Why do employers use recruitment agencies?

[mobi]

What purpose do they serve other than CV scanning?

How difficult for employers to search themselves? Wouldn't both employers are candidates will be better off without agencies?

[George Parr]

What purpose do they serve other than CV scanning?

Invoice factoring. Not a lot else IMHO.

[TykeMerc]

What purpose do they serve other than CV scanning?

How difficult for employers to search themselves? Wouldn't both employers are candidates will be better off without agencies?

CV filtering
Only talking to candidates they want to
No need to waste time dealing with failed or awkward candidates
Reduced number of suppliers on their books
Accounts payable don't get to deal with multiple small suppliers chasing payments
Outsourced contract negotiation
Payment terms standardised and longer than small suppliers could/would tolerate
Layer of protection against employment claims (spurious perception)
Outsourced HR function

There are loads of reasons many clients won't consider dealing direct with contractors, they see the Agencies as adding value.

Admittedly as contractors we see them as clueless leeches, but it's not like we have any option as it's the clients that use them.

[mobi]

But recruitment agencies are used for permanent employees as well.

[NotAllThere]

Agencies can phone through their databases for possible matches. An employer would have to rely on the candidate reading their ad. And throw away 99.99% of applications. Funnily enough, while doing calls to preselected candidates for an agency a while back, it was hard to convince candidates to apply for jobs in the first place - even those who said they were looking.

[Muttley08]

Oh come on..if it wasn't for the fact that most HR departments are a little short in the brains department they could do this no problem.

Most agencies are dreadful at picking good candidates - just part of the shambles that is UK Plc

[DodgyAgent]

Oh come on..if it wasn't for the fact that most HR departments are a little short in the brains department they could do this no problem.

Most agencies are dreadful at picking good candidates - just part of the shambles that is UK Plc

Some of you completely fail to have any understanding of the communication that goes on over filling just one requirement.

First of all HR is a clunking fist that gets paid whether anyone is placed or not.

So let me run you simpletons through the process here:

1. Client posts ad for "contractor" with a brief for skills.
2. Posts ad on jobserve
3. CVs arrive most of which are inappropriate for the position
4. CVs selected
5. Calls to contractors made as well as having to answer calls from contractors who are not appropriate who want to argue the toss over whether they are suitable or not.
6. Establish just how serious and available each "suitable" contractor actually is.
7 arrange interviews which can often take a good deal of "toing and froing" to accomodate each others time schedules.
8 Pick your chosen contractor who then tells you that he is taking another job or staying where he is, or who you suddenly find out is taking a holiday at a critical point of the project.
9 Go back to the second favourite who in the meantime has taken another role.
10. back to the beginning.

The skill in placing contractors is not as much to do with the technical understanding of the job it is more to do with being able to see whether someone is genuinely interested and genuinely available, as well as understanding for example whether the client is being reasonable with his expectations.

Now I know that a lot of you have your own little anecdotes, but this is how the market actually works and this is what agents do and believe me we do it better than most of you, and a darn sit better than HR.

[TheOmegaMan]

The reason you get d*cked about is precisely because of you DA. You really do not understand cause and effect.

Contractors send inappropriate CVs because of the large number of spurious ads for non-existent positions. Contractors argue with agents because most of the time agents have no idea of requirements. Contractors are not serious because agents distort requirements, and deliberately mislead in order to get a sale. Agents flood the market with ads, and increase contractor dissatisfaction by constant cold calling. Agents encourage pointless interviews, because interviews lead to cash for them. Agents have a vested interest in people changing role all the time. This is how they make their money.

They are parasitic vermin, who distort the market, and only generate revenue for themselves.

Shame on you DA. Please resign immediately, and go and do something more meaningful with your time.

[Brussels Slumdog]

This is the theory

Some of you completely fail to have any understanding of the communication that goes on over filling just one requirement.

First of all HR is a clunking fist that gets paid whether anyone is placed or not.

So let me run you simpletons through the process here:

1. Client posts ad for "contractor" with a brief for skills.
2. Posts ad on jobserve
3. CVs arrive most of which are inappropriate for the position
4. CVs selected
5. Calls to contractors made as well as having to answer calls from contractors who are not appropriate who want to argue the toss over whether they are suitable or not.
6. Establish just how serious and available each "suitable" contractor actually is.
7 arrange interviews which can often take a good deal of "toing and froing" to accomodate each others time schedules.
8 Pick your chosen contractor who then tells you that he is taking another job or staying where he is, or who you suddenly find out is taking a holiday at a critical point of the project.
9 Go back to the second favourite who in the meantime has taken another role.
10. back to the beginning.

.

No we do understand how agents work as we deal with them. Maybe you
don't understand how the other 99% work

Corrections

2 Post ad on jobserve as contractors already on data base seen as the easy option.
5 Don't contact contractors who have previously worked for you as that would establish loyalty. Remember your loyality is with the client not the contractor.
6 Reject good contractors who won't work for the lowest rate.
8 Pick your chosen contractor will work for the lowest rate.

[DodgyAgent]

You can whine all you like but the market requires agencies whether you like it or not. If it did not and you guys were capable of marketing yourselves then we would not exist.