5 red flags that show you’re using the wrong recruitment agency

A recruitment agency should be an extension of your HR & Recruitment department – an indispensable time-saver that ‘gets’ your company from the outset, understands the nuances of your industry and has the intuitive ability to put forward A class candidates whilst protecting your brand through the recruitment and onboarding process.

If your search for staff is proving fruitless – despite using a recruitment agency – it’s time to check for the five warning signs that indicate you’ve made a hiring mistake before you’ve even seen a CV. If you recognise any of the signs below, please get in touch with one of Bond Williams Professional Specialist Recruiters, experience counts and with over 300 years’ combined recruitment experience we really are experts in our field.

1. You’re not asked enough questions about the role or your company – an experienced recruiter will want to get under the skin of a company before the recruitment process starts. A phone call followed by an onsite visit – there should be a detailed discovery phase. A recruiter should ask about your work culture, values and ethics, environment and be keen to hear about your career development and benefit programmes and equality policies.  Diligence should be extended to the nature of the vacancy too, with questions asked about staff already performing the same or similar roles; what specific experience or skills are required  and how the role may develop in the future.
2. Too many irrelevant CVs being passed on – a recruitment agency is there to save you time and effort and ultimately help you identify the best talent in the market and sort the chaff from the wheat. One of the most important roles of a recruitment agency is to identify specific talent, pre-screen, CV sift, face to face interview and filter out unsuitable candidates utilising their experience and knowledge gained in the discovery phase detailed in point one. Receiving too many inappropriate CVs is a sign of lack of experience, poor knowledge or a lackadaisical attitude to candidate matching.  A recruiter should deliver applicants who meet what has been set out in the job description, ticking boxes when it comes to qualifications, skills and experience. And if the recruitment agency has a good dialogue with its candidates and the employer, it may even be able to earmark applicants who they think will be a good social fit too. If there is a talent shortage an experienced recruiter should be able to think outside the box when providing alternative suitable solutions.

3. There’s a lack of communication – once a recruiter has opened a conversation with an employer, it should actually never stop. As well as the discovery phase, there should be an open dialogue during the CV filter stage, pre and post interview debriefings, so the recruiter can refine their suggestions based on feedback. Even when the position has been successfully filled, a good recruiter will stay in touch to ensure the candidate has fitted in well and be there for any support needed whilst the candidate is in probation and should offer to help with any further vacancies that may arise.

4. They are not a true industry specialist – many recruitment agencies will claim to be a specialist in certain sectors but if you have your doubts, it’s worth questioning them a little further. A real specialist will have no trouble in discussing current trends, issues and developments – not just in recruitment but in specific industries as well. They should know about pay scales, emerging job roles and niche technology that may impact recruitment. Who is available in the market, competitors, who is passively looking if the right role comes along. If they can’t hold a competent conversation on the above, it may be time to rethink your partnership. Bond Williams Professional Recruitment have 5 specialist divisions, each with consultants having between 5-25 years’ recruitment experience in that specialist area, we know from experience you can’t be an expert in everything, it is just too complex.

5. Everything is out-of-date – it’s important to know that your recruitment agency has its finger on the pulse but there are some telling signs that show an agency may be under-resourced or on the wane. If it isn’t keeping its social media channels populated with fresh posts – especially LinkedIn – then question why. Other signs to look out for include the most recent jobs posted being months old, and online news/blog pages that haven’t been kept up-to-date.

Bond Williams Professional Recruitment is a recruitment specialist with more than 300 years’ combined recruitment experience sourcing and placing the best talent in the market serving the specific sectors of HR, Office & Commercial, IT & Software Solutions, Accounting & Finance, and Engineering, Science & Space sectors. We have invested in three office locations servicing UK roles to continually develop a true understanding of often niche job markets where our industry specialists lie and are here to continually support our clients growth and top talent acquisitions.