Job seekers say agencies letting down employers

The latest Talent Propeller survey shows that businesses using traditional recruitment agencies to find staff could be losing up to half of potential applicants.  We recently conducted this survey to explore how job seekers perceive traditional recruitment agencies and the results should be a wake-up call for the industry!

Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents had applied for a job through a recruitment agency and of them, 51% said they would prefer to apply for a position direct with a company.  These results indicate that businesses who utilise recruitment agencies to manage the recruitment process are potentially losing up to half of all prospective applicants.

Common feedback was there seemed to be little communication between recruitment agencies and candidates and they also complained of a lack of awareness about whether or not they were being accurately represented. Only 1 in 5 surveyed say they felt recruiters present them accurately.  Many respondents indicated they had developed a sense of mistrust toward recruitment agencies.

The key findings from the survey are:

• 88% of people surveyed had applied for a job through a recruitment agency.
• Out of this number, 51% said they would prefer to apply for a job directly with each company rather than through a recruitment agency.
• 28% of respondents said they did not like applying for jobs through a recruitment agency.
• 30% found recruitment agencies unpleasant and lacking in support.
• 34% indicated it would possibly deter them from applying for a job if they had to do so through a recruitment agency.

Alarmingly, 9 out of 10 surveyed, stated that if the agency is poor in its service delivery, this would affect their opinion of the business hiring.  There is a lot the industry can learn from these results and take forward into key business practices.

You can view the survey results here: www.talentpropeller.com/SurveyResults

There are several reasons why companies use traditional recruitment agencies, often it is because the role requires specialist knowledge and contacts within the industry or there are commercial sensitivities. But equally, a lot of companies work with recruitment agencies simply because they lack the time to manage the process themselves. In this case, it’s critical that you assess all options available on the market, and decide which services will better represent your employment brand and save time and money.

If you are interested in discovering alternatives to using a recruitment agency, contact Talent Propeller to discuss our range of services http://talentpropeller.co.nz/contact-us