With many recruiting firms offering their services across several industries in the country, it would pay for businesses to become familiar with their operations. Admittedly, their exact business practices would differ from one firm to another, however most of the recruiting firms have common points when it comes to their operations.

Searching for the Prize

Most recruiting firms offer their services for permanent or temporary placement of applicants. One way they do this is through the age-old proven method of searching for qualified applicants to fill up a vacant position. This is where headhunters come in, people assigned to look for the most suitable individual for the job. Included in the search methods would be making calls to potential candidates, giving out invitations for initial interviews to interested applicants. Because only qualified individuals are sought out for the job, there is a good chance the recruiting firm would be able to present a satisfactory list for its client to consider, without having to go through the process of sifting through multitude of resumes. The latter is one of the processes recruiting firms institute when they wish to find applicants through the selection method. Unlike the search method, headhunters do not play an active role in selecting applicants. This method is typically initiated by advertising vacant positions in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. Applicants need to send their resumes and the recruiting firm weeds out the highly interested from those who are not. The success of the selection process would sometimes depend on how aggressively the recruiting firm pursues the job advertisement within the time frame agreed upon with the client.

Screening Process

Credible recruiting firms institute a rigid screening process in order to fulfill the expectations of its clients. The screening process starts the moment the applicant’s resume comes in and would be followed with the initial telephone interview in which the firm determines the interest of the applicant to show up for personal interview and would give the firm time to generate additional information from the applicant. Following the telephone interview is the personal interview, in which the applicant and a representative of the recruiting firm meet to discuss the details of the job and set expectations. Personal interview could be conducted in one setting or could be done in a series of meetings in which applicants would get to be familiar on the challenges associated with the job. Once a selected list of applicants is ready to be presented to client, the recruiting firm also conducts background checks and gets in touch with persons listed as references. This process is particularly important, since it would provide vital clues on past employments of the applicants and give insights on how he or she will perform in a new workplace. Though there could be slight variance in the way individual recruiting firms conduct the screening process, its main goal would be to select and prepare an applicant in possible career transition with the minimum hassle and problems in the part of the client.

Tags: permanent placement, qualified applicants, recruiting firm, recruiting firms, screening process, temporary placement