3 methods of recruitment and which is right for your business
If you’re looking to recruit a new member of your team or bring in some seasonal workers to cope with heavy demand, you’ll likely have asked this question. Would carrying out the recruitment process manually, listing the role on job sites and online listings, or using a specialist recruitment agency be a better option for my business? In this blog, we take a look at three different methods you could use to find your next employee and weigh up each option to help you conclude which one to choose.
1. Do it yourself
The ‘do it yourself’ method involves using your existing channels, such as your company website, to promote the vacancy you have and attract applicants without the use of third parties. For example, you may create a landing page on your website showcasing the job and direct website visitors there through a button on your homepage or banner.
You may also leverage your business’ social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This could involve creating a series of images to post across each platform, urging your business’ audience to apply for the role.
Another strategy involved in this method would be simply informing your current staff of the role available and suggesting they inform their friends and family through word of mouth.
Benefits
- It’s a relatively simple and straight forward option, assuming you don’t opt for a landing page which can be very expensive and time consuming. A few social media posts and informing your staff of the available role should be quick to do and doesn’t require a whole lot of effort;
- It’s a good option for the less skilled vacancies. If you have the option to offer no or little experience which can be filled with simple training, and doesn’t necessarily require someone to have any specific qualifications, this could work. This is because you won’t need to look for a specific person with an exact set of credentials, so a scattergun method like this could be effective.
Drawbacks
- It’s not targeted. This means you not aiming towards a specific group of people. When posting on social media or placing an ad on your site, you can’t control who’s going to see it. This means you’re likely to get a lot of applicants that aren’t suited to the job role and may not have the right skills and qualifications.
- It largely depends on your audience. If you’re a smaller business, or a business without a large online presence and audience, this method could be ineffective. This is because it relies heavily on having a large or very engaged audience. If your social media post doesn’t reach many people, you’re unlikely to get many applicants.
2. Job sites and online listings
This method is the process of creating job listings across popular mass job sites such as Indeed and Monster. You may also choose to sponsor a job listing on one of these sites. This is essentially a paid advertisement pushing your vacancy to the top of any related searches on the site.
Benefits
- You could reach a larger audience - sites like these see thousands of users each month so you can expect more people to see your ad than in the previously mentioned methods. This means you’ll likely receive more applicants. However, this can be a double-edged sword, which we’ll cover in the drawbacks section;
- It can be cheap - if you don’t opt for paid ads or sponsored listings, these sites are generally free to advertise your job on. It makes this method one of the cheapest ways to get your vacancy out there;
- It’s quick to set up - the setup process for this kind of job promotion is again relatively quick and simple. Within 10 minutes, you can upload your job description and create a company page ready to start receiving applicants. Most of these sites also allow candidates to apply directly from the job advertisement so there isn’t a need to setup an application system on your site.
Drawbacks
- More targeted, but still a low level - although this method may allow you to target by means of keywords and description, it still lacks some of the more detailed targeting you may be looking for. If you’re looking for a person with a specific set of skills and exact qualifications, this method may prove ineffective;
- A larger audience doesn’t always mean it’s better - sometimes, all a larger audience means is more CV’s to sift through. This can be a time consuming process and will require yourself or a member of your team to spend hours reading through dozens of job applications, which isn’t a viable option in most cases.
3. Recruitment agency
A recruitment agency is a business that specialises in searching for and providing high quality candidates to businesses for any job role. Generally, recruitment agencies will have a large pool of candidates seeking new job roles and opportunities. They work by sifting through their candidate base to select the best for each role you have. Some of the work they carry out is similar to the first method, but with the addition of their expert knowledge and industry experience. A recruitment agency will likely sit down with you and build up a perfect job description before going away and finding your ideal candidate. They will then pick out their best and come back to you to make the final selection.
Benefits
- You will get guaranteed quality - you’ll only review their best candidates. This is the main reason so many businesses choose a recruitment agency over the previously mentioned methods. Both of those methods suffer from the inability to sift out candidates who do not meet the right criteria. A recruitment agency however, does the leg work for you so you’re guaranteed to receive the best candidates available;
- You benefit from industry expertise and specialist knowledge - recruitment agencies find new employees for a living, they know what they’re doing! A recruitment agency finds businesses new employees every single day, so you can be assured they have all the industry insight and knowledge you could ever need to ensure you get only the best candidates. Whereas you could miss the little signals, such as the way a candidate presents themselves in an interview, a recruitment agency will pick up on these things and be able to advise accordingly.
Drawbacks
- You get what you pay for, but you do have to pay - the main drawback of a recruitment agency is the cost. Whereas the other mentioned methods are cheap or free, a recruitment agency will charge for their services. However, you get what you pay for - a much higher quality result than other methods tend to provide. It’s all about weighing up which method is appropriate for your business.
Weighing up your options
Each of the above methods can work well in their own right - it depends which one you need. If you’re a small business looking for a highly-skilled, qualified member of staff to fill a senior role, a recruitment agency is probably the best option. However, a large corporation that provides onsite training and a role that doesn’t require advanced qualifications, may benefit the more from doing it themselves across social media and their own website.
Hopefully, this blog will help you choose the best option for your business. For a more in depth look at the benefit of recruitment agencies, click to read our recent blog on the topic.
Recruitment with Prestige
At Prestige, we’re 100% committed to supporting our candidates and offer an ethical, professional recruitment service from the moment they step through our door.
Additional information about the way we work, our industry accreditations, awards and association memberships can be found at https://www.prestige-recruitment.com/about-us
Alternatively, for more about how we can help you find your next employees, please contact your local Prestige Recruitment office in Hull, Norwich, Leeds or Huddersfield.