Guide to choosing a reputable recruitment agency

Most people will use a recruitment agency at some point in their life. Some will use several. However, not many people realise that using recruitment agencies should be done with care in order to ensure that you are being well represented.

“I need your CV by 4.00pm this afternoon”…….

“you need to come back to me first thing in the morning”….

“you must respond to the offer by tomorrow”….

“Just go to the interview anyway …..the offer will be withdrawn if you don’t respond”

Sound familiar?…….. These unfortunately are all too common occurrences experienced by candidates dealing with some agencies within the Irish recruitment industry.

Many of the “consultants” working within the recruitment industry are strongly motivated by their own needs and have scant regard for your bests interests.

Not many have the experience or knowledge to make certain judgements calls and use broad sweeping statements with little factual substance, and can leave you feeling like you want to bury your head in the sand!

What level are you at?

As in all walks of life, there are good agencies and there are bad agencies. Conducting your research first and taking the time to choose a reputable recruitment agency, will make your search a pleasant experience. Using an agency where they are not concerned moral/legal standards can and will create quite the opposite experience.

The better recruiting agencies can be a great help in getting hired, especially later in your career when you’re chasing more senior jobs.

They’re able to chase a tardy employer in a way that a direct applicant often can’t get away with, and if they’ve worked with an employer successfully in the past, they can have a good feel for what the employer is looking for.

So what can you do to avoid some of the pitfalls outlined above?

Follow this check list when choosing the correct recruitment agency for you!

• Use recruitment companies where their consultants have longevity of experience with that consultancy firm.
• Ask technical questions re the role. If you feel the consultant is waffling walk away.
• Don’t blitz your CV to a large number of roles and agencies
• Seek recruitment companies with strong industry knowledge and links.
• Validate the consultants client/ industry knowledge by asking key questions re the nature of the clients operations , products ,revenue, number of employees .
• Check out the consultant’s profile and track record
• Avoid high volume telesales recruitment agencies
• Meet the consultant…if a recruitment consultant doesn’t give you the confidence that he/she has the knowledge and professionalism to put your career first then use somebody else.

Carmel Holmes

(IT & Finance Lead) BComm, MSc – Cork Office

An experienced Program Manager, Accountant & Senior Talent Acquisition expert having worked across both multi- national and recruitment agency environments delivering bespoke programs and hiring solutions.

Designed & deployed multiple bespoke programs (and system implementations) across HR, Talent, and Meeting Services within US Multi Nationals and SMEs. A keen negotiator where I was instrumental in key tender pitches, also having full P&L ownership for a number of programs across my career. People-manager managing teams in-house and remotely across EMEA.

Experienced Talent Acquisition expert across: RPO, MSP, Executive Search, Permanent & Contingent Labour, Talent Acquisition Manager, Project Manager, strong knowledge of a variety of ATS & VMS softwares.

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