Whilst out for dinner with a few friends earlier in the week one asked me: 

“What do you actually do? What is a recruitment agency?” 

Initially, I thought what a bizarre question… but then I came to realize that before I started looking into recruitment agency vacancies a few months ago I had no idea either so thought I’d share! 

It seems so obvious if you already know. 

A ‘typical high street recruitment agency’ tends to register candidates onto their books or database and then when they take on a new job with an employer, they would send the closest 5-10 CV’s to be reviewed by the employer.   

Equally during the candidate registration process, if a candidate really impresses then it’s common for a recruitment agency to ‘spec out’. This means they contact potential employers asking if they would entertain the candidate.  

What makes us different?  

Whilst here at Thompson & Terry Recruitment we tend to work on recruitment agency level vacancies, we don’t register candidates or store candidates in a database. Instead, we understand the role, business and culture and then go to market to ‘headhunt’ in order to find the very best fit for both candidate and employer. 

We always interview every candidate for an hour before we submit to ensure the employer and role is exactly as the candidate expects but also to ensure the candidate is exactly what the employer expects. This results in c.80% of the first CV we send over to a client getting the job compared to a national average of 5%. 

It’s not all good because, to achieve our stats, our process is usually longer than a typical recruitment agency. But, in our experience, the biggest cost of recruitment is when it goes wrong, and we are so passionate to ensure every placement we make is long-term.   

So why use a recruiter? 

As a business: 

• Recruitment is almost always expensive, but the biggest cost of recruitment is when it goes wrong so by working with a value driven recruitment expert, you can focus on what you do best whilst ensuring the right person joins your business. 
• Most recruiters will have access to a much wider talent pool than you would when hiring directly, therefore all good recruiters will be passionate about finding the very best candidate for the given role. 

As a candidate: 

• Moving jobs can be daunting, any good recruiter will be able to really hold your hand throughout the process and help you to make the very right decision for you. 
• Recruiters will be able to support you with preparing for an interview, so you are able to show the very best version of yourself.   
• Recruiters often have access to jobs that are often not otherwise posted on the job market, so you can find yourself an exclusive role. 

Still confused?

Give us a call on 01235 797 177 as we are always here to talk you through what can be a confusing world of recruitment!