How to Stop Doing your Staffing Agency’s Job

We’ve heard this story many times in discussions with client prospects:

“I have 2 positions to fill and my staffing agency sent over 10 resumes and filled up my schedule for 2 days.  Many of my interviews were a waste of time”.

Under the guise of ‘giving you a variety of choices’, staffing agencies that flood you with resumes are effectively training you to do their job.

When you are looking to fill a position, especially at the entry level office positions, you are not looking for a variety of candidates, you are looking for a specific candidate that has the required job skills and cultural fit.  When the agency sends you 10 resumes for 2 positions, they are finding resumes that could possibly do the job, sending them to you and implying “you do the vetting and let me know if anyone fits”.

The best staffing agencies eliminate candidates that initially appear viable but are not a good fit after details are explored.  The big difference is in the time that the recruiters spend with the candidates before they submit them to you. The more time a recruiter spends with the candidate the more time they have on evaluating the candidates’ other traits, such as personality, work style, communication and problem solving.

This also assumes that the agency has spent enough time with you and your company to understand your specific needs and culture.  Beware of agencies that try to present candidates to you without going through this step as it is another sign that the agency is looking out for their best interest and not yours.

Get your staffing agency to work in your best interest – expect them to do the job they were hired for. In the next post in this series topic, we’ll discuss what defines and engages quality talent, and how to make sure your staffing agency does their part.