Many professionals work with a staffing agency at some point in their careers. Some even prefer to work through agencies, as it provides them a wider variety of job experience than staying with one or two companies throughout a career. However, if you’re new to the process it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the variety of services and work placements, as well as the jargon many recruiters and staffing agencies use.
Although you don’t need to be an expert, there are a few things you should know to help differentiate between agencies and find someone who will serve your individual needs.
Before you can decide which agency is right for you, get to know the industry vocabulary. Refer to our glossary of recruiting terms, jargon, and insider language so that you can know the basics when talking to recruiters.
Generally, recruiting is defined by the different types of jobs that agencies help recruit for. Recruiting agencies typically fill more direct-hire, full-time, in-house positions, while staffing agencies handle more temporary placements. That said, there’s a lot of overlap – that’s why it’s so important to understand the style and culture of each agency you encounter in your search.
For example, Cinder provides recruiting support for direct-hire, temp-to-hire, and temporary staffing positions. Cinder is both a staffing and recruiting agency; we emphasize not just our recruiting capabilities but also the work we do for our temp and temp-to-hire relationships in order to offer excellent benefits and post-hire support to the employee as well as the client. This blog series is going to focus on temp and temp-to-hire positions, so if you’re still a little fuzzy on that term, it will be helpful to brush up on the differences between temp, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire.
Now that you understand the ecosystem, you’re in a good position to dive deeper into your search for the right agency. Check out the rest of of our upcoming “How to Choose a Recruiting Agency” blog series to find out what else you need to know.
*This content was originally written as a guest post on Mac’s list, available here.