How to Choose a Recruiting and Staffing Vendor for Your Business

How to Choose a Recruiting and Staffing Vendor
By Asad Haroon, CEO of InsideUp.com

Recruiting involves sourcing, screening, interviewing and selecting the right individuals for your organization. Large companies usually have in-house recruiters, but smaller firms may look outside to hire an Executive Search Firm or headhunter when hiring people at a certain level. Staffing firms can provide your company with temporary, long-term help or permanent hires. Some staffing agencies provide a wide variety of individuals, while other agencies specialize in one particular area, like IT or accounting. Staffing agencies are plentiful. Some are large international companies, while others are small, locally-owned firms.

There are some important things to consider when choosing to work with a recruiting form or a staffing agency:

Specialization - Are you looking for a variety of employees or are you staffing a specific position? If you need accounting help, or are looking for a VP of Finance, it makes sense to choose an agency or individual that specializes in accounting and finance. If you need administrative help, a general staffing agency might be the best bet.

How do they locate and screen candidates? - What type of advertising do they use: newspaper advertising, job fairs, online staffing sites? Are they aggressive in finding the candidates you need? What type of reference/background checks do they routinely use?

How do they handle employee issues? - If a temporary employee fails to show, do they have replacements at the ready? Will they handle the counseling of employees while they are on the staffing firm's payroll? Understanding these expectations can

Cost - Recruiting and staffing fees generally charge you an hourly rate that is at least 20% higher than they pay the employee. For permanent, executive-level positions, they may charge a flat fee which could range into several thousands of dollars. Find out exactly what it will cost you to bring on a new employee. Price differences may reflect different levels of service.

Will you have a designated recruiter? - Is there one person assigned to your account or will there be multiple people doing your recruiting? Who do you follow up with if you are not satisfied?

What do others say? A vendor's reputation is the key to a successful relationship. Ask for references and call all of them. Do a Google search and check the Better Business Bureau for complaints. Compose questions that are important for your company, and make notes of any potential problem areas that you find. Go back and discuss these problems with the vendor.

Employees are a company's greatest asset, but recruiting and hiring can be labor intensive. Choosing and retaining exceptional talent is one of the most important factors in a company's success. Making a bad hiring decision can be costly in a variety of ways, so turning to specialists makes sense. If you need help finding a recruting and staffing vendor, click here. If you are not at the point that you need your own on-site recruiter, and you want recruiting and staffing firms to compete for your business, click here. For additional information, click here.