You’re the personnel manager andin addition to your regular job,you’re now filling in for the vaca-tioning hiring coordinator. You havethree mid-level openings, and youjust received word that the legaldepartment is gearing up for a doc-ument production project requiringsix temps. Also, your firm is lookingto move to another office and you’re

in charge of setting up appointments with new vendorsfor billing, accounting and word processing systems.What’s more, you have performance reviews comingup, new insurance coverage to review, and vacationscheduling looming. This may be the worst-case sce-nario, but it illustrates the stress employment man-agers face without the help of an employment agency.

Saving Time. It’s no secret that screening and inter-viewing applicants are two of the more time-consum-ing aspects of hiring. Receiving 300 resumes for anadvertised position is overwhelming and requires sift-ing through hundreds of pieces of paper to find topcandidates.

Scheduling interviews is a special project in itself,because the sought-after candidate you’re trying torecruit is not always accessible. You can have theagency handle it all, from screening resumes to sched-uling interviews to checking references. This saves youtime and valuable energy.

A thorough process is necessary to ensure the rightdecision by any hiring manager, and an agency worksclosely with you to identify your needs. The rightagency will only present candidates qualified to per-form the duties and tasks required. This will greatlyreduce the time you need to spend down the line.

Zeroing in on a Winner. Once the agency has identi-fied for you a highly skilled pool of candidates, theprocess of interviewing them will be more pleasant andfruitful. Consultants will have already discussed the

specifics of the job, benefits and salary, and will havescreened out unqualified applicants. The personnelmanager won’t have the tedious responsibility ofreviewing all job duties with each candidate, savingtime and making for a more relaxed interview.

Checking Backgrounds. The failure of companieslike Enron and WorldCom illustrate the importance ofhiring individuals with integrity. When you use a goodemployment agency, your consultant will begin check-ing references almost immediately, and by the time thecandidate arrives in the client’s office, that individualhas been given a stamp of approval.

Temping as Trial. Most employers don’t want toinvest thousands in salary until they’re sure the candi-date can perform the job and fit into their corporateculture. One option many hiring managers often over-look is the temp-to-perm situation. Now common at alllevels in most organizations, this strategy can effective-ly eliminate any risk. Another benefit of hiring some-one on a temporary basis initially: The agency absorbsthe financial downside if a candidate doesn’t work out.For instance, the average cost of unemployment insur-ance incurred as a result of a terminated employee is$15,000.

Figuring the Costs. Most employment agencies doall work on a contingency basis, and clients don’t haveto pay unless a hire is made. Fees are generally basedon a percentage of the candidate’s annual salary. Agood agency should offer guarantees on all placements.This means that if someone doesn’t work out within 30days, 100 percent of his or her fee is refunded. But ifyou’ve done your homework and hired the rightagency, you’ll never have to worry.

Jonilee Rossi is founder and president of The MacPhersonGroup, a professional placement firm in Boston that special-izes in the recruitment and placement of attorneys, parale-gals and support staff and offers both permanent and tempo-rary services.

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THE PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS WOMAN’S JOURNALDecember 2003

Reprinted with permission by Women’s Business Boston 12/03

EMPLOYMENT

Make Hiring Easy — Rely on an Agency

Jonilee Rossi