Staffing agencies have it tough. Many clients and candidates uninitiated with recruitment companies often have skewed perception of what recruitment agencies do and how they work. As a job agency in Singapore, we believe that it is our role to eliminate some of the common misconceptions that clients have about recruitment agencies.
1. Staffing Agencies Only Advertise Temp Jobs
While a number of staffing agencies do focus heavily on temporary jobs. It’s wrong to assume that all recruitment agencies hire temporary roles only. There are some companies out there that focus entirely on temp jobs. However, as a company, BGC Singapore typically focuses on high volume contracting recruitment.
2. Recruitment Agencies Only Focus on Mass Hires
This really depends on the type of recruitment agency you’re seeking to outsource your hiring needs to. Mass hires are ideal to most manpower agencies in Singapore. However, most agencies will be able to take into account the different needs and requirements that clients have.
Keep in mind that recruitment agencies are also open to hiring for niche positions. Jobs within lucrative industries such as IT and Banking might be of interest to certain agencies. We can’t speak for the other agencies, but BGC Group is generally interested in hiring for agencies that meet these criteria:
High Volume Contracting Recruitment
Organization within the Banking, Finance, and IT industry
If your company fits the bill, drop us an enquiry here!
3. Clients Do Not Have Any Control in the Hiring Process
False! How else are agencies going to find the perfect fit? If you’ve read through our previous blog posts, you’ll know that we put an emphasis on finding the right fit for your organization and its culture.
The role of the recruitment agency is to advertise, source, and sift through the different resumes to find candidates that meet the criteria provided by the clientele. Whilst job agencies are often responsible for conducting the first round of interview - HR executives from your organization will be conducting the second round.
Ultimately, clients are given the upper hand and allowed to decide whether or not a candidate will be able to join their organization.
4. Recruitment Agencies Take the Bulk of Their Fee From Job Seekers
This is a common misconception that both candidates and clients often have. Whilst there are some staffing agencies that charge job seekers for their services. In reality, however, staffing agencies do not take a cut of their earnings from any of the job seekers they’ve sourced from.
Reputable agencies charge their clients the bulk of their fee based on the number of headcounts needed. Although keep in mind that different agencies will have a different way of approaching their quotes and costing. There is no “one-size” fits all approach to quoting clients in Singapore.
5. Recruitment Agencies Know Everything
As someone who has worked in both the advertising and the sourcing and/or recruitment industry. I realise that all clients have one thing in common: they expect agencies to know everything without giving detailed information.
In fact, a sensible business enquiry can help speed up the business process. Use the checklist below as a guideline to see if your business enquiry is detailed enough:
The job role and job description (e.g. admin executive)
The industry your organization focuses on (e.g. mining industry)
The length of the job (i.e. perm, contract, or temp)
A proper timeline (e.g. hiring 10x admin execs by 2020)
6. Staffing Agencies Only Hire Fresh Graduates
Remember that staffing agencies will source for candidates that fulfil the criteria given by their clients. The assumption that staffing agencies will only source for inexperienced, fresh graduates is a myth.
Ultimately, clients will have control and the final decision of which candidate will be able to join their organization. However, it is important for clients to understand that experienced individuals will seek out higher-paying jobs. In fact, studies show that 1 in 5 professionals in Singapore expects a salary increment of 15% when moving jobs. Is your organization prepared to shell out the costs needed to entice an experienced professional?
Click here to down BGC Group’s salary guide for information on contract-temporary salary ranges in different industries within Singapore.
7. All Recruitment Agencies Focus on Commission
In the business and sales world, commissions are considered to be the be-all and end-all. Sure there are staffing agencies out there who are solely interested in hitting their KPIs and targets just for the commission.
But as a manpower outsourcing agency, focused on continuous improvement and community outreach, BGC Group is not an agency that focuses on commission. Our CEO, Tristan Chew, believes that as an agency, we should grow people’s dreams and ambitions instead of focusing on monetary motivation.
Eliminating commission also encourages employees to be naturally driven and passionate - when it comes to the job. Other benefits include better camaraderie amongst colleagues as well as a more harmonious and less competitive workplace environment.
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8. Recruitment Agencies Don't Provide Additional Services
The interests, focus, and responsibilities differ amongst individual recruitment agencies. With this in mind, it is important to remember that the different agencies will provide unique services on the side. Compared to the other agencies in Singapore, we're also able to help you out with other HR functions such as payroll, operations management and more with our WECARE™ technology.
We'll take the tedious roles with paperwork, while your HR team will be able to focus on what's important for your organization.
To learn more about what BGC Group has to offer, visit our employers page here.
Did we manage to clear up some of the misconceptions that you have about recruitment agencies? Let us know of other misconceptions you have in the comments section below!