Recruiting Companies

Recruiting Companies and the Recession: Why You Need a Professional Recruiter When the Going Gets Tough

The recent economic downturn has affected everyone, from seasoned professionals to recent graduates still searching for employment in an ultra-competitive market. Many companies have been extremely hard hit by the recession, eliminating staff and reducing employee hours in an effort to save money and keep the business afloat. Recruiting companies offer many valuable services, to be sure, but they may not be the first solution that comes to mind when downsizing is the watchword. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to simply conduct the recruiting process on your own? The answer, quite simply, is no – in fact, you can’t afford not to hire a professional recruiter if your company has vacant positions that need to be filled! Here are three reasons why you should turn to recruiting companies when the going gets tough:

1. Professional recruiters can fill vacancies fast. During a recession, you simply don’t have the luxury of waiting around for that “perfect candidate” to come out of the woodwork – and, thanks to higher levels of unemployment, you can be sure that you’ll be wading through massive mountains of resumes for any position you advertise. The entire hiring process, from placing ads to making the final decision, could take you months – and even then, you may end up settling, rather than finding an ideal candidate. A recruiting firm, on the other hand, has the knowledge, skills and network of contacts necessary to make the hiring process go as quickly as possible. Remember, time is money, so hiring a recruiter is like money in the bank!
2. Recruiting companies are efficient. If you’re a hiring novice, you may not know the best way to approach the recruitment process. Should you place ads on job boards? How can you use social networking sites to cast your net even wider? What criteria should you look for in candidates? Should you sort resumes by hand, or use a computer program? What kinds of questions should you ask during interviews? How can you narrow down your choices? These are considerations that won’t confuse or flummox a professional recruiter. They have the process down pat, and you can count on them to find the most talented people in your field, through means you may not even be aware of.
3. Outsourcing the hiring process won’t tax the resources of your existing employees. If you keep your recruiting in-house, the duties have to fall to someone, whether it be you or your employees. That means someone’s attention will be divided between their normal everyday duties and the new task of finding the perfect hire (or hires) for your job openings. In a recession, you need to know that every employee is giving 110% to the company – and that’s an impossibility if additional duties are piled on top of regular ones. Keep your employees sharp and avoid compromising the quality of their work by choosing a professional recruiter instead.