Five Things I Have Learned While Working for a Major Recruitment Firm

A lot of people associate recruitment firms with temp agencies, but they aren’t always the same thing. While the company I work for, which shall remain nameless for legal reasons, does have a lot of temp positions, most of them are temp to hire, or permanent placement right from the get go.

1. Using a recruitment firm takes a lot of stress out of the job hunt.

Being on the hunt for a job is one of the most stressful things a person can do, but there are whole entire companies working to make sure that you don’t have to do it alone! When you team up with a recruitment firm, a lot of the more stressful aspects of job hunting are handed over to a capable person who finds people jobs for a living. Whether you are looking for permanent work, or just something to do short term, recruitment firms are amazing. Imagine just having to write up what you did at jobs, and having someone else take that information and craft a personalized beautiful resume for you, targeted to the jobs you are applying for. One of the things I hate the most about job hunting is targeting my resumes for individual jobs, to highlight skills that the company I am aiming to work for is looking for. With a recruiter in your corner, you don’t have to do that, just provide them with the basic information and they do the rest. In addition, aside from a brief marketing blurb, you can kiss cover letters goodbye! They have someone talking to the HR department advocating for you, and only presenting you to jobs they are confident you would shine in. They will asses you as a whole package, and suit for abilities, and culture fit. They also are cultivating the experience to the company as well, so overall you are looking for the best possible fit across all the boxes you need to check to work happy!

2. You still have to do some work.

While a lot of the stressful things like cultivating a targeted resume, and pitching yourself to companies are alleviated, you do still have to put in a little elbow grease; you will have to fill out paperwork, do office visits to interview with the recruitment firm, as well as potentially interview with the companies they present your resume to. Also you might have to do some tests to make sure you are being presented accurately. My best advice is to do all of the things asked of you as promptly as possible. No one, least of all your recruiter wants to pull you from an assignment, because you didn’t sign something. Also if you do the things asked of you quickly and correctly, it shows off your dedication to the job, and shows the recruiter how you operate in a real world example.

3. Definition of Squad Goals

While you may only speak to a recruiter, there is a whole team of people working to get you to your next opportunity. Chances are that Recruiter has at least three people on the same team, and all are putting in work to get you hired, not to mention administrative assistants, and managers all working for you. You literally have a whole squad all focused on your success, and your happiness with your job!

4. Compensation Made Easy

I know that my firm puts out salary guides, so that every single candidate that we interview knows what to ask for in terms of compensation. Plus you have someone other than yourself able to negotiate for the things you want and need. I have found that this is particularly important when you are a person affected by traditional wage gaps. Femme people, people of color, and people who identify under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella in particular, really benefit from this. Those guides provide a comprehensive look at the market, and what your particular skill set should be earning, which makes it much harder for employers to strong arm you into a lower wage.

5. Conversion Happens!

Most of the candidates that my team has placed, have converted. This means that they started as temps, and worked and then were converted to full time employees. Usually if they don’t convert it is either a budget issue with the company, or their performance was not what it should have been. The true benefit to this however, and I speak from experience, having done this in roles before as a candidate, and now watching it happen from the firm’s perspective, recruitment firms really do give people the chance to get their foot in the door. And if you are a good fit, even if the role wasn’t originally meant to be temp to hire, there is a very good chance that you will convert into a full-time employee.

In short, I can’t really think of a single reason that a person shouldn’t work with a recruitment firm, it really does take so much of the stress out of the job hunt, and can help you seek opportunities that would be otherwise out of reach or hard to get face time with.