Recruitment agencies are becoming very huge with the increase in the demand as well as easy availability of professional and trained manpower. The number of jobs, aspirants and corporation has become so large that require the job consultants, who can perform as a mediator between applicants & employers.
The best advantage of these recruitment firms is that they not only work for world companies but also do the hiring for organisations in abroad. This trend is quite familiar in metro cities and gradually becoming common in small states also.
The placement firms have expertise in managing human resources on behalf of companies seeking to fill job vacancies. These firms get its remuneration from the employment companies when they provide a suitable candidate to be recruited. This is usually calculated as equivalence of one month’s salary. By law, an agency cannot charge the candidate for finding the job as the employer pays them a fee to use their services. However, they can charge for various placement services like resume writing, careers consultancy, arranging work visas, work overseas, etc.
Role of Placement Agencies
The job agencies are always in touch with the top MNCs, corporate firms, private limited firms and other big & small companies in abroad. These companies tell their human resource requirements to these recruitment consultants, which in turn find the suitable candidates for them.
These agencies involves in identifying various job posts, preparing the job description and person specification, advertising, the prequalification process, organising meetings, conducting interviews, making decisions, the appointment and action. This means that a lot of time and resources must be invested before the right candidate is selected. Also, these firms offer convenience to the aspirants who are not keen to come at interview location. They schedule the candidate’s interview over the telephone and online.
Types of Recruitment Agencies
Traditional Recruiting Agencies
These are employment agencies, who work to match their pool of candidates to employment opportunities at client companies. If the candidate’s qualification matches the client requirements, the recruiting agency will conduct a short interview, skills assessment and reference check of the candidate before arranging an interview with the client company.
Retained Agencies
Senior-level positions, such as a CEO or vice president, are more commonly handled by retained search firms. Potential candidates are identified and qualified by these search firms based upon the criteria developed by the client company.
Niche Recruiting Agency
A niche agency specializes in finding highly skilled candidates across one or a few industries. For example, a niche firm may focus on placing IT professionals, while another focuses solely on engineers.
Staffing Agency
A staffing agency, also called a temporary firm, hires employees to fill a client company’s temporary or contract human resource needs. The client company pays these recruitment consultants a premium hourly rate for the contract employees.
Outplacement Company
An outplacement firm provides assistance to downsized or displaced job seekers. Outplacement services may be engaged by a company to help displaced workers searching for new positions.