Staffing and Recruiting Agencies When to refer a client or student.

Career coaching is not an exact science and results can not be guaranteed. Kind of like fishing. I can take a person fishing to my favorite spots?with my preferred lures, but it does not guarantee we will catch fish… it depends on multiple factors, some of them out of my control.

The same is true with career coaching. Many things are out of my control.?

• I can assign work to my client...but did they do it?
• I may encourage them to network but they might make a “bad impression” not a good one (See It Cuts Both Ways)
• Sometimes it just takes more time than the client expects
• *You can fill in as many areas here as you’d like...there are several examples of things out of our control as career service providers.

I was working with a client who had taken time off to care for his elderly parents and wanted to return to the workplace. He could not return to his past job and was ready to find new work. He is a very bright man. He always seemed to understand what needed to be done, but had difficulty with the networking required to find his “ideal job.” After many failed attempts, I suggested he contact a local staffing & recruiting agency to find work and extend his savings, while he continued his search for the “ideal job.”

Staffing agencies fill temporary, full-time, part-time, temp-for-hire, and even permanent positions. Recruiting agencies can do the same but typically work with companies that are hiring professional and executive positions. Recruiters are always looking for talented people for specific companies and often in specific industries. Finding the recruiter that meets your client's needs is the key to success. (Watch my interview here with a recruiter and a staffing agency owner for ideas on how to do this).

Coaches and clients may want to utilize staffing and recruiting agencies but it does not replace the work we do as career coaches, it can complement our work.

Here are 8 reasons why you might refer a client/student to a staffing and recruiting agency.

• A stay-at-home spouse can ease back into the workforce and try different employers in the area
• A temp or contract position still gives time for a person to continue the search for a full-time permanent position
• It can extend a person's savings or outplacement severance pay
• Prevents a gap in their resume
• Gets a person’s “foot in the door” which can often lead to full-time work
• A person with few skills or experience can build skills and work experience...like a co-op or internship
• If a person is new to a geographic area, it is a great way to build their network and references
• Recruiters specialize in specific areas, and when you find a recruiter who is looking for people in the industry you want to work in, they can be real assets in your search

Remember that staffing and recruiting agencies do NOT work for the job-seeker, they work for the company hiring. It is their job to find the best candidate for the position so that the company will come back to them and ask for more referrals.

**Image by Jean van der Meulen from Pixabay

As career coaches, we need to have many “tools in our toolbox” and referring to a staffing and recruiting firm is just one of the many tools we should have available to serve our clients better.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF, and BCC-certified professionals as well as a variety of workshops for career practitioners.

He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association. He is a Trustee on the NCDA Board of Directors serving a three-year term.

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