4.8 External Recruitment

Employment Agencies

Employment agencies attempt to find a match between a person and a job.

We will look at a few types of employment agencies: executive search firms and staffing firms.

Executive Search Firms

Executive search firms are private employment agencies focused on high-level positions, such as management and CEO. They typically charge 20-35 percent of the recruit’s first-year salary, which can be expensive. They seek out candidates who other organizations have already employed. Therefore, these search firms are also known as ‘headhunters.’

Temporary Recruitment Or Staffing Firm

Suppose your receptionist is taking medical leave, and you need to hire somebody to replace him or her, but you don’t want a long-term hire. You can utilize the services of a temporary recruitment firm to send you qualified candidates who are willing to work shorter contracts. Usually, the firm pays the employee’s salary, and the company pays the recruitment firm, so you don’t have to add this person to your payroll. If the person does a good job, there may be opportunities for you to offer him or her a full-time, permanent position.

In House Recruiters

A search firm can be expensive, so some companies use in-house HR to recruit. In-house recruiters are usually employees within the company who focus entirely on recruiting upper-level executives. Corporate recruiters rely on networking and social media to identify potential candidates and are typically used to recruit professionals in high demand and short supply.

Traditional advertising

This often incorporates one or many forms of advertising, ranging from newspaper classifieds to radio announcements. Before the emergence of the Internet, this was the most popular form of recruitment for organizations, but the decline of newspaper readership has made it considerably less effective.

Recruiting at Educational Institutions

Colleges and universities can be excellent sources of new candidates, usually at entry-level positions. Consider technical colleges focused on culinary expertise, aerospace technology, or adult correctional interventions. These can be excellent sources of talent with specialized training in a specific area. In turn, universities can provide talent with formal training in a particular field. Many organizations use their campus recruiting programs to onboard new talent, who will eventually develop into managers.

For this type of program to work, it requires establishing relationships with campus communities, such as campus career services departments. Attending campus events, such as job fairs, can also take time. Fanshawe College holds job fairs and works with employers to connect students with jobs. See Fanshawe College Career Services for more information.

Professional Associations

Professional associations are usually nonprofit organizations aiming to further a particular profession. Almost every profession has its professional organization.

Internet Recruiting

The use of the Internet to find a talent pool is quickly becoming the preferred way of recruiting due to its ability to reach such a wide array of applicants quickly and cheaply. The downside to this method is the immense number of resumes you may receive from these websites, many of which may not be qualified. Many organizations have implemented software that searches for keywords in resumes to combat this. Some examples of frequently used sites are Monster, Indeed, and Workopolis.

Job Bank

The government Job Bank includes 1000s of jobs in the database. Employers notify Employment Social Development Canada (ESDC) of the job requirements. The job requirements are posted on the ESDC website. In turn, 1000s applicants can scan the Job Bank for openings in their field. Most of the job placements are in sales, clerical, and service industries, with very few managerial occupations.

Company Websites

Using the company website can enable a business to compile a list of potential applicants who are very interested in the company while also giving them exposure to the company’s values and mission. To successfully use this recruitment method, a company must ensure that postings and the process for submitting résumés are as transparent and straightforward as possible.

Company-specific websites now include a career page and are a source of pride for many businesses. The effort put into the page layout, design, and messaging demonstrates how many organizations rely on their career page to attract the right talent.

Social Network Recruiting

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube are excellent places to obtain a media presence and attract various employees. In addition to using social media as a recruiting tool, an organization can create a buzz about the company, share stories of successful employees, and showcase an exciting culture. Even smaller companies can utilize this technology by posting job openings as status updates. This technique is relatively inexpensive, but there are some things to consider. Social media is about getting engaged and conversing with people even before they think about you as an employer. Using tools such as LinkedIn is a great way to attract more candidates who cannot be open about their search for a new job because of their current employment situation. LinkedIn has allowed people to put their résumé online without fear of retribution from current employers.

Many organizations use YouTube videos to promote their companies. Within the videos, a link directs viewers to the company’s website to apply for a position.

Facebook allows free job postings in Facebook Marketplace, and the company’s Facebook page can also be used as a recruiting tool. Some organizations use Facebook ads, which are paid on a “per click” or per impression (how many people potentially see the ad) basis. Facebook ad technology allows specific regions and Facebook keywords to be targeted.

Advantages, Risks, and Other Consideration of SNS in the Hiring Process

There are advantages to using SNS in the hiring process. Many organizations have already incorporated it to some degree. Some examples of SNS benefits include:

1. Reduced cost and reduced time-to-hire,
2. The ability to reach out to a younger generation and a more significant number of applicants,
3. Attracting passive job applicants and
4. Providing employers with a different tool to predict the performance of a future employee.

Nevertheless, several challenges are associated with this topic, which must be addressed. The main challenges include

1. Legal issues,
2. The inability to recruit a diverse pool of candidates (regarding age, gender, and race)
3. These platforms lack validity and reliability.

SNS provides more advantages in the recruitment phase as a hiring strategy since there is no harm in attracting more job applicants when the cost is minimal. Generally, SNS may cause more problems if used during the screening and selection phase.

Studies indicate that SNS should be used to recruit and select employees, but employers should not rely solely on such platforms.

Recruitment Is An Ongoing Process

No matter how a company decides to recruit, the ultimate test is the ability of a recruitment strategy to produce viable applicants. Each HR manager or hiring manager will face different obstacles in doing this. It is important to remember that recruiting is not simply undertaken at a time of need for an organization but rather is an ongoing process that involves maintaining a talent pool and frequent contact with candidates.

Costs of Recruitment

Part of recruitment planning includes budgeting the cost of finding applicants. For example, let’s say you have three positions you need to fill, with one being a temporary hire. You have determined your advertising costs will be $400, and your temporary agency costs will be approximately $700 for the month. You expect at least one of the two positions will be recruited as a referral, so you will pay a referral bonus of $500.

In addition, when we look at how effective our recruiting methods are, we can look at the yield ratio figure. A yield ratio is the percentage of applicants from one source who make it to the next stage in the selection process (e.g., they get an interview). For example, if you received two hundred résumés from a professional organization ad you placed, fifty-two make it to the interview stage, meaning a 26 percent yield (52÷200). Using these calculations, we can determine the best place to recruit for a particular position. Note, too, that some yield ratios may vary for particular jobs, and a higher yield ratio must also consider the cost of that method. Sometimes, you get what you pay for! For an entry-level job, corporate recruiters may yield a better ratio than using social media, but it likely has a much higher cost per hire.

“5.5 Recruitment Strategies” from Human Resources Management – 3rd Edition by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Edited, reorganized, updated.

“Recruitment” from Introduction to Business by Linda Williams and Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Used section Traditional advertising.

“Use of Social Networking Sites for Recruiting and Selecting in the Hiring Process” from Vol. 12, No. 3 (2019), International Business Research by Marysol Villeda and Randy McCamey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Used section 6. Advantages, risks, and other considerations of SNS in the hiring process.