Using a recruitment agency for recruitment jobs

Why use a recruitment agency?

People go to recruitment agencies when they are changing their jobs, as one of the ways to find work alongside networking, cold-calling and looking for vacancies, because:

- agencies are free for the job-seeker – the employer pays the agency

- an agency can match a company’s requirements in terms of qualifications, skills, experience and personality to the candidates on its database

- agencies know the employment market and can prepare candidates for interview

- agencies know realistic salary levels and may even negotiate on a candidate’s behalf

- agencies will guide individuals through the selection process because it is in their interests for the candidate to get the job

- being selected for interview with the potential employer by an agency means that the candidate has at least some of the qualities needed to meet the requirements of the job.


Agencies

There is no such thing as a typical recruitment agency. They vary from huge companies like Manpower and Brook Street to the small, local companies found in any telephone directory. There are also general agencies that are usually well known, and others that specialise in a particular market sector like IT or nursing. Recently, online agencies have arrived (and departed in a few cases), while the Officers’ Association, the Regular Forces Employment Association and The List (see ‘Factfile’ for contact details) should be familiar to Service leavers.


What all have in common, though, is the fact that it is illegal for anyone looking for work to be charged any fees by an agency that helps them to find it. They can be asked to pay for any services like interview training or CV writing, but not for job-finding. The recruitment agency is paid by its client – the organisation recruiting the individual (the hirer) – and this is usually a proportion, typically 15 to 40 per cent, of the first-year salary.


Recruitment agencies should not be confused with outplacement companies. The latter are paid by an individual or more usually the company they are leaving to help them to find other jobs – rather as the Career Transition Partnership does for Service leavers.