What is a Staffing Agency and How Can It Benefit Your Business?

Staffing agencies, also referred to as recruiting or search firms, match candidates with employers. They can place full-time, part-time, and temporary workers on a contract, temp-to-hire, or permanent placement basis.

When working with a staffing agency, candidates can connect with recruiters and hiring managers seeking to find the right individuals to fill their open positions. Likewise, employers have the opportunity to be connected with an ideal candidate for their open jobs.

A staffing agency’s expertise and input can save candidates and employers valuable time. With the goal of placing the right candidate in the right open position, staffing agencies can also help candidates find opportunities they might not have found on their own and help organizations connect with candidates they might not have had access to outside of the agency.

The employer, not the candidate, pays the staffing firm. Depending on the agreement between the employer and the agency, as well as the type of hire, agencies can be paid based on terms such as a retainer that covers the period of time to search for candidates, a percentage of base salary once candidates are placed in permanent positions, or on an ongoing basis while temporary employees contract based on a percentage of the base pay or other calculations.

Staffing agencies identify and foster relationships with both active and passive candidates who might be a good fit for the types of jobs they fill. Here’s a summary of how staffing agencies work:

• An employer has a staffing need and contacts an agency that specializes in the type of candidate it is seeking.
• The staffing agency creates an open job based on the employer’s specifications and begins sourcing candidates from its candidate pool or through other means, such as job boards and social media.
• The staffing agency reaches out to current candidates who are a good fit for the job, as well as to any new candidates.
• The staffing agency presents candidate resumes that might be a good fit for the position and employer.
• The employer decides if it wants to interview certain candidates.
• The staffing agency sets up an interview between the employer and the candidate.
• If the candidate is a good fit, the employer works with the staffing agency to determine the contract and pay.
• An offer is presented to the candidate.

Depending on the type of hire needed and the relationship between the company and the staffing agency, the process can vary.

The terms staffing and hiring are often used interchangeably, and though they have some similarities, they also have notable differences. Both staffing and hiring are processes to fill open positions within an organization and consider job roles and responsibilities and compensation factors to fill open positions.

As for differences, staffing, with the support of staffing agencies, provides employers with easier access to both active and passive candidates. A staffing firm has the time and expertise to connect with and nurture passive candidates, whereas an employer that is focused solely on the hiring process might not.

When hiring, employers typically post jobs and source candidates on their own, which requires them to go through the many resumes coming in from the job posting. But staffing firms tend to build up their candidate pool and offer an employer seeking to fill an open position access to several active candidates at once. Through staffing, agencies have already weeded out candidates who aren’t viable for the role, so employers don’t waste their valuable time and resources on them.

Another key difference is that staffing tends to retain a candidate pool. If a candidate isn’t ideal for one position, the relationship continues to be nurtured with the possibility an open position down the road will be the right fit.

To select the right staffing agency to work with, you want to ensure you’re choosing an agency with the right specialization for the industry in which you’re interested. For example, if you’re seeking a job in the IT or HR industries, then you want to find an IT staffing agency with HR placements, respectively.

Once you’ve found an agency that might be of interest, you’ll want to connect and register with the agency, which typically leads to an interview with a recruiter. If, based on the interview and research about the staffing firm, you feel good and want to continue the relationship, you’ll want to work with your assigned recruiter to answer questions and ensure the agency has all it needs to successfully represent you to its clients.

Organizations that are ready to take the next step in beating the job market odds can find success with Advantis Global. Our staffing agency is adept at building relationships with candidates and companies and making the right connections as needs open up. That means we are prepared at a moment’s notice to help companies fill the gap with the top-skilled talent in the industry. We probably already know just the right candidate for your organization.

We have three main areas of focus with related industries. These include:

• AG Studios: Filling roles in creative, marketing, and production
• Advantis Government Solutions: Hiring veterans, cleared, and non-cleared talent for federal positions in IT and cybersecurity
• Advantis Global: Focusing on IT, gaming, and localization talent

Reach out to us today and learn why it is worth it to use a staffing agency.