Working with recruitment agencies to find the right candidates for job vacancies is increasingly seen as a cost-effective and productive way of working for many companies.

The old misconception of – consultants will just send any candidates’ CVs and charge expensive fees – may still be held by some companies but this is often due to a lack of understanding about the features and benefits of recent recruitment agency’s service, competition and market demands.

1. Client’s Objective is Prime - Once the Client company has decided to appoint a recruitment consultant, it has to decide at which level(s) it will be involved in the recruitment process! Basically, the screening of the CVs is done by the consultant himself. With this done, a major achievement is realized for the client company and now, its HR staff can look at other tasks like validating the prospects by conducting initial telephone conversation to ascertain interest level, communication ability, relevance of past experience of the prospects. By doing this, the client underscores the suitability factor again.

2. Cost of recruitment process – the majority of consultancy services for the recruitment of permanent staff are provided on a – ‘No placement, No fee’ – basis, besides there is, in most cases, a rebate (replacement) period, usually of up to 3 months from the candidate commencing employment if the candidate does not work out. So, this makes it conditional for the consultant to find only the interested candidates or else they may leave within first three months. And, the investment of consultant goes for a toss!

3. Time is the main resource crunch – companies often consider how much of their HR staffs’ time will be taken up by; preparing, writing and posting job advertisements, sorting through the applications, pre-screening candidates etc. This can often take up several hours of every day and at the expense to the company, especially when compared to just meeting and briefing a recruitment consultant and then only looking at pre-screened qualified candidates.

4. Recruiter’s Expertise in the selected field – by working with specialist recruitment agencies for vacancies such as in sales & marketing, start up assignments, profit center head positions, business development skill sets, leadership skills etc., companies can get easy access to candidates already on the consultancy’s database and can also seek advice on industry latest trends, candidate availability, salary surveys etc. Here, it is essential that the company agrees to pertinent suggestions made by the consultant.

5. Confidentiality is maintained throughout the recruitment process- Most of the companies do not want the existing staff/ managers to know they are looking for a replacement. If the recruitment process is done by the company itself, confidentiality cannot be ensured.

6. Is the selected one suitable?- This is the most difficult hurdle to cross! While looking for the right prospect to fill vacancies there are often two outcomes; not enough applications or too many applications. Not enough applications and it is time to look at other methods of candidate attraction while if it is too many; its all about picking the best. The problem is finding the right match especially when applications are few or not enough!

Once the shortlisted prospect is found suitable, several companies adopt psychometric tests, EQ (Emotional Quotient) tests, specific product/ trade tests etc. Normally, this is done by the client company at their own cost – resource – time, unless the consultant gets paid extra to do the same.

(The Author is Director/Proprietor, Rambuna Consultants, specializing in recruitment services, corporate training and new business start ups assistance)