Employment Agencies and Recruiting Firms
Have you seen ads for a private employment agency that promises it will find you a good job? Do you wonder how reliable the promise is? Are you confused about who pays for this service - you or the employer? Are you curious about how temp agencies work?
Some private employment agencies and recruiting firms do help people find permanent jobs. Others place workers in temporary jobs. In fact, older workers make up 15% of some temp agencies' placements.
But be careful. Get informed first. Understand exactly what you are buying and what the agency will provide you.
Finding Employment Agencies
Before looking for an employment agency, first check out the free and reliable job search and referral services.
Community colleges often have business and placement centers that are open to the public.
Your local job service or Career One-Stop Center can refer you to employers searching for workers. You can also get information there about nonprofit agencies in your state that receive public funds to help eligible older workers find jobs.
Once you have looked at the free services, you can search for employment agencies. A good place to start is in your local Yellow Pages.
Employment agencies usually fall into one of these three groups:
- A temp agency,
- A personnel agency, or
- A combination of temp and personnel agency.
This can get confusing, because they all call themselves employment agencies. But how they get paid is very different. It's important to know the difference. Be sure to understand who pays what.
A temp agency works with a business to provide short-term, fill-in workers. In recent years, businesses also have temp agencies find workers for longer-term projects. The temp agency recruits workers and sends them to the business to fill assignments. The business pays the temp agency, and the temp agency pays the workers. As a worker, you are actually an employee of the temp agency.
If you work for a temp agency, you do not pay a fee to be placed at a business.
A personnel agency is different. It tries to match job searchers with companies that have openings. They may refer you to human resources staff that they know in different companies. The agency staff may be able to offer you some good job search advice. But the agency does not offer you any job guarantees.
Companies rarely pay personnel agencies to find permanent employees. Instead, employees themselves are usually required to pay a portion of their first year's salary to the agency that helps find them the job.
More and more, employment agencies act as both temp agencies and personnel agencies. Know which part of the company you are dealing with.
When you call or visit an employment agency, ask for details on what you can expect and on who pays what. Do not pay any fees up front. If the company asks you to sign something, make sure that you know exactly what you are signing. Before signing, take the form home to get advice about any unclear wording.
In most states, the department of labor requires employment agencies that charge a fee to applicants or employees to register and to post bonds.
Get a list of registered employment agencies from the state labor department or from a Career One-Stop Center.
Finding Recruiting Firms
Executive employees do sometimes receive calls from recruiting firms. These firms have contracts with employers looking for job candidates with certain skills and experience.
You can also contact a recruiter yourself to ask them to represent you. In recent years, some recruiting firms have begun working with midlevel, as well as higher or executive level, employees.
Remember that recruiting firms do not charge the job seeker. The hiring employer contracts with the recruiting firm to find the right employee for a specific, very high-paying job.
There are more than 5,000 executive recruiting firms in the U.S. Many specialize in a certain industry or in a certain kind of job. If you have a higher-level or executive job, you are likely to find your kind of work covered by numerous recruiting firms.
Comparing Employment Agencies and Recruiting Firms
Check out the differences between employment agencies (personnel and temp agencies) and recruiting firms. "Staffing firm" is another term used by each kind of company.
| Employment Agencies | Recruiting Firms | ||
|
Temp Agencies |
Personnel Agencies |
||
| Also known as: | Temporary help services | Personnel placement services | Headhunters or executive search firms |
| Aim: | Help employers meet emergency and short-term needs | Bring job applicants and employers together | Find the right person for a certain job within a company or organization |
| Focus: | Short or long-term temporary positions, for most kinds of work | Permanent jobs for most kinds of work | Higher-level white-collar and executive jobs. A few firms recruit for midlevel jobs. |
| You are hired by: | The temp agency | The employer | The employer |
| Who pays? | The employer always pays. The temporary staff person never pays. | Often, you pay after you are hired. Sometimes, you and the employer split the fee. Rarely, the employer pays the fee. | The employer always pays the fee directly to the recruiting firm. The executive who is recruited never pays. |
| How much? | By contract between employer and agency | Usually a percentage of your new salary. | Usually a large fee, paid by the employer |
| Licensed? | Some states only | Some states only | Some states only |
| Caution: | Know how to get benefits and training. Know who pays if a company wants to hire you directly after you do temp work for them. | Agencies do not guarantee you a job. Don't pay a large sum up front. Know what you're signing. | Work with recruiters in your field. Verify a recruiting firm's legitimacy before working with them. |
Protect Yourself from Scams
Job search scams have increased in the past several years.
Some of the worst ones target workers who want to use an employment agency or a recruiting firm. They may even contact you directly.
Some scams try to scare older workers into thinking that they cannot find a job without paying a large fee to an expert. Others try to sell you job leads.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns that you never have to pay for information about job vacancies with the U.S. government or the U.S. Postal Service.
Additional Resources
Career One-Stop
Centers
Find the Center nearest you. Get job search and referral help.
Career Encores,
Inc.
A network of nonprofit agencies that matches older workers and
employers.
Federal Trade Commission
Learn consumer tips on avoiding job scams. See copies of ads that
don't add up.
Check on a
Business
Get tips on working with employment agencies. Find a Better
Business Bureau Reliability Report on the firm you're
wondering about.
The Riley Guide Learn about actual scams and rip-offs and how to avoid them.
Check Out Executive
Recruiters
Check the Kennedy "Red Book"
