Dealing with Recruitment Agencies.

During a person’s career it may be appropriate to engage the services of an Employment Specialist or Recruitment Agency in order to secure meaningful employment. There are a number of issues that the candidate should be aware of
when dealing with such organisations and there is also a significant amount of legislation the governs how such companies are allowed to operate including the Data Protection Act and the Employment Agencies Act to name but two. There are also organisations such as the Recruitment and Employment Confederation that seek influence and assist to govern this industry.

Recruitment consultancies are businesses that seek to make profit from introducing candidates to prospective employers in order to satisfy their recruitment needs. We have discussed the recruitment process in depth elsewhere in these notes but you should be aware that it is the practise of many companies to engage the services of agencies in order to secure the best candidates for their future success.

Why would a company engage a recruitment consultant? Well, generally this is a question of time and efficiency. If the company is relatively modest in size and all of the managers fulfil a productive function, it may not be the most efficient use of their time and skills to write recruitment advertisements, read application letters, screen candidates and interview for days on end. Not everyone in business has had the benefit it being trained to become skilled in search, selection and recruitment in the same way that we cannot all be great footballer’s, pianist or welders! Similarly, some companies operate within a highly technical or specialised environment such as the IT sector or Design Engineering, Aerospace or Telephony. Within many industries the skills and experience necessary to be successful are unique and specific and it is not unusual to find that individual recruitment consultants specialise in just one,
highly specific area.
On a more general theme, there are many hundreds of local recruitment consultancies who deal on a far more general basis within sections including Administration, Clerical, Accounting, Blue-Collar, Light Engineering, Construction and the Retail sectors but focus purely on their immediate geographical area. Such agencies also provide temporary work opportunities for such things as holiday cover or maternity leave for administrative, clerical and reception duties, to name but a few.
These independent agencies compete with the larger high street agencies that are part of National Groups, some of who specialist in office staff, others who have a high street presence complimented by centralised departments to deal with the more specialist vacancies.
This is not the place to comment on whom we would recommend and endorse as this may vary greatly depending on the locality, industry sector and individual consultant. Suffice to say the candidate should look for certain assurances regarding the confidentiality of their personal information and the ethics and practises of the company concerned.

Recruitment consultants do serve a useful purpose in the recruitment process and can be a valuable asset to the candidate seeking work. It may have been 2 or 3 years since you were last in the employment market and it is probable that your interview skills have become a touch rusty. The successful recruitment consultant is the trusted ally of the employer and will have valuable advice and insight as to the recruitment practises and interview techniques, not to mention personalities of the company concerned. Similarly, this person will be doing this all day, every day and will be uncovering numerous employment opportunities while they work. If you are looking for alternative employment while still in work, it is doubtful that you will have the time, resources or contacts that this person has so it may be beneficial for you to find one that you trust and build a long-term relationship with them.

An additional comment would be to advise the candidate that a typical recruitment consultant will receive anything from 50 to 500 cv’s a day. While they may not all be relevant to the vacancies that they are currently recruiting for, the sheer volume of applicants and candidates will probably prevent them from remembering you in any great depth. Generally a recruitment consultant will utilise some form of data management tool or software to store and access their cv archive and to record details of transactions, conversations and so on. While nobody minds a gentle reminder or follow-up call, the candidate would be well advised to give a busy recruiter some space without hassling them for updates and opportunities.

Recruitment consultant’s work on two levels of assignment:
• On Retainer – generally an agency will be paid to provide a specific level of service to a client and will be paid upon selection, interview and subsequent appointment of the successful candidate. This demonstrates the confidence and trust that a company has in the ability of the specific agency.
• On Placement – this is how the majority of agencies work. It’s a no win = no fee agreement where terms are agreed and if the company accept and appoint a candidate introduced by the agency then a fee becomes payable. In addition, vacancies are categorised in a number of different ways also with recruitment consultants dealing with employment opportunities as follows:
• Sole Agency - this means that their client company will not be dealing with any other recruitment sources other that this specific agency. This is generally the case for very senior appointments or where the client is a high profile organisation and is designed to ensure a consistency of approach while dispensing with the numerous calls from other recruitment consultants trying to place candidates with them.
• Preferred Supplier – this means that a company has selected a limited number of agencies with whom they are prepared to do business and fees and terms have been agreed in advance. This is a positive endorsement of the agency in question and is generally achieved after both parties have established a successful business relationship.
• “On spec” – Agencies are often aware of vacancies before the employer when a new candidate registers with them for example. The candidate should be cautious about an agency submitting their details speculatively, especially as it has been the practise of some agencies to use this scatter-gun approach to submitting a strong candidate’s details on an unsolicited basis to numerous prospective employers without having established a need or agreed terms first. The candidate could find himself or herself involved in potential conflict due to such an unorthodox approach.

In summary, there are a great many excellent recruiters out there who do a really important and worthwhile job in finding people work that they enjoy. We would simply emphasise caution in the candidate and suggest that they look for certain assurances regarding security, confidentiality, stability of the organisation and the basis upon which they do business before entrusting their most personal details to a stranger.


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