Direct Hiring vs Using an agency – which is right for your business?

Why should you use an agency?

We all know that businesses can recruit for themselves, now more than ever the spotlight is on budgets and ensuring that when recruiting, each new member of your team is adding value to your Company and ultimately the bottom line. The candidate pool is currently larger than ever and although that may sound like a benefit, it does mean that unfortunately, the best talent may not be the ones applying for your role.

Now, most agencies will provide you with a list of why to use an agency over direct hiring, a list of features on time-saving, cost-saving, efficiencies and speed. Yes, they are important, and it’s true that at Vanilla we have a database with over 15,000 candidates on it and have access to the leading job boards, but this alone is NOT enough. Very few agencies share with you the true benefits and many of them do not highlight the hidden work that goes into the process that really makes a great recruitment company (like ours) stand out, not only from direct hiring but also compared against many other agencies.

At Vanilla we partner with our candidates and clients and that has been consistently demonstrated throughout the 15 years we have been established. Using a recruitment agency can be a cost-effective and efficient way to hire compared to in-house recruiting, providing you’re getting the most from your agency.

83% of Vanilla’s business is repeat business – Our clients are getting the most from their agency. We provide a service that goes further than saving you time and money, and I will highlight below the key reasons clients partner with us and continue to do so:

We get your brand out there by offering a quality service

Our consultants will speak to around 30 times more candidates than they eventually shortlist and send on to you. Of those candidates that don’t get sent they hear about your business, and it’s always a positive conversation so you will be thought of as an employer of choice. A growing brand that has a good reputation in the marketplace.

Just because you have great employees, great service and an outstanding product doesn’t guarantee that potential employees will be queuing up outside your door. While those things are essential for a successful business, you need to get your business in front of the right people in a way that allows them to see what you have to offer, a job advert that the best may or may not see isn’t enough to guarantee you are attracting the best.

The average candidate spends 3-4 hours submitting a single application, while 70% of companies think it takes them less than an hour. Hardly surprising then, that 60 per cent of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications because of their length or complexity. That’s a lot of potentials to be missing out on.

Why use an agency when the candidate pool is bigger than ever?

As your recruitment partner, we specialise in understanding the niche employment markets in which we work, noticing patterns which emerge and being able to offer market insight on candidates, salaries and industry competitors to find the best of the best.

While adverts are attracting those actively looking for a new role it’s important to remember the strongest candidate may not even have applied. Vanilla’s expertise lies in knowing the East Midlands market inside out. Each consultant understands their respective markets thoroughly, enabling them to find those top tier candidates you as employers are looking for.

The Vanilla team is supported by a database spanning 15 plus years with passive candidates that won’t apply to adverts but remain in our network. Consultants also have the ability to headhunt positions from competitors, sourcing specific skill sets that have been previously unattainable. This knowledge and expertise can make all the difference when finding that perfect candidate.

Candidates are prepared and better equipped

Candidates often don’t understand what they are applying for, they also don’t know how your organisation is structured and how you operate – most of this information does not appear in the job advert. You could get to a final interview stage and information key to the candidate’s decision-making process may not have been available until now. Then that ideal candidate backs out of the interview process, which is very disappointing and wastes many hours of your time.

When candidates come via Vanilla Recruitment they will have gone through an in-depth competency-based interview, we explain the business in detail, we will match it back to what they are seeking in their next role and will have understood the individual’s motivators before they are close to being shortlisted for your position.

We ensure all candidates are interested and prepared before the interview, again another commitment check. If they aren’t then we pull them out of the process. Without Vanilla checking this you could meet 6 candidates of which 3 waste your time by being unprepared, uncommitted and each having several other job opportunities to be considered at the same time. Very often, salaries are not advertised – and it’s quite possible you could completely mismatch your shortlist with candidates that are definitely looking for more money?

Your time and knowledge – can you put a price on that?

Using Vanilla means that only candidates who are fully qualified for the role will be shortlisted for the position. We will manage the process for you, rejecting any unsuitable candidates and managing any queries about the role, creating a positive candidate experience for highly skilled applicants. Direct hiring can be difficult if you have no experience or expertise in the recruitment process – you will be required to write, create and post suitable job adverts (did you realise there is an art to writing adverts that get the best applicants?), potentially pay for multiple job boards which are costly, invest your valuable time working your way through potentially hundreds of good and bad CVs, carry out multiple interviews and negotiate the entire offer process yourself.

Using Vanilla has been proven to reduce the time and in-house resource that you need to dedicate to recruitment. It should also lead to a quicker turnaround on filling the vacancies, which in turn leads to increased efficiency of the organisation and allows you to concentrate on your area of expertise.

Qualifying the best, uncovering their weaknesses?

Often at interview, a candidate will tell you what you want to hear. Unless you are equipped with experienced interviewers in your process who understand how to competency interview and uncover red flags? Vanilla also support this process by testing candidates in areas they can’t hide away from. We use an advanced testing system called ISV testing which can measure a range of skills to suit the roles you are hiring for, from Advanced Excel and Sage, through to basic Word and customer service or data entry. We are also able to offer Psychometric testing to ensure you have a unique insight into your future hires for your team that match your values.

Industry knowledge, specialist recruitment agencies work a niche for a reason

Finding a recruitment agency who specialise within the niche you want to hire into will provide a far greater reach and insight on the candidates you’re looking to place within your business.

As a recruitment specialist within the Accountancy & Finance, Office, Sales, Marketing and HR sectors Vanilla’s team is passionate and immersed within their core sectors, meaning each consultant is genuinely interested and in the know of their specialist sectors. As well as the obvious (understanding the ins and outs of the skillsets they recruit for in their chosen sectors), our consultants are able to advise you on industry trends, providing you information on your market and updating you on new emerging topics that they collate through research and conversations with other clients and candidates.

Still not convinced it’s worth the investment?

Analysis of placements made by Vanilla shows that 87% of our candidates are still in their roles, twelve months after starting and 83% after two years.

There is little mystery about what the recruitment sector does, but, what we are adept at doing though is keeping you focused on your core job, building a business or running a team and your people. Time and money are huge factors where Vanilla will add value through our niche sector knowledge, access to the passive candidate market, interviewing and job writing expertise and by elevating your Company as an employer of choice in a highly competitive market.

For all your  Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office needs contact Vanilla Recruitment for a timely, cost-effective and results-driven service.

Recruiting with us is simple and painless

We are proud to be an independent recruitment agency because it gives us the flexibility to form a true partnership with you. Across our five niche recruitment specialisms, our unified team are committed to getting you the results you need.

We are experts in matching the right candidates with the right businesses. We will work hard to understand your culture, needs and requirements, and we will only send you candidate details if we see a real fit being possible.

So, if you are looking for great talent across any of our specialisms within the East Midlands, please fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you straight away. Alternatively get in touch with us on 01858 898 058 or email [email protected] to discuss your recruitment needs.

We recruit throughout the East Midlands covering Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and the surrounding areas, especially Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Corby and Kettering. We help people find their perfect job and match suitable job seekers with businesses looking to hire the best candidates across our five specialisms – Sales, Marketing, Accountancy & Finance, HR and Office