Berks & Beyond Blog

Once you’ve determined that it’s time to hire, you face another critical decision:  should you do it yourself, or work with an experienced recruiting service like Berks & Beyond?

It would be easy (and logical) to use this question as a launching pad for a sales pitch.  The true answer, however, is more complex.  What’s right for one employer, under a certain set of hiring, employment and market conditions, is not necessarily right for another.

So how do you decide if you should hire on your own, or partner with a recruiter?  Here are a few critical questions to consider:

Evaluate Your Current Hiring Practices

• How do you typically hire personnel?  Have you always done it yourself, or do you have a good working relationship with a recruitment firm?
• How much do you really spend on hiring on your own? Be sure to consider HR time, legal costs, management interview time, opportunity costs, vacancy costs and the cost of a bad hire – in addition to the cost of advertising.
• Do your DIY recruiting methods yield enough qualified candidates?

Conduct a Needs Analysis

• Do you have the time and resources available to properly recruit, screen, interview, assess, reference check and follow-up with candidates on your own?
• How much would it cost you to replace a bad hire in this position (i.e., do you need a guarantee)?
• Does your hiring situation require confidentiality or anonymity?
• How quickly do you need the available position filled?

Consider Current Market and Employment Conditions

• What is the current unemployment rate – not just in general, but specifically for the level/type of candidate you need?
• How desirable is your location?  Have you had difficulty attracting candidates to work there in the past?
• What are the emerging industry trends which could impact your ability to hire the talent you need?

Consider the Advantages Recruiters Offer

With budget constraints remaining a key concern, you may lean toward a DIY approach for recruiting.  But before you start posting to job boards, remember these key advantages Berks & Beyond can provide:

1. Improved focus. We free you to focus on your key priorities.
2. Specialization. We know how and where to find the high-caliber talent you require.
3. Temporary and contract staffing options. If your needs are short-term or project-oriented, we can provide access to the skilled individuals you need without adding to your headcount.
4. Access. We maintain robust candidate databases and relationships with passive job seekers.
5. Simplification. We save you considerable time and stress, while ensuring that correct selection and screening procedures are utilized.
6. Guarantees. We reduce the stress, expense and risk involved with hiring and/or replacing a new employee.

When working with a recruiting service makes the most sense for your organization, Berks & Beyond is the ideal choice for your placement needs. With a full complement of staffing and placement services, diligent screening processes and six southern Pennsylvania locations to serve you, we are uniquely qualified to deliver the talented candidates you need.

Contact Berks & Beyond today.  We can help you analyze your recruiting needs and determine if our services could help you hire more quickly, accurately and at a greater cost savings.

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With unemployment near record highs, you may question the value of direct placement services.  If job applicants are plentiful, can recruiting services really help you?

In a word, yes.  Here are just a few of the ways search and placement services can simplify your job and help both you and your company be more successful:

• Save Time.  Posting jobs, screening résumés, scheduling and conducting initial interviews, testing and reference checking are extremely time-consuming activities – especially when candidates are abundant.  Use a direct placement service to eliminate both the time and cost associated with these processes.
• Increase Focus.  Use the extra hours you gain (by offloading time-consuming recruiting activities) to focus on other key HR priorities or revenue-generating activities.
• Access Top Candidates.  The market may be flooded with job seekers, but are they people you really want to hire?  Recruitment specialists are experts at sourcing the best talent.  They use extensive candidate networks, internal and national databases, direct recruiting techniques and referral sources to identify individuals – even highly desirable “passive” candidates – with the skills, experience and personality traits to succeed in your organization.
• Shorten Your Time-to-Hire.  Because staffing firms maintain such robust candidate databases, they can dramatically reduce the time it would take to find the right person on your own.  And in cases where immediate placement is required, most staffing services can provide a temporary replacement to handle the workload while conducting your search.
• Reduce Your Hiring Risks.  Our tough job market has caused a rise in résumé fraud, as desperate job seekers feel compelled to stretch the truth in order to get hired.  Unfortunately, the employer pays the price, when a new hire who has misrepresented himself has to be replaced.
  Direct placement services reduce the risk of a bad hire in two ways.  First, the referred candidate is thoroughly screened, interviewed, background and reference checked to verify skills, experience and work history.  Additionally, most staffing services guarantee the quality of their direct placements for several months – and will find you a replacement if you’re not satisfied.

Save Time and Money with Berks & Beyond

Ensure the success  of your next hire by calling Berks & Beyond today.  We will recruit, screen, interview, test and refer the finest administrative, light industrial, technical and professional candidates in Central and Southern Pennsylvania for your job opening.

Do you know why the U.S. staffing industry is growing at a faster rate than the overall economy?  The answer can be summed up in a single word:  flexibility.

The American Staffing Association’s Intelligence Report called Workforce Flexibility:  Staffing for a Better Bottom Line speaks to this very topic.  The article details the numerous ways our industry delivers the workforce flexibility today’s businesses need - from quickly finding experienced specialists for short-term projects to helping organizations run leaner during these tough times. 

I encourage you to follow the link above and learn more about how our industry can benefit yours.  And of course, if you have specific questions about how Berks & Beyond’s services could enhance your company’s workforce flexibility, please contact us directly.