultant, a better commission and a satisfied client. At RECRUITERS, we work hard to help candidates find their dream job, prep them diligently for interviews, communicate with them throughout the process and advocate for them at offer stage. Our glowing Trustpilot reviews shows our dedication to candidates, while our success stories show our commitment to our clients.

What happens to my data as a candidate?

While each recruitment agency is different, GDPR rules mean that your data should not be kept on file without your permission. At RECRUITERS, we treat our candidates’ data with respect. When we put a candidate into the system, they are sent an email informing them of how the data will be used and about our privacy policy.

The data is shared by the candidate and we get permission from them to share it with the client and we keep the candidate informed at all stages.

This has also reduced the amount of ‘spray and pray’ at an industry level because being GDPR-compliant means CVs won’t be sent blindly to several clients without initially touching base with candidates and talking to them first.

Why should I use a recruitment agency to find a job?

A lot of people wonder why they should bother with a recruitment agency when they can look for their own job instead. But some of the biggest benefits are, by their very nature, hidden. For example, agencies have access and knowledge of so many more jobs than you could possibly find. Not all jobs go onto traditional job sites, while others will be in companies that you’ll have never heard of.

At RECRUITERS, we’ve often placed people in jobs where they’ve never heard of the company before but they’re so grateful because they turn out to be fantastic companies. On the flip side, it can also be the best way to get into those well-known but hard-to-reach companies.

Additionally, a good recruitment consultant will have insider knowledge about the company, the culture, the business plans and even what the hiring manager is really like. An agency gives candidates that extra buffer between them and the company, meaning they can ask questions they wouldn’t dare ask the actual employer. Check out more reasons why you should use a recruiter for your next job search here.

But will an agency be honest about the bad parts of a role?

A good agency will always present a full picture of the role, the company and the problems as well as the major selling points. Our managing director Gerard Doyle personally believes it’s important to never hide the bad parts of the role because that will just be a bad reflection on the agency once they’re in there and it’s not worth it.

No company is without problems, but all roles will have their own benefits and opportunities for the right person. It’s just a matter of finding them, being frank about the cons and then sell the best parts. While we can’t speak for all recruitment agencies, honesty is one of our company values at RECRUITERS because we know that working with an agency you can trust to tell the truth is extremely important.

Recruitment agencies will also be able to assist candidate on how to properly position yourself in the market, highlight roles you may not have considered and expertly prepare you for your job interview. These are just some of the reasons why jobseekers should use recruitment agencies.

As a company, why should I use a recruitment agency to find talent?

Similar to jobseekers getting access to jobs, agencies can give clients or employers much better access to talent. The network that agencies have will far outweigh a single company’s reach. It also means that if you need to fill a role on short notice, good recruitment agencies are likely to be able to get a quality shortlist to you in as little as three days depending on the role. This will reduce the cost of replacing employees who leave.

Even if you don’t need a shortlist in such a small amount of time, agencies have systems and processes in place to eradicate the time you would have to spend on looking for talent from scratch. It also means you have a trusted third party who you can trust to give you a good candidate. And, once again, this means that you can get a better insight about the candidates.

Companies and leaders can often wonder whether or not a third party is necessary for their talent acquisition and if they’d be better off just doing it themselves, but benefits of recruitment agencies far outweigh the costs. Aside from the extensive network and the shorter hiring times, good agencies can also streamline hiring processes and share expert knowledge around interviewing practices, CV selection, benchmarking, employer branding and much more.

Once you’ve decided a recruitment agency is right for you, it’s just a matter of deciding which agency is right for you. You need to know they are equipped to deal with your particular needs and you need to know what their screening methods and processes are. Remember, not all recruitment agencies are the same.

What exactly is executive search?

Many recruitment agencies now offer an executive search service, which is specialised to find the best executives to fill senior roles. Talented senior executives rarely apply for roles due to their current level of responsibilities and tend to be the most passive talent and therefore the hardest to find.

As part of RECRUITERS’ executive search service, we understand the impacts having a senior vacancy can have on your reputation internally and externally, so we work quickly and discreetly to find and carefully screen the best candidates for senior level roles such as chief officers and directors.

What does a job in recruitment look like?

Recruitment is an exciting and incredibly fulfilling career. Being able to help people find their dream jobs and plug talent gaps for employers feels amazing and it comes with a lot of praise from both clients and candidates. But as with any job, there are both pros and cons to working as a recruitment consultant.

Outside of helping people, recruitment has an extremely strong sales element to it, which means good commission opportunities. So, not only is the job really satisfying, but also financially rewarding.

In terms of day-to-day tasks, a recruitment consultant will have to conduct job analysis using internal tools and processes. They will then have to produce high-quality job descriptions and person specifications to help search for candidates, as well as advertising the jobs on job sites and social media.

Consultants then have to search for the best candidates, pre-screen them and produce a viable shortlist, which they will then have to interview. This will not only give them a chance to screen the candidate further or prep them for interview, but it will help them build a network of candidates.

Business development is also a really important part of being a consultant because not only do they have to build their candidate network but also their client network so that the jobs keep coming. They will also need to have strong relationship-building skills to maintain both networks. But through all of this networking and development, the opportunities, responsibilities and progression are massive and it’s why people move into the recruitment space and stay there.

A job as a recruitment consultant is target driven. That means hitting targets and KPIs on a monthly basis. It also means they’re working with people, who are both responsive and transient. That means they’ll be grateful when you get them the job they want, but it also means they might decide at the last minute not to accept the job, which means consultants also have to deal with rejection.

Read Garrett O’Gorman’s recruitment story

How do I get a job as a recruitment consultant?

If you want to be a recruitment consultant, we don’t blame you, it’s amazing for loads of reasons. But there’s some things you should think about first. It’s really important to have a background in sales or at least a sales mind, because if you’re not motivated by targets and, to some extent, money, you may not enjoy it.

Another important element is that you have to like working with people. You will be meeting candidates on a daily basis, influencing them and selling jobs to them. However, while working with people and wanting to help them is important, the sales element is still important.

A great recruiter is commercially aware. They will know the market in which they’re recruiting, who the best companies are and everything else there possibly is to know about their industry.

Being aware of targets, and having somewhat of a sales head is important but that doesn’t have to come from formal sales experience. For example, RECRUITERS managing director Gerard Doyle said that those with teaching backgrounds have often proven good in recruitment, especially if they are frustrated at working for a fixed salary and if they feel the job is a bit thankless. As mentioned, recruiting consultants get a lot of thanks and praise in their line of work, both from candidates and clients. Equally, there are a lot of similarities between a role in marketing and a role in recruitment. It’s about knowing what a recruitment role entails and figuring out if those parts or similar elements of your own job appeal to you.

You should be sociable but also emotionally resilient. Remember, consultants have to take a lot of rejection and they also essentially work for no fee right up until their candidate is chosen so resilience is vital. Other key skills include the ability to influence, lead and listen. Want to know what else makes a great recruitment consultant? Click here.

So, what do I need to know about working at RECRUITERS?

RECRUITERS is a positive, upbeat and fun place to spend your working week. We are a team that enjoys working and hanging out together. We trust each other and support one another to work as a team and deliver a great service.

RECRUITERS believes in a healthy work-life balance. Being in the recruitment industry, we’ve seen all the good and all the bad company cultures out there. Culture can never be forced but we’ve definitely done everything in our power to avoid the bad. RECRUITERS lives by its values and we promote the wellbeing and growth of our colleagues.

Meetups, events, lunches, summer BBQs, seminars, after-work drinks and random parties are all part of what makes RECRUITERS a brilliant place to work. Our social club does a great job of organising our social calendar. A monthly budget is set aside to fund new and exciting ideas.

We support numerous charity events and will continue to contribute to good causes, including a collection at Christmas for those less fortunate. GOAL is our charity of choice. We offer free recruitment and employer branding services for GOAL. This in an effort to help them attract and retain good quality talent to help them continue to do fantastic work across the world. 

After being named as ‘Ones to Watch’, RECRUITERS have been awarded national winner for ‘Business of the Year’ in the 2019 European Business Awards. Read more about this milestone achievement here.

RECRUITERS have been awarded “best-in-class” nine times by the National Recruitment Federation, Ireland’s official recruitment governing body. Such awards have included:

RECRUITERS also recently picked up an award at the All-Star Business Summit for Best Managed Services Recruitment Professionals of the Year 2018/2019. Our managing director, Gerard Doyle, was also nominated for “CEO of the Year” at the Business All-Star Awards. 

There are a lot of great reasons to work in recruitment but there are even more great reasons to work for RECRUITERS.

Are there any questions about recruitment agencies that you feel we haven’t answered? Let us know! Email our marketing manager Andrew Sheehan at andrew.sheehan@recruiters.ie.

Question mark photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash