4 Questions to Ask a Professional Staffing Agency Before You Partner with Them

In this tight labor market, organizations are always on the lookout for candidates who stand out from others, both in skills and who will fit the organization’s culture. But, finding them within the fixed time can be easier said than done.

This is where professional staffing agencies come in as a boon to all these organizations to help them find the right candidates at the right time. But, before partnering with a staffing agency for their needs, there are certain factors that the organizations need to consider to ensure that they get what they want instead of wasting time and resources.

Method of Approach to Find Candidates

While the core intent of all professional staffing agencies is to find candidates, their approach could differ from one organization to another. Some staffing agencies, when they get the requirements from their clients, might take more time than others to find the candidates that exactly match the job description and skills. While other staffing agencies might just operate from a broad perspective and give their clients profiles that may or may not fit the job requirements correctly but might have similar skills.

Also, the next big thing that the organizations need to consider is how the staffing agency conducts the initial screening process, and the background checks that they do to ensure that they are indeed getting the right profile and information regarding the candidate. This could tell a lot about the professional staffing agency and how deeper they are invested in it without just considering it as just another job role to fill.

Their Niche Expertise

Professional staffing agencies operate in various niches, such as IT, non-IT, Healthcare, and Finance. Therefore, organizations need to find the right staffing agency who are well well-seasoned in their niche and who has a track record of solving critical staffing requirements for clients in that niche. Hence, going through their case studies on their website could provide an idea about them and their expertise in the specific niche before hiring them for your requirements.

Up to date with Industry Trends

One of the key aspects that would differentiate professional staffing agencies from other staffing agencies is the knowledge that they have about the current job market trends. A staffing agency that is up to date with industry trends would have the ability to leverage all technology and tools to vet the right candidates at the right time and adopt strategies that are currently hot in the recruiting market.

Time to fill positions

The main reason to work with a professional staffing agency as said in the beginning, is to find the right candidates as quickly as possible in this competitive labor market. Though there are layoffs happening around the world across many major companies, the demand for talented candidates is still on the rise, especially around technology sectors like cloud and cybersecurity, which has a compelling skill shortage.

As a result, the professional staffing agencies are bestowed with immense pressure and responsibility to find and vet candidates for their clients as quick as they can, since talented candidates will not be available for so long in the market. Therefore, organizations should clearly have a conversation on this factor before giving the green light to a staffing agency.

Key Takeaways

The percentage of success while working with a professional staffing agency solely depends on the communication that the organization and the agency develop overtime, it paves the way for a better relationship and understanding between the two.

Also, organizations need to start asking these questions before they ever plan to hire a staffing agency to do their bidding. A tailored staffing agency would be able to grasp and understand their client’s needs and can vet candidates in quick succession only when they are dedicated and up to date with all the current market trends.