Why do employers use recruitment agencies?

[SoupDragon]

Let's see.

2 positions
£40k each
15% agency fee

That makes twelve grand, not a couple.

So you have already been caught out telling porky pies. Why should I believe the rest? Been doing this for some time you know, you cannot BS me.

Or

Two hundred quid for a direct ad, one day of my time, and if it doesn't work, I grit my teeth and phone an agency and end up having to do all the real work anyway Just the same if I put the ad in myself and got the cvs direct.

I shall let you know what happens...

I seriously hope you find this method pays off.

Perhaps a good tactic would be to not give a phone number except to shortlisted candidates?

Agents often do this anyway - or else you just get their switchboard

[chapeau]

Very easy to get temporary/disposable phone numbers and email addresses nowadays.

[The Agents View]

Let's see.

2 positions
£40k each
15% agency fee

That makes twelve grand, not a couple.

So you have already been caught out telling porky pies. Why should I believe the rest? Been doing this for some time you know, you cannot BS me.

Or

Two hundred quid for a direct ad, one day of my time, and if it doesn't work, I grit my teeth and phone an agency and end up having to do all the real work anyway Just the same if I put the ad in myself and got the cvs direct.

I shall let you know what happens...

Twelve grand is chicken feed in comparison to the money you will, in my opinion, end up wasting. I hope you realise that part of the service you should expect from an agent is background checking, qualification checking, reference checking - etc etc. If you think you're going to be able to find, interview, offer, negotiate and on board a mid level individual in one day of your time - well good luck to you.

As for "I've done this for years"......well that just may be - but remember - so have I - and I've been the person who has, more often than not, made a living out of clearing up the mess of people who have tried this approach.

As much as you berate recruitment companies - if you find the right one, they're worth SO much more than the fee you pay them - sadly, there is an art to finding the right one......

TAV

[chapeau]

I don't think I said all that would take one day of my time. I said the incremental would be one day of my time, spent filtering out cvs. I then said I would have to do exactly the same amount of work whether the agency was involved or not. You obviously don't listen to your potential clients either, what a bad impression of recruitment agencies you give.

Just think of the time I will save not having to explain my requirements to a middle man, or deal with a middle man when I could be dealing directly with the candidate myself. Why would I dream of asking a middle man to negotiate on my behalf when I could treat the candidate with respect by dealing with him directly. Listening to the candidates wishes from his own mouth so I can understand first hand his requirements and not having to wonder if the middle man had got the message wrong and was going to blow the deal because he didn't listen.

A bit like you did when you assumed all those tasks you listed was going to take me 'one day of my time'.

What a poor representation of agencies you are. First you try to fool me into thinking your services were a couple of grand, then you lecture me without even taking the time to read what I said properly. And you suggest you are one of the 'right ones'.

Direct ad for me. I will get back to you. And that is not agency speak, that means I really will.

[SorenLorensen]

background checking, qualification checking, reference checking - etc etc.
TAV

In my experience, agencies never do any of that. Nor do they interview. Having seen previous clients go through the recruitment process with agencies, there is no way in hell they get £12k worth of value.

I think a major gripe a lot of us have with agencies is that you have no clue about what the client actually wants. You're salesmen, but you don't really know what you are selling.

[DodgyAgent]

Twelve grand is chicken feed in comparison to the money you will, in my opinion, end up wasting. I hope you realise that part of the service you should expect from an agent is background checking, qualification checking, reference checking - etc etc. If you think you're going to be able to find, interview, offer, negotiate and on board a mid level individual in one day of your time - well good luck to you.

As for "I've done this for years"......well that just may be - but remember - so have I - and I've been the person who has, more often than not, made a living out of clearing up the mess of people who have tried this approach.

As much as you berate recruitment companies - if you find the right one, they're worth SO much more than the fee you pay them - sadly, there is an art to finding the right one......

TAV

No, the main job of the agent is to find the right candidate if the client either cannot find the person him/her self or they simply do not have the time to do the searching and sifting themselves. As for the interviewing and the rest, then unless you have been given a specific selection or search or you are very close to a client then interviewing is a waste of time for contingency recruitment agencies. As for the other bits you can get these done for £500.

Dont get above yourself.

[The Agents View]

No, the main job of the agent is to find the right candidate if the client either cannot find the person him/her self or they simply do not have the time to do the searching and sifting themselves. As for the interviewing and the rest, then unless you have been given a specific selection or search or you are very close to a client then interviewing is a waste of time for contingency recruitment agencies. As for the other bits you can get these done for £500.

Dont get above yourself.

I'm starting to believe that you are a contractor pretending to be an agent. You really have NO idea how to go about providing value to the open market do you?

£500? I wouldn't even speak to you for that amount - quite simply, the service I provide is worth 50 times that. But I can absolutely guarantee, that if you run a campaign and pitch me against your £500 solution, not only will I wipe the floor with you in terms of delivery, but within my delivery will come all of the BS that you have to do by law, done for you, and that includes in-depth referencing for the past 5 years as well (not just dates - proper references).

Given that I'd only ever submit 1, maybe 2 CV's to any specific opportunity, which are selected according to the detailed specification, and interviewed by the consultant resposible, and are proven to be exactly what the client is looking for, you can take out the cost of sifting, interviewing the tulip that you and your dodgy agent mates have bombarded the HR Doris with, other interviewers time costs, time spent chasing references, plus lost productivity which immediately doubles the real cost (if you're doing this stuff, you're not doing your job) for all of those things. If the hiring manager is a £50k salaried employee, the cost comparison between doing things directly, and using someone like me is almost nil. Add into the mix that we're the ones who take on the risk (yes - we only get paid if we find you someone), then you can understand why anyone who is responsible for recruiting at £50k and above would use a middle man - It's the only risk averse, responsible way to go about it.

DA - Enjoy the recession - you're clearly one of the cowboys we've been talking about falling out of the bottom of the market, and are potentially the reason for our business posting record revenue levels over the past 5 months. Don't worry - the downturn won't last long for you.....

[smiff]

Damn, popcorn has ran out. Better get some more....

[pzz76077]

I'm starting to believe that you are a contractor pretending to be an agent. You really have NO idea how to go about providing value to the open market do you?

£500? I wouldn't even speak to you for that amount - quite simply, the service I provide is worth 50 times that. But I can absolutely guarantee, that if you run a campaign and pitch me against your £500 solution, not only will I wipe the floor with you in terms of delivery, but within my delivery will come all of the BS that you have to do by law, done for you, and that includes in-depth referencing for the past 5 years as well (not just dates - proper references).

Given that I'd only ever submit 1, maybe 2 CV's to any specific opportunity, which are selected according to the detailed specification, and interviewed by the consultant resposible, and are proven to be exactly what the client is looking for, you can take out the cost of sifting, interviewing the tulip that you and your dodgy agent mates have bombarded the HR Doris with, other interviewers time costs, time spent chasing references, plus lost productivity which immediately doubles the real cost (if you're doing this stuff, you're not doing your job) for all of those things. If the hiring manager is a £50k salaried employee, the cost comparison between doing things directly, and using someone like me is almost nil. Add into the mix that we're the ones who take on the risk (yes - we only get paid if we find you someone), then you can understand why anyone who is responsible for recruiting at £50k and above would use a middle man - It's the only risk averse, responsible way to go about it.

DA - Enjoy the recession - you're clearly one of the cowboys we've been talking about falling out of the bottom of the market, and are potentially the reason for our business posting record revenue levels over the past 5 months. Don't worry - the downturn won't last long for you.....

Remind me again- which law requires agents to take 5 years references??

More like 5 years worth of referrals IMV.

PZZ

[DodgyAgent]

I'm starting to believe that you are a contractor pretending to be an agent. You really have NO idea how to go about providing value to the open market do you?

£500? I wouldn't even speak to you for that amount - quite simply, the service I provide is worth 50 times that. But I can absolutely guarantee, that if you run a campaign and pitch me against your £500 solution, not only will I wipe the floor with you in terms of delivery, but within my delivery will come all of the BS that you have to do by law, done for you, and that includes in-depth referencing for the past 5 years as well (not just dates - proper references).

Given that I'd only ever submit 1, maybe 2 CV's to any specific opportunity, which are selected according to the detailed specification, and interviewed by the consultant resposible, and are proven to be exactly what the client is looking for, you can take out the cost of sifting, interviewing the tulip that you and your dodgy agent mates have bombarded the HR Doris with, other interviewers time costs, time spent chasing references, plus lost productivity which immediately doubles the real cost (if you're doing this stuff, you're not doing your job) for all of those things. If the hiring manager is a £50k salaried employee, the cost comparison between doing things directly, and using someone like me is almost nil. Add into the mix that we're the ones who take on the risk (yes - we only get paid if we find you someone), then you can understand why anyone who is responsible for recruiting at £50k and above would use a middle man - It's the only risk averse, responsible way to go about it.

DA - Enjoy the recession - you're clearly one of the cowboys we've been talking about falling out of the bottom of the market, and are potentially the reason for our business posting record revenue levels over the past 5 months. Don't worry - the downturn won't last long for you.....

I can do all that for £500. I should imagine your clients would pay you £12k just to stop you boring them to death.