In the wake of recession and a growing disparity between job vacancies and the number of applicants, increased volume alone makes the use of a recruitment agency seem like an unnecessary overhead for many businesses. The challenge that employers face in efficiently recruiting exceptional candidates is no longer a sourcing issue. Screening — and the time this takes up — is now key.

Trawling through CVs never feels like a productive use of time, particularly in the current economic climate. Recruiters should advise clients to seriously consider the value of their time against the cost of outsourcing. However, in addition to job search support, to deliver real value for money specialist recruitment agencies need to capitalise on all industry knowledge when offering screening, vetting and competency profiling. his means fully supporting managers through understanding detailed job requirements and the full extent of the business need to match appropriate jobseekers.

It’s in everyone’s interests to approach clients with viable opportunities and find the right person for the job. However, many agencies are not able to make detailed filtering recommendations because they are not both business and sector aware. Within the IT sector, for example, they are not trained to grasp the link between what a piece of software does within a business and how that influences the type of person needed to build it.

Success lies in giving clients confidence that their agency’s screening choices are the same they would make when bringing applicants down from 200 to five.

Tom Fahey, managing director, First Point Recruitment

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