Can I afford to use a recruitment agency
Are you looking into working with a recruitment agency but not sure how the fees work or how they charge? Then let us explain how a recruitment agency charges and what service you get for that.
Companies across the nation are employing new members of staff every day. It’s a part of business. However, unless you recruit very often and have dedicated hirers within your organisation, it can be an expensive and time-consuming task. You have to write and place a job advert onto a job board, then sift through all the applications that you receive; not only the good but also the bad and the ugly! Then it’s time to get in contact with the ones you like to interview and organise a time that suits both parties. And that is all before you’ve even got a candidate to sit in front of you. It can be surprising how much time and money can be taken up during the recruitment process.
What service do I get?
An agency will take on the recruitment process on your behalf. Once they understand the job, they will advertise the role on various platforms to attract applications, as well as headhunt for suitable candidates on CV databases. A recruiter will always screen a candidate with a telephone interview to see whether the job and the candidate are a good match, they might even hold a face to face meeting with the candidate to get a better understanding of them as a person.
Any candidates that the recruiter feels strongly matches the job will be sent over to the hirer to look at to see which ones they want to interview. The recruiter will then contact their candidates with feedback and arrange interviews for the chosen ones. The recruiter will then hand interviewing responsibilities to the hirers so they can make an informed decision on which candidate they want to employ, but the recruiter will always stay in contact and keep updated with any candidate feedback. Once you have decided which is the candidate for you, the recruiter will act as a liaison between the candidate and employer to make sure that both parties are happy with the offer.
What is the cost of a recruitment agency?
That completely depends on what type of contract you’re looking to take your new hire on, and what type of service you’re looking for. You can take a new starter on a temporary or a permanent basis. You can also take a candidate on a fixed-term contract, which would normally fall under the same charges for a permanent candidate.
Permanent Recruitment
If you’re taking a candidate on a permanent contract, the recruiter will charge a fee once the candidates accepts and starts their new job. The fee will be agreed between the employer and the recruiter, typically for us this would be 15% of the candidates starting annual salary. There should also be a rebate period in the terms, so if your new hire leaves within a certain time, an agreed percentage of the fee is refunded to you, giving you absolute peace of mind. Be aware that an agency is under no obligation to offer a rebate period if the candidate leaves your employment. However, at MP Recruitment Group, we always offer a rebate period as peace of mind to employers. We also offer to replace a candidate for no further charge if things don’t work out first-time round.
Temporary Recruitment
With temporary recruitment, the candidate is paid by the agency. The agency will usually pay the workers weekly and will be responsible for their hourly wage, accruing holiday pay, NI contributions and pension payments. The recruiter will then charge a fee to incorporate all of this plus a profit margin. The margin will greatly depend based on the sector, job role and the number of staff they are able to put into your organisation.
If you want to take the candidate on a permanent contract, you can do so for no extra charge after an agreed length of time. If you wanted to take a candidate on permanently before the agreed length of time, you can do so for an agreed fee, depending on how many weeks the candidate has worked so far. It’s good to be clear that when you take a candidate on a temporary basis, you will only ever pay for the hours that a candidate works.