What to Know About Staffing Agencies as a Job Seeker

Companies hire staffing agencies to find candidates for open positions. In this post, we examine how staffing agencies work and how to use them to your advantage to land a job.?

By Brandi Fowler

Staffing agencies help companies find qualified candidates for open positions.?

Recruiters work for staffing agencies and contact you if they think you are a good fit. If you are interested in working with a staffing agency, find one that recruits for jobs in your industry.

“There are different types of staffing agencies,” said senior recruiting manager and executive leadership coach Karie Harris. “You have some that focus on finance, tech, or marketing jobs, and some that focus on a little bit of everything. Who you work with will determine the contracts they have with different, large corporations.

“If I were to contract you out to LinkedIn [as a recruiter], then I will get a certain budget from the company. So LinkedIn says I have a six-month contract for a social media specialist. They will give us a budget to say we are going to give you a hundred thousand dollars behind this person. Then it is up to the agency to set whatever price they want to pay that contractor.”

I chatted with Harris and the president of Staffingsymphony.com Abby Kohut to learn more about staffing agencies as a job seeker.

The Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency

Staffing agencies can be beneficial for job seekers.

“I always encourage folks that are looking for roles to partner with the staffing agency that aligns to the type of work that they do,” Harris said. “Don't shy away from contracts because any job can be pulled from you at any point, whether it's full-time or contract.”

“The benefits of using a staffing agency to get a job is [that] the staffing agency is going to fight for you,” Kohut said. “They only get paid if you get placed. The staffing agency will sell you in quotes to the company. For example,? if you can find a staffing agency that knows if you want to go work for Google, you could send your resume to Google by yourself, or you could find an agency that works with Google and get them to push your resume into the door.

“The only con I can think of is that a staffing agency costs the company money and the company might prefer if you went straight in so they don’t have to pay the staffing agency a lot of money to get you.”

Identify your skill set before trying to work with staffing agencies, and do an internet search for staffing agencies in your field.?

“Use those keywords,” Harris said. “If they are an engineer, look up companies focusing on that. You can also pull up the list of top staffing agencies in the U.S. and it will give you the top 10 and sometimes even the top 20.?

“Go through each agency and look through their job boards. Research which one caters to what you do because that will increase your chances of having a recruiter that can represent you to companies that they partner with.”

What to Ask a Recruiter if One Contacts You

Do not hesitate to ask recruiters questions about the position, contract, their company’s role in your position, and more when they contact you.?

“Ask them, ‘How long have you been working with this client?’” Harris said. “Sometimes it can be a new client where they are trying to get their foot in the door and if that is the case, there are different tiers an agency can work with a company. If you are a top tier, then your resume often gets seen first.? But you can be tier number three or four, meaning that they are only going to come to you if they can't get through their first top two people that they work with for their agencies.”

Be prepared for the recruiter to ask questions to assure you fit the position, but avoid giving them personal information when communicating with them.??

“You never want to give a staffing agency your financial information or your social security number,” Harris said.?

Also, ask if there is potential to go permanent if you work in a contract role. Inquire about why a position is just a contract as well, Harris said.?

“Is someone on leave? Because if it is just opening for someone on leave there is a good chance that that is all it is,” Harris said. “And if you are looking for long-term, it is not going to happen. You can also ask how many people the company has? staffed in the same position, and if the company can end your contract before the contracted time.”?

Ask how they can help you land your next role once your contract is over and if any training is provided.?

In addition, a recruiter may ask you to sign a ‘Right to Represent’ contract or agree to it in an email. If they do, only agree to it for the position you are applying for.?

“You should sign the right to represent on that job, but not for the whole company,” Kohut said. “If the whole company is small, like only 500 people in it, then you can sign it for the whole company. But if you are going with Google's staffing agency contacts, you should not sign that because Google is so large that even if you don't get this job, you might get another job and you don't want to sign for the whole Google.?

“You certainly don't want to sign something that says they can only represent you and you will not go with any other staffing agency. Definitely never sign that.”?

Make sure to read the fine print, Harris said.?

“The right to represent is just saying, ‘I am the only one that is going to be working with you for this client opportunity. If it is a staffing agency that people haven't heard of they could be saying, ‘We own your right to represent for the next 30, 60, 90 days with anyone you work with.’ I haven't seen that too often, but you want to read the fine print and not just assume.”?

By reading the fine print and proceeding accordingly, you can work with as many recruiters as you want.

“If another recruiter contacts you, take the call,” Harris said. “Understand what the role is. Then, go back to the agency you are working with and say, ‘Do you know anything about this opportunity?’ And just see if they are already working with them. Then you can go through that agency for the role.”?

That allows you to “play the field” and see how much money the role pays before signing anything, Harris said. “If you find a recruiter that you really like, that always looks out for you, that's ahead of the game, and if another recruiter reaches out that might seem sketchy.”

Last, ask the recruiter if you will be working for their company or the company they are submitting your resume to if you get the job.??

“You don’t have to be polite,” Kohut said. “[Ask] am I working for you? Am I working for the company? Who is giving me my paycheck? Who is paying my benefits? How long is this position going to last? That is totally normal.”

Working with a staffing agency can help you land a job, but make sure you ask questions about the role, salary and the company’s role in your position before you sign a contract.?

Top Takeaways

What to Know About Staffing Agencies as a Job Seeker

• Connect with recruiters in your field.???
• Ask questions about the role, salary, and the company’s role in the position when a recruiter contacts you.?
• If a recruiter asks you to sign a Right to Represent, only sign it for the position you are applying for.?
• Don’t shy away from contract roles while looking for a job. It can be a good way to earn income while looking for a full-time position.