What Applicants Need to Know Before Contacting a Recruitment Agency

Finding a job can be difficult and exhausting, especially if you don’t know how to start in Belarus. Recruitment agencies can become your reliable assistants in this matter. However, before contacting them, it is essential to consider several important points. This article will examine the main aspects that will help you competently approach the job search through a recruitment agency and increase your chances of successful employment.

What applicants need to know before applying to a recruitment agency in Belarus

What kind of agencies are there

There are three types of intermediary agencies in the labour market that help employers and job candidates meet:

Recruiters

The employers pay for the recruitment companies’ services. The recruiter gets paid for recruitment. The employer submits a list of vacancies and requirements for candidates to the recruiting agency. Recruitment agencies close the employer’s request on a turnkey basis, from the placement of a vacancy to the initial interview stages. In this case, the selected candidates meet the employer’s needs as much as possible.

Outsourcing companies

Such companies employ employees and conclude contracts with them. The hired employees perform the tasks of those companies with which the hiring company has concluded outsourcing agreements. In this case, the outsourcing company employing employees is a contractor of those companies whose tasks are performed by employees of the outsourcing company. This is often how companies that provide merchandising, cleaning, loading and unloading, repair, accounting, and personnel accounting services work.

Employment agencies

Employment agencies usually provide paid employment assistance to applicants for various vacancies – consulting services. To receive help from an employment agency, the applicant enters into a service agreement with the agency. Agencies assist in resume writing, interview and psychological training. Agencies do not guarantee employment but only prepare the applicant for it. The agency charges the payment regardless of the applicant’s achievement of the result of cooperation.

Arguments “for”

Since all three recruitment agencies successfully operate in the labour market, let’s consider the advantages of working with them.

1. Saving time

You do not need to waste time and sort through many vacancies on job sites in search of suitable offers. The agency will select suitable offers for you. You will also not need to search for information about employers who need candidates for vacancies. The agency will provide you with this information.

2. Access to more vacancies

Several companies do not post their vacancies in open sources but cooperate only with employment agencies. That is, in addition to selecting suitable vacancies from open sources, you can expect exclusive offers from the agency.

3. More favourable conditions

Recruiters try to make a favourable offer to the applicant because they want to close the vacancy quickly. The rate of job closure affects recruits’ income and reputation.

4. Help with resume and interview

Several agencies help applicants to create a more “selling” resume and provide advice on preparing for an interview.

5. Feedback

After the interviews, the agency gives the applicant feedback. In case of erroneous behaviour, feedback helps the candidate avoid mistakes in future interviews.

6. It’s all free

The employer usually pays for the services of a recruitment agency, which is one of the advantages for an applicant for whom the agency’s services are free.

7. Precise description of responsibilities

The agency examines the employer’s list of requirements before publishing a vacancy and asks for clarification of the requirements in case of inaccuracies or discrepancies. Therefore, the applicant immediately understands whether it is necessary to respond to the vacancy.

8. The bench

Even when the employer refuses a candidate selected by the agency, your resume will not be lost. Promising candidates fall into the reserve of the recruitment agency and can receive a good offer at any time.

9. Valuable information

In between, a recruiter can give valuable advice on the “packaging” of a resume or the state of affairs in your employment segment. Such information can be heard in a regular free conversation, mainly if you use your soft skills.

Arguments “against”

The arguments against applying for employment services from recruitment agencies are worth considering.

1. Recruitment agencies are not engaged in hiring in all professions and industries

Several recruitment agencies are industry-specific and not engaged in hiring in all professions and industries. Some agencies only hire for a few large clients.

2. You will compete with other candidates from the recruitment agency’s database

Other applicants who have entered the agency’s database may have impressive experience and competencies.

3. The recruiter may distort the truth a little

The recruiter may slightly distort reality to get you interested in a specific vacancy to complete the job placement task.

4. The agency acts in the interests of the employing company

You may be persuaded to lower your expectations or even change the direction of your search since the agency is interested in closing vacancies for a certain employer and receiving remuneration from him for closing a vacancy.

When it’s not worth looking for a job through a recruitment agency

If you are applying for a massive vacancy – with a salary that will be average or low, you should not contact a recruitment agency. Usually, employers place such vacancies independently, saving on the hiring process – without contacting intermediaries through recruitment agencies.

How to choose a recruitment agency

There are many recruitment agencies; you can contact several at once, but first, we recommend choosing a genuinely professional recruitment agency. What to pay attention to:

To the recruitment agency’s website. Ask if there is information about the company on the site, whether expert articles and news are published there, and when the last update of the analytics was.
For the agency’s clients. Such information is usually available on the agency’s website. This will tell you about his specialisation. You will find a job faster if you contact an agency that selects staff for your specialisation.
To review the agency. You can ask the recruiter for feedback if he wrote to you himself.
For information from agency employees, talk personally with an agency employee, specifying what his assistance in finding employment will be and how he will present you to potential employers.
The politeness in communication between the agency’s employees, including by phone and in messengers, and the speed of their answers to your questions.
The quality and depth of communication between an agency employee and you as an applicant. At the beginning of communication, the recruitment agency should devote time and attention to you in order to see you as a suitable candidate and understand your experience and personality traits.

How to find a job through an agency

The process of finding a job through an agency can be presented step by step:

Step 1. Create a resume

Step 2. Send your resume to the recruitment agency.

Step 3. Receiving feedback from the agency and discussing the terms of cooperation.

Step 4. Fill out the applicant’s application form for inclusion in the agency’s database.

Step 5. Optional: making changes to the resume at the suggestion of the recruiter.

Step 6. Getting the agency’s help in preparing for and going to the interview.

Step 7. Receiving a job offer and deciding on employment.

Step 8. Getting feedback from the recruiter if no job offer has been received.

Can the agency help us with EOR / Payroll

Agencies that are outsourcers may well help with EOR and Payroll. Such agencies carry out a complete cycle of employment, including accrual and payment of wages. The staff works and receives a salary in such an outsourcer company, performing tasks for the company with which the outsourcer has agreed. Such an agreement stipulates, among other things, the terms of compensation to the outsourcer for risks and obligations to pay salary taxes, employee insurance, and solve social issues of employees.

Applying to such agencies by employers is especially beneficial when the employers are non-residents and do not plan to open a company in Belarus. For applicants, such agencies often offer opportunities to work remotely for foreign and international companies without relocation.

Our experience

Choosing the right recruitment agency is very important when recruiting staff. Recruitment.by has successful experience in hiring for various positions for companies in different industries and banks.

We guarantee the replacement of the candidate if the candidate we select leaves during the probation period.

We have extensive contacts and experience in recruitment. There are more than 1,500 candidates in our database.