Choosing a Recruitment Agency

With so many choices, it can be difficult to choose a recruitment agency. Finding a recruitment agency that fits your needs and professional goals will take time, but it can be a long term relationship.

Some tips for choosing an agency:

Pay attention to how long it takes to hear from the agency after sending in your resume. They should at least send an acknowledgement of your application and give a timeline of how long it will take to become a registered candidate.
Ask the recruiter about themselves. Do they have knowledge of specialized skills required for your industry? What they do with their work time? They should be networking regularly to meet candidates and employers. Do a web search on the recruiter: a well-connected, professional recruiter will have more professional contacts and hopefully more job opportunities.
Recruiters should want to know about your plans and goals on a professional level and get a sense of your personality. This should include a face-to-face interview. They should have suggestions for improving your resume and interview skills.
Check to see how much the recruiter helps during the hiring process and the negotiation process. The recruiter should be involved in the hiring process and act as the go-between for the employer and the candidate. A good recruiter should be willing to listen to concerns and take them back to the employer to find a compromise.
Check on other services that are offered by the agency, such as resume editing or free software training.
Ask about the rate of compensation. Check salary surveys to compare market rates with the recruitment agencies’ rate.
Ask about temporary to permanent employment; this will indicate how successful the agency is at placing people into positions.

The following directories can help you locate headhunters and recruitment agencies:

Instructions for using Reference Canada (see link to external resource below):

Click on “Start Search” beside Canadian Businesses, then select the “Advanced Search” button.
Select both “Keyword/SIC/NAICS” under Business Type and “City” under Geography.
In the top search box enter “recruit” or “recruitment” and click SEARCH.
Select the appropriate headings.
Lower down, select the Province, choose the cities, and click the “View Results” button.

NOTE: You can access this database from a Library computer. If you are using a computer from outside the Library, you will need a Vancouver Public Library card to login to this database. After clicking on the database name, you will be asked to enter your library card number and PIN (usually last four digits of your telephone number).