Employment Agencies

It is a common misconception that all employment services offer only temporary positions, while in truth, millions of individuals are matched with temporary, as well as permanent employment opportunities each year with their assistance.  Employment agencies service all industries ranging from production workers to administrative professionals, and computer specialists to health care associates.  A temporary job agency, professional job recruiter or headhunter, and employee staffing firm are the three types of recruitment options available. 

The majority of candidates that use these services are employed through temporary staffing firms.  These agencies provide employees to companies experiencing seasonal spikes, special projects, labor shortages, employee absences, or when costs must be drastically reduced.  Employees are contracted to clients by fee agreements, or hourly wages, but receive pay from the temporary employment agency that found the position for them, which allows a company to transfer the burden of employee benefits to another source.

Employment recruiters are responsible for handling a company’s human resources and management obligations.  A head hunter is a professional employed by a recruitment firm to research candidates and seek out, assess, interview, and present qualified professionals and information that has been obtained to employers seeking personnel.  To reduce costs, companies may lease all or part of their work force to head hunters who take on all recruiting management, professional, financial, and administrative duties associated with employment.  A head hunter generally makes commission off of each placement along with a one time fee for their services. 

Employee staffing firms are very similar to recruitment firms, because they too only deal with permanent placements.  Staffing firms generally work with less prestigious positions, but still maintain a large responsibility in hiring the right candidate for an employer.  When placed through a staffing firm, both the candidate and employer generally have a one to three month trial period to see how well the position and company are for the candidate. This allows employers to evaluate team work skills, quality of work, and dedication to their company, while candidates may assess the type of work, required work loads, management style, and overall environment before making a long term commitment to a career.  If the employer and candidate are both satisfied, the employer can then hire the candidate to their staff. 

All services screen, interview, and often times, test candidates before selecting individuals to begin these positions to ensure they meet company standards.  Standardized testing may be administered so that a staffing agency has additional selling points to present to employers.  To increase candidate marketability, they may offer training and/or certification courses at little or no cost, which may be necessary for some positions.  These programs can range from basic math and calculations to software, phone etiquette, or resume writing.  Resumes are often submitted to prospective employers with the candidate’s application, interview responses, and test scores, which may have an impact on an employers’ decision. 

Most temporary and full time candidates employed in this industry work 40 hours or more a week, but the average annual work week in 2004 was approximately 32.5 hours.  Temporary employees generally have no personalized work space, and are unable to develop lasting relationships among coworkers because they change positions so frequently.  While stable careers with benefits are the most preferable, many job seekers are drawn to temporary careers.  Individuals looking to explore different career venues, or those with family or school obligations seek the flexibility and supplemental pay offered by these positions. 

In 2004, approximately 3.5 million positions were provided through recruiting agencies, with seven out of every ten of those being temporary positions.  These organizations are increasingly focusing on more specialized occupations such lawyers and attorneys, computer programmers and network administrators, and registered and licensed practical nurses.  The majority of staffing is done for candidates with a minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent certification, but degrees are becoming more important.  The most important requirement is previous experience in related positions. 

The temporary employment industry is projected to increase 46% through 2014.  This increase is almost three times that of the average industry.  Due to large turnovers, an increased number of individuals seeking flexible scheduling and industry growth, these positions will be increasingly favorable.  Many employers choose employment agencies in order to handle the growing list of laws and regulations imposed on employers.  Recruitment firms will continually grow, but the ability to post jobs in online classifieds or websites or internet job matching sites is expected to adversely affect the use of these firms.  Most positions will develop in administration support, transportation, and production. 

For more information on the services employment agencies offer, please visit the following sites:

• Remote Course
• Literary Education Online
• Merrill Associates
• Sales Training America
• The Inquirer

For an alternative to employment services, visit iHireJobNetwork, a niche job board with employment postings in the following industries: health and social services, administrative, construction, finance, sales, marketing, engineering, science, education, IT, hospitality, and more.