A recruitment agency? Is that really needed?

The recruitment process where a company is hiring a candidate is consisting of at least two parties:  employer and employee, what is obvious. They are the ones who are signing a mutual contract that compensates with money (and others) for delivered services. Thus, in principle, and if we think about “the simpler the better”, that may be perceived as the most efficient setup for the recruiting process.

That perception is not necessarily coming from employers only, but also from candidates. It is in fact not uncommon to find candidates that when contacted by agencies within a recruitment process, they ask if they should then apply directly to the company. This is a clear symptom of unawareness of the role of the agency in some cases, and mistrust about the added value in some others. But… let’s dive into it since may not always be the case…; actually, when there is a recruitment agency in the middle, they could even accelerate the process.

The first relevant thing to realize is the fierce competition employers face when searching for candidates in the market, what may be also accompanied by limited visibility. This often results in prolonged recruitment processes, additional costs, and, even worse, an inability to fill positions with the most qualified candidates. Here it is where a recruitment agency can play a pivotal role in optimizing the hiring process.

Additionally, recruiters from employers are typically not exclusively focused in evaluating job applications. They have other responsibilities within the corporation, and the bigger and the more renowned the company is, the more candidates applying to vacancies are and therefore more difficulties for the employer to handle the whole flow of applicants.

This challenge becomes even more significant in specialized fields such as engineering, where technical expertise, practical experience, and problem-solving abilities are crucial to ensuring the success of the projects where the employees will be assigned. A recruitment agency, particularly one specialized in engineering, is able to be decisive in streamlining the talent acquisition process.

Oppositely to employers, agencies own dedicated resources to evaluate candidates and applications, both in terms of personnel and technologies. That is the main business focus, and whether they know the needs and the communication channels of the employer, they are able to shortcut and position the right candidates for the vacancies. In this sense, agencies are not typically the bottleneck in the recruitment phase, and if anything, they leverage the process.

In fact, recruitment is a time-consuming process that requires significant resources; from crafting appealing job descriptions to conducting interviews and technical assessments. By partnering with a recruitment agency, companies can free up valuable time and focus on other key areas of their business while the agency handles candidate screening, interviews, and initial technical assessments. That availability to dedicate more time to the recruitment prosses means the chance to make deeper and sharper candidate evaluations and, in the end, a mitigation of risks when hiring a new employee.

A recruitment agency specialized in engineering roles also possesses a deep understanding of the industry, enabling them to identify the technical skills and competencies needed for specific roles. This translates into a more efficient hiring process, where candidates are assessed not just for their qualifications but also for their ability to adapt to the unique requirements of projects and the company’s culture.

As consequence of this specialized work, agencies maintain robust and wide networks, beyond typical CV data bases, providing thus access to a pool of active and passive candidates with specialized skills. This greatly speeds up the search process, as they can quickly present the best available talent in the market.

The need for partnering with recruitment agencies may not only be applicable to big companies that require support to manage their applications flow but also to small ones which do not have sufficient resources on staff to execute the specialized recruitment.

It is in the end about the ability to quickly find the best professionals, reduce hiring timelines, and minimize risks associated with recruitment. These are essential for selecting the right candidates, and therefore ensuring success in the execution of complex engineering projects, as well as for navigating the ongoing evolution of the company within their area of expertise in the industry. For that reason, partnering with recruitment agencies may be a right choice in many cases.

Ignacio Vilas Eguileta

ZenoTalent Owner & Founder