How to Pick a Recruitment Agency

Hiring new staff is one of the most important times for a business. The people that work for your organisation are a direct representation of your company’s values, culture and morals. Thats why when it comes time to pick a Recruitment Agency, it’s important to find people that not only are able to do the job that you’re hiring for, but also align with your business and wider team.
So whether you’re a start-up looking to grow your team, or an enterprise business needing help to scale, finding a recruitment agency that can fit in with your unique business seamlessly and help match the right people to the roles you have is vital.
As experts in recruitment with decades of agency experience, we’ve put together some of the key things that we think you should think about when it’s time to pick a recruitment agency to work with.
Ensure their expertise aligns with the roles you’re looking for
Firstly, you want to make sure that the agency you’ve approached specialises in the area of recruitment you’re searching for. You can do this by looking up their previous experience and service areas to check that you’re both matched.
Additionally, make sure they’re across what’s happening in that specific industry. Especially with anything technology based, it’s super important to make sure that the agency and individual recruiters understand the trends, market shifts and what’s happening in the market.
At Discovered People we offer full recruitment, screening, processing, payroll, and onboarding services. Our professional consultants have robust networks in Cybersecurity, Data and Analytics, DevOps and Cloud, IT Leadership, Software Development, Software Sales and UI & UX sectors.
Find a Cultural Fit
While finding people with the skills to do the job is obviously important when hiring new staff, it’s equally as important to find people that can match your company’s culture. If culture is important to your business, you should ensure the recruitment agency you work with has a complete understanding of your business inside and out. Actively seeking to find people who will match your existing team vibe.
It’s been proven that cohesive teams collaborate better, are happier and deliver more. At Discovered People we go extra lengths to understand your team, embedding ourselves in your culture. The focus is on people, finding individuals who fit your team and organisation.
You should make sure the agency you select takes the time to learn your values, culture and what makes your business tick. This ultimately means less staff turnover, happier teams and a better company culture.
Assess the quality of Candidates they can provide
As you’ll know by now, people are your company’s most valuable asset. Any agency you work with should assess candidates to ensure their values and skills fit your unique business needs. In addition to technical expertise, they need to look for success characteristics like curiosity, good communication and a willingness to tackle challenging problems.
You should be assured that your recruitment agency always goes the extra mile to get you the best outcome – whether that’s finding people to fit your team or championing your cause.
At Discovered we follow a talent centric approach to recruitment. That means we care about individuals more than we care about revenue and put people first.
View their client and candidate feedback
Perhaps the most intuitive of all things to look for when picking a new recruitment agency is their reviews, feedback and responses from previous clients and candidates that they’ve worked with.
Be sure to do this from both perspectives of the recruitment journey as it’s important that both your internal team and any potential new staff applying through your agency have a positive experience.
At Discovered People, people always come first. That means we go the extra mile to achieve the best outcome – for you, your business and the individuals you hire. More than a partnership, we build lasting friendships and we have a laugh along the way. You can see all our reviews here.
Ensure they give new hires a good impression of your business
Even if a candidate isn’t successful with the job application for a role you’re hiring for, there’s every chance that they may be suitable for another role at some point. It’s important to make sure that everyone that takes the time to apply is responded to and treated with respect through the recruitment process.
This also ensures that should anyone ever reapply for a role or be approached by your organisation at a later point, that they haven’t had a negative experience with your business through the recruitment agency you select.
We’re very proud that our response rate is over 70%, more than 3 times higher than the average recruiter. When dealing with candidates our promises are that we will always take full accountability, commit to zero ghosting and create a BS free zone.
This means anybody applying will be treated with respect and you can be assured that nobody leaves with a negative impression of your business.
Think we align with your values? Talk to our team here!
Written by Ebony McCabe for Discovered People