As a recruiter in the staffing industry, I often meet candidates who wonder how we can claim to offer jobs that aren’t available anywhere else. Here are a few examples of why a position is available through a staffing firm but not a job board or a company’s Careers page:
- The company is running a “Confidential Search,” which often means they are replacing a current employee and they need to keep this information confidential until a replacement is hired. Or maybe an employee is choosing to leave, but in order to maintain business as usual, they are not advertising this information to the other employees. (Last week, my office received two Confidential Search openings.)
- Their Human Resources department isn’t equipped to recruit for a certain role because HR is understaffed and strapped for time, or it’s a position that is outside of their expertise. This is more common in smaller companies. (We received four of these positions last week at my location.)
- Some companies simply prefer to work with staffing agencies who are equipped to screen and interview candidates faster and more thoroughly. Recruiters have hundreds of professional contacts and access to resume databases, and that gives them an edge on finding top talent. (We received six of these in the last week.)
- Larger companies will often sign exclusive contracts with staffing companies to fill certain positions. This means the job is never posted anywhere else and all candidates must be submitted through the staffing agency. (We received about 15 of these local positions last week.)
- Staffing companies will also (with the candidate’s permission) market a resume into a company where they think the candidate would be a good fit, even if there’s no open position. This is most common when a recruiter has consistently provided great candidates for the company. (Last week, my colleague introduced a great candidate to a company that wasn’t actively looking for people; they recognized the opportunity and our candidate was hired.)
If you’re looking for work, you should take advantage of every opportunity to find a great job – and staffing companies can give you access to opportunities you didn’t even know existed.