Most organizations use recruiting agencies at some point in their hiring journey. Teams that hire frequently and have hundreds of positions to fill annually often have staffing programs run by recruiting agencies. On the other side of things, some companies completely depend on in-house human resource departments to source candidates and manage talent acquisitions for them, but occasionally use a recruiting agency for a specific need. How do you know if and when a recruiting agency is the right fit for your company? Here are six surefire signs that it’s time to contact a recruiting agency.

Not enough applicants are applying.

In June of 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Oregon's unemployment rate is 4%. This is one of the lowest metrics in the last 22 years! For hiring teams, that means the talent supply and demand is more in favor of demand—there are more positions to hire for than there are local candidates available. That creates a challenging hiring environment for teams of all sizes, where often there are just not enough qualified applicants applying for the roles you need to fill. Because of this, some organizations see limited applicants for the positions, which can be a major problem for those with aggressive hiring goals. When you bring in an agency to help with hiring, you aren’t just bringing in candidates who are searching for a job. Agency recruiters are engaged to hunt candidates that are both on the search for a new role as well as passive candidates who are not looking for a job and may not notice job postings regularly. It’s this in-depth recruiting work and expertise that allows you to expand your talent search and really find the right qualities, skills, and mindset for your team, especially when your talent pipeline may be lacking.

Your team doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to recruit.

Recruiting is hard and often takes a lot of time and effort from many people in your organization beyond just the hiring team. With pre-screening, scheduling, managing interviews, checking references, and negotiating salary, the hiring process is a lot for one team to manage, especially when the organization is looking for highly-skilled candidates with very job-specific abilities to fill many different roles. Even when you have your own recruiting teams in-house, it can be overwhelming when there are too many positions to manage the recruitment for. Working with a recruiting agency can help with any (or all!) of your company’s recruiting pains. Recruiters do an in-depth hunt to find the right people for your organization. Before bringing in potential candidates, recruiting agencies often interview them in-person, check references in advance, provide key selling points about your organization, and vet any pre-screening requirements beforehand to save you time and only get you strong candidates that fit your needs. Not looking to bring on a recruiting agency to run your entire hiring process? Consider outsourcing the hiring for a few specific positions—this will allow your team to focus on ones they know they can handle in-house and utilize industry experts to find the experienced candidates you need for particular roles.

Your top applicants are accepting counter-offers and dropping off during your hiring process.

It’s not uncommon to have candidates receive a counter-offer during the hiring process. We’ve seen it with a lot of our clients recently: Organizations are trying to hire for a specific position and when they’re ready to give an offer to their top candidate, their candidate gets a counter-offer from their current employer with more money or a new employer who has a more flexible PTO policy. They decline the offer from the new company, so the team has to start the search process over again. After a while, this leads to no candidates in the pipeline and sends your team on a desperate search to find talent, which can lead to less thorough hiring, rushed decisions, and missteps in your hiring process. This is where a recruiting partner can be your best friend. In addition to reviewing all of the pre-screening requirements in advance, they work with the candidate to get a clear understanding of their salary expectations, when they can interview, and how soon they can start while painting a clear picture for hiring teams as to why they are being submitted to the position. Recruiters nurture these candidates up until the time of hire—they put forth work to ensure the company can hire them if they want. Recruiting agencies will work on behalf of their clients to schedule and prepare candidates for interviews, negotiate the job offers and salaries, and help ensure the candidate would accept the position throughout the entire hiring process.

Your new hires don’t stick.

When you need to fill a role quickly and you’re strapped on time, it’s not uncommon for hiring teams to offer a position to a candidate that isn’t the right fit for the role. Hiring new employees brings a lot of risk and making a bad hire, because they aren’t qualified or because they don’t mesh well in your organization, can take a toll on your team. When new hires leave because they’re unhappy or get let go because they’re not qualified, it’s a big loss in hours spent planning, interviewing, and onboarding as well as in overall company morale and reputation. Bringing in a recruiter to assist with your hiring needs can help alleviate some of the risks that come with new hires, especially when you’re filling a role that’s been notoriously tough to hire for. Some agencies offer 30- or 60- day guarantees on hires so that in the event that the candidate doesn't work out or they leave, the agency will seek a replacement candidate. In addition, recruiters can help find candidates to fill a contract-to-hire scenario, which allows both the candidate and the organization time to work together to determine if there’s a long-term match. If so, the contractor is converted directly to be employed by the organization. Both of these tactics can help remove the risk and uncertainty that comes with hiring a new employee.

You have non-frequent or one-time needs that you need help with.

Not all HR teams are experts at recruiting because their roles cover so much more than that in the organization. This is especially true when you’re in an organization that rarely has positions open or infrequently makes new hires. When that’s the case and your company needs to fill a one-off, one-time role or your team needs some temporary help, new positions can often be difficult to fill quickly and efficiently. Whether your team needs an extra set of hands for seasonal work or you’re looking to fill a one-time gap in your organization with a new role that has not existed previously, consider bringing in a recruiter to assist. A recruiting agency can help ease the stress and work that comes with hiring, especially if your organization doesn’t do a lot of hiring and when your teams have other priorities they need to focus on. Recruiters do all of the leg work to bring you the top, qualified candidates to meet your specific needs, no matter if they’re short-term contractors or long-term hires.

Your team needs a very specific skillset.

It’s not uncommon for companies to hire out to augment their internal or project teams with a contractor or a specialist with particular experience for a specific project. This type of hire is meant to be a resource to help free up your core internal teams to allow them to focus on their main job, while leveraging a contractor to handle the extra or specialized work. Hiring the right candidates with a niche or particular knowledge is where recruiters shine. Most often companies turn to recruiters when they need a specific or rare skillset. For example, some technology departments have a unique combination of skills, either technical or cultural, that are often a difficult combination to find through applicants alone. Recruiters are a great resource for seeking out specific skills and vetting potential candidates so your team can find the right fit. Looking for a qualified candidate in a certain industry? Some recruiting agencies are even specialized and tailored to specific types of business, like tech, healthcare, and more.

Do these symptoms and stories sound familiar? Consider bringing in outside help to your recruiting efforts. Contact VanderHouwen today!