What’s the Difference between a Temp Agency and a Recruiting Firm?

Temp agency. Staffing firm. Recruitment agency. Headhunter. Executive search firm. Placement agency. Whew. Choosing a firm to help you find the right new hires can be complex. What’s the difference between a temp agency and a recruiting firm? The truth is that many companies need a hybrid hiring partner. Use these insights to help your company find the right staffing partner.

 

What is A Temporary Staffing Agency?

A temporary staffing agency is, quite literally, an agency that provides temporary candidates for short-term needs. For example, a temp agency might provide a receptionist to cover a full-time employee’s maternity leave, or they could find a seasonal assembly worker to get through a busy time. This type of service can be a good resource when your company needs workers with broad, general skills. As opposed to those with special training and advanced experience. Temp workers may simply be ‘assigned’ to your company and show up for work before meeting anyone on your team. If they aren’t a good fit, the agency will send a replacement accordingly.

 

What is a Recruiting Agency?

A recruitment agency will invest more time getting to know your company to find candidates with suitable skills. In most cases, they aim to provide candidates for long-term employment and offer several employment options:

Contract Workers

There are times when companies need short-term workers with special skills. In these cases, it makes sense to work with a recruitment firm that will assess and measure potential candidates’ qualifications. This might be a firm that deals with only contract placements, or one like Hiregy that offers contract, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire options.

Contract-to-Hire

Growing companies may need support yet aren’t quite ready to add a position to the payroll. For example, they may be growing to the point that they need to bring in an HR manager. But, their revenues may be fluctuating, putting a full-time hire out of reach. In these cases, it makes sense to look for a contract hire that could potentially move into a full-time role. When you need a hire of this kind, it helps to work with a partner with a deep Rolodex of contacts. For example, Hiregy has relationships with experienced professionals in HR, banking, real estate and other industries. The result is that we can quickly identify qualified prospects that are available for contract positions.

Full-Time Hires

Companies that need to replace departing employees or boost their workforce have several options for recruiting partners. Some placement firms focus on entry-level roles that are a good fit for recent grads and younger workers. Others specialize in specific industries, such as finance or HR, or some agencies assist with attracting C-suite leaders with specific management or strategic experience.

 

What Are The Advantages of A Temp Agency?

Temp agencies can be a good choice for companies that need workers with basic skills quickly. They will provide as many staff as you need, even at short notice, and can easily replace workers who don’t fit the role.

Other advantages of a temp agency include

  • You can recruit temp workers on a short-term basis to meet seasonal demands
  • Staff from temp agencies can cover while you recruit permanent staff. 
  • Temp agencies are flexible and can provide staff for days, weeks, or months. 
  • With temp agencies, you don’t have to worry about the hiring logistics such as advertising, interviews and onboarding.
  • Temporary staff aren’t part of the official company and don’t incur the HR costs of permanent employees.

 

What Are The Advantages of a Recruitment Firm?

Recruiting and executive search firms are a good fit for companies that need more specialized skills, and want to hire workers that are a good fit for the company culture. So what do a recruitment firm and executive placement agency do differently than a temp agency?

  • A recruitment agency spends more time vetting candidates. As a result, the recommended people have the skills, experience and personality to be successful at a client’s firm.
  • They learn as much as possible about their clients’ businesses to ensure they find candidates that are a good fit for the position and the company culture.
  • A recruitment agency will take a long-term view of client and candidate relationships. They work to connect exceptional candidates to careers, rather than to jobs.
  • They proactively search for the best possible person for the job, and this often means networking to find candidates who are not actively looking for a new position.
  • A recruitment agency will conduct one to three rounds of interviews and will narrow their list to two or three excellent candidates before bringing them to a client.

Why Use A Recruitment Firm to Find Candidates?

In summary, you should use a recruitment agency if you want to find highly-skilled candidates for long-term employment. Ultimately, a recruitment firm will get to know your company and carefully seek out and select the best candidates for your firm. Overall, using a recruitment agency can be more cost-effective because you don’t have to invest as much time and resources into recruitment. 

Contact Hiregy today to find out how our recruiting solutions can help your company connect to exceptional job candidates. Call us in Tampa at 813-449-4800 and in Orlando at 407-270-2700.