Thinking of recruiting directly? You might want to think again..... the pitfalls of direct recruitment!

 I recently attended a business networking event in St Albans and (at 7.00am whilst enjoying a cooked breakfast!) set out to explain to local company owners why a good, reliable recruitment agency can be an invaluable asset in assisting business growth and finding talented candidates for local companies. 

“Why can’t we find good candidates when I place an advert in the paper? Why pay an agency when we can try and recruit ourselves?  How do I recruit directly when I don’t have the time?” 

Good questions, but there are some very poignant answers that businesses will only find out when they try it for themselves. Of course, it may work. But why not take the stress of recruiting away from your already busy day? Most business owners, hiring managers and HR teams will be far too busy with other responsibilities to manage the recruitment process.

In this blog I will outline a list of reasons that a (good, reliable, efficient!) recruitment agency such as Think Specialist Recruitment can save you time, hassle and ultimately money in recruiting high calibre candidates....

Advertising / candidate attraction:

-          95%+ of job searches are completed online. Placing an advert in your local newspaper is not just expensive, but will not have the quality/quantity of response that an online advert will generate.  Think SR will utilise the most relevant and popular job boards to find you your ideal candidate.

-          What happens if your advert does not attract the right candidates or your preferred candidate drops out after a lengthy recruitment? You have already paid for it. Think SR only charge our clients when the candidate has been placed. No placement, no fee.

-          Our online adverts will attract an average of 100 to 150 applications across a 4 week period. Do you have time to be looking through all of these CVs, screening the candidates to check they are of good quality before inviting them for interview and dealing with the response? Think SR filters, screens and shortlists the best available candidates for each vacancy we register.

Interview process:

-          Your advert has attracted lots of candidates. You start booking interviews but the candidates don’t turn up or don’t seem to back up the claims on their CV. Think SR screen all candidates to check their skills and experience against your job criteria. Only the best, most relevant and competent candidates will be submitted for interview.

-          You haven’t found the right person from your interviews or the good candidates have all fallen out of the process, now what? Think SR will take your feedback, adjust the search and send across more candidates and ensure the right fit - again, still no outlay at this point!

Candidate retention:

-          What if your direct recruitment does not work or your preferred candidate withdraws from the process? You have invested money and, more importantly, your valuable time in the recruitment process.  Think SR will re-run adverts, keep sourcing suitable candidates and manage the recruitment process on your behalf, until your candidate has accepted the offer, handed in their notice and confirmed their start date with you.

-          You have recruited directly. Your candidate leaves. Now what? Place another advert and be charged again?  Think SR offers a guarantee period. If the candidate does not work out, you have peace of mind that we will find you a replacement free of charge.

For more information on our traditional recruitment service and/or our advertising only* solution, please email [email protected] or contact Chris Jones on 01442 450585.

*If clients still wish to recruit directly, we offer an “advertising only” recruitment service.  Through our existing relationships and accounts with national job boards, we can advertise your vacancy on your behalf with all applicants sent directly across to you. Beware of the above.....

Think Specialist Recruitment is an independent support staff recruitment agency based in Hemel Hempstead and working across the Herts, Beds and Bucks area.  We specialise in permanent and contract recruitment with areas of expertise including: administration, customer service/call centre, PA/secretarial, human resources, sales admin/sales support, marketing and IT Helpdesk/IT support.

Share