Are job recruitment agencies relevant anymore?

Well I have a lot of things I could say about this. But probably the most important is that the Recruiter (doing their job properly) is the voice, the contact, the "human"part of this new world of hiring.
Job boards, ads, online applications...none of these relay the human facts.
I get the human facts and pass them on to deserving employers.

Large corporations with a handful of HR people cannot possibly do all of the screening as effectively while still having so many other responsibilities. Nor do they typically have the contact base for every type opening that may come about ie: a receptionist, attorney, doctor....go to professionals that focus placing those specific careers. Someone who hires the cafeteria worker at the hospital is also the expert on hiring the Director of Clinical programs??

I find out the how and why, reference, filter, encourage, advise, and basically prepare both parties for the interview process.
We simply still need the Human touch.

Take care out there and Happy Holidays!
Amy
amy.parsell@horizonshrs.com
http://twitter.com/HealthJobs4u

I love the idea that recruitment consultancies will become redundant, after all they are just a value reduction in hiring costs surely?

Except they aren't, good consultancies with great contacts in their industry can bring you a wider selection of high quality candidates in a short time frame and for substantially lower costs, than an in-house team can.

I worked in an organisation that was so addicted to the concept of "free" recruitment, that they employed 2 people full-time to wade through the insane number of on spec CV's they recieved in case they missed a bargain.

A colossal waste of time and money.

A lot depends on the skill set you're looking for and the urgency to fill a vacancy. High skill, short time - always an agency for my needs.

Low skill, long time - the in house team, there's no shortage of capable graduates to do entry level customer service jobs, and they are giving their CV's away for nothing on jobboards.

Anything in between - would need evaluating before deciding which way to go.

Happy New Year Allen!
Amy

the value of an agency is two fold. first the level of knowledge from the agency regarding hiring, HR issues, laws, unions, and plain old common sense. the second is the value of the data base they maintain. networking, by any means in the most valuable tool of a good recruiter and agency, the databases of good networkers will provide access to candidates that are not always looking through monster, craigs list, and honestly, good workers are not keeping their resume visible for all to read, a good recruiter becomes the advocate of the client, hand selecting and educating the right network about the opportunity and it most cases, fixing rumors that also limit the number of applicants for a company. we are underpaid for the work that we actually do!

"Direct Hire placement -- source "passive" candidates who are not on the job boards. Good ol' fashion "head hunting" if you will, for people who are in the same industry, often direct competitors. Also, most firms offer a guarantee period for a direct hire. Ours is 90 days, 100% unconditional guarantee, provided it is not a lay-off, etc. We work towards speedy replacement or a full-refund.

Contract-to-hire -- "try before you buy", limiting company exposure to hiring liability.

Contract, project based work. -- Big comeback on the horizon especially in the I.T. arena.

Payroll Services - Reduce company liability and payroll expenses by outsourcing.

True partnership - Recruiters with deep networks know lots of people. This is helpful when it comes time for the reference checks. References provided by the candidate are naturally going to be good. We talk to people who are not on the list.
Screening process is different at the agency level, with a bit more latitude in the questions that can be asked internally by H.R.

Consider also that there is a shared management aspect. It is in everyone's best interest, including the agency, to ensure that the new hire (contract or direct) is happy.

These are just a few advantages off the cuff."

Absolutely, they're relevant. Now more than ever. With organizations slashing their HR staff to nil (why, when they're needed more than ever, I'll never know) the need for quality, strategic external talent partnership is critical. Search firms specialize both in depth and breadth in particular industries and have formed relationships with individuals that would take years for an in house team to develop.
Search firms have been known to put talent and companies on the map by providing tested wisdom and guidance to both candidates and organizations to leverage each other. And this is because search firms are keenly aware of all players and competing organizations. Search firms have industry intelligence that won't be revealed to an in house team. Search firms strive for
discretion and finding the best talent for each company to make the right long term fit. Furthermore, in house teams are bogged down with internal HR strife, processes, dislike of going out there and getting it (most but not all), lack of credibility from hiring managers, etc.
Now, there are many, many firms out there who are salesy and are more interested in providing quantity vs quality and strategic counsel. A hiring organization has to be sure to ask the right questions -- ie: what's your stick rate? tell me about the last three positions you've filled? when was it filled? are the candidates still employed? how many are repeat customers? etc. And one question I always like to ask is what is your experience in search work? Most will come from a sales background that has nothing to do with your industry or with talent acquisition. Find someone who has worked in your industry. Most of the reputable firms have held leadership positions internally and have decided to strike out on their own. These individuals get it and know what are the challenges. And this can make or break a great partnership.
As for social networks and technology? They help but they are not what develop long term relationships. Nothing does it better than people to people contact.

I am not a recruiter, but I have worked with hundreds of recruiters for years. Nearly all work very hard and save their clients time, money, and energy in ways the go beyond the job boards of the world. There's a free list of good recruiters (with lots of experience) at www.RecommendedRecruiter.com.

Well, where I live, the recruiters are leaving the business - companies are hiring on thier own. I've been temping for a long time, not by choice, and I've gotten a few interviews on my own, but companies don't want to pay the temp to hire fees which are exhorbitant, and two of the places that I interviewed I actually know that one hired someone with an MBA (for a job that doesn't need one - the MBA's are looking for lower positions now) and the other, they found 'the perfect' candidate - had done basically the same job, with the same accounting package, for many years. Companies don't need help to find these people. So, people like me just wait.....

Oh, and the agents never take calls anymore - they are out trying to get business....

Julie,

I went to the recommendrecruiter site, and they don't have any accounting recruiters ( I went to advanced search and did accounting - all). Any other great ideas - I'm with many agencies and not finding anything.