Finding the right employees for your business doesn’t always have to be a challenge! In situations where time is of the essence, the role requires a specialized skillset, or your in-house recruitment team simply does not have the bandwidth, partnering with a recruitment firm can streamline your hiring process.

At a recruitment or staffing firm, their goal is to help employers identify and hire the talent they need for success. Whether you have a single need or a high-volume project, they will be there for every step of the way. Have questions about this process? To help clear up any confusion, here are some recruiting FAQs.

Why would a company partner with a recruitment or staffing firm when they have internal recruiters?

If your company has built its own in-house recruitment team, there are several benefits to sticking with them for your hiring needs. However, there are still many scenarios where seeking the resources of a search firm can be more beneficial. Think of their recruiters as an extension of your internal team, but with a wider network and specialized industry expertise. They can leverage their connections and market insight to help you with immediate needs and executive-level searches. In addition, most internal teams focus on direct hire roles and will lean on staffing firms for contract hiring due to a variety of reasons that include a quick turnaround time, large pools of qualified and available talent, and cost effectiveness.  Read also: 5 Times An In-House Recruitment Team May Need To Partner With A Staffing Firm

What’s the difference between contract/temporary, direct hire, and contract-to-hire roles?

A contract/temporary role is just like it sounds. A professional is brought in for a limited time, often during a key project or a busy season, to help with the additional workload or a specialized need. A direct hire role is filled on a “permanent” and typically full-time basis, and the new hire is eligible for all the benefits that employees receive at the company. With contract-to-hire, you get a hybrid of the two. The employee is first hired as a contractor, which allows you to evaluate fit before committing resources to a full-time hire.

At Tandym Group, we recruit for all of these roles. We work closely with each of our clients to offer customized hiring solutions that meet their short and long-term business needs.

From start to finish, how long does the process take?

How long the process takes depends on the nature of the position. If you have an urgent, contract hiring need, for example, you might receive resumes and have a new hire start within a couple of hours of the request. For executive-level searches and roles that require a highly specialized skillset, the process can take a bit longer. On both sides of the spectrum, however, quality is always a priority. As recruiters vet candidates, they will be dedicated to fill your role(s) as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

How do you source candidates?

Recruitment and staffing firms are constantly on the lookout for skilled talent! They build their talent pipeline through a mix of reactive and proactive sourcing techniques. In addition to posting jobs similar to what they commonly work on across their website and external job boards, they have access to different resources, including databases and referrals, that allow them to attract and source talent for future hiring needs. This allows them to efficiently match your role with prospective candidates—and move onto the vetting part of the process.

How are candidates vetted?

Prior to being submitted to the client, every candidate needs to be pre-screened by at least one recruiter. This typically involves a skills assessment to ensure they are qualified for the role, and then an initial interview to evaluate their personality and other factors that could determine their fit. After this initial round, the employer can decide to hire the candidate based on the feedback or interview the candidate themselves.

Why should I work with an industry specialist?  

There are many different recruitment and staffing firms you will come across as you do your research. Some recruiters act as generalists, working across a wide range of industries and roles. Others focus only on one specialty area—even if their firm as a whole covers a range of verticals. If you have a choice between the two, the industry specialist is typically the one to go with.

By specializing in only one area, they typically have a superior grasp on the skills the role requires. They also possess unique insight into specific market trends, which can help guide you on factors to better attract and retain talent.

How involved in the process do I have to be when working with a recruiter?

You can be as involved as you want to be. While some employers only want to be looped in when it’s time to onboard the candidate, others want to be more hands-on throughout every stage. At the end of the day, the recruiter is here to be your true partner. They will work with you to develop a process that meets your needs.

Have any other recruiting FAQs? Want to learn more about Tandym Group’s recruitment and staffing solutions? Contact us today!