7 Reasons Why You Might Need A Recruitment Agency in the Philippines

Recruitment agencies in the Philippines are best known for hiring Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). To protect both jobseekers and foreign employers, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) maintains a list of accredited recruitment agencies with constantly updated statuses. These act as liaison between companies and applicants to ensure the smooth process of hiring.

Also read: Top 4 Ways JobStreet Is the Perfect Platform for Hiring Remote Talent

However, more and more local businesses are realizing the value of reputable external firms in hiring top candidates. In this article, you will learn what recruitment agencies are, what they do, and how to gauge if your company needs one.

What is a recruitment agency? Recently, the job market has become competitive as Filipinos are left unemployed and searching for work. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country’s unemployment rate was at 6.5% last November 2021. Although this was a drop from 7.4% in the previous month, it still equated to 3.16 million jobless Filipinos.

Because of this, your company may receive an influx of applications. While sifting through hundreds of resumes, how do you make sure you don’t miss out on good candidates?

This is where recruitment agencies come in. Their goal is to find the most suitable jobseekers for your vacancies through these steps:

• Researching on employer preferences and available roles

• Finding qualified talents through their networks

• Screening and assessing applicants

• Interviewing candidates

• Briefing company on the best candidates and scheduling final interviews

According to Garrett Alberto, President and CEO of HCM Nexus Consulting, an HR (human resources) solutions company–and Jobstreet partner—agencies like his augment the recruitment capabilities of their clients. 

“Basically, recruitment agencies help clients expand their candidate reach, and we conduct the initial screening which greatly reduces our clients' time spent in sifting through candidates.” These agencies work for a variety of industries. Alberto continues, “We support a wide range of clients ranging from SMEs to multinationals to offshore companies.”

Also read: Employers Look Back at 2021’s HR Best Practices

Simply put, recruitment agencies do the hiring for you. How can you tell if you need their services? Here are some reasons for outsourcing your employment process: 1. You need to hire fast. An unexpected resignation or restructuring in the company can open up jobs that need to be filled ASAP. But if your HR department is swamped with work, giving them additional load may affect their performance, and make them miss important deadlines. Thankfully, a recruitment agency can fill in for your HR, and fulfill your urgent hiring needs soonest.

Also read: 5 Exit Interview Questions You Can Ask Your Resigning Employees

2. You want to focus on running your company. You need to hire people to keep your business running. At the same time, you need to stay on top of company operations. To do both, you may employ a recruitment agency to oversee the time-consuming process of hiring. In your place, their agents will go through volumes of resumes, and vet applicants. This frees up your time to concentrate on business priorities.

3. You have hard-to-fill roles. Maybe you’re looking to fill top positions in your company. Usually, these include roles in senior, executive and C-levels. Getting people with advanced skills and experience may be difficult to find. Recruitment agencies can dig deep into their database to come up with potential candidates. Also, they can reach out to those actively employed and interested in making a career change.

4. You don’t have an HR team. If yours is a start-up or small business that has yet to set up an HR department, it may be smart to hire an employment agency. Their expertise and exhaustive contact list can spare you the headache of conducting the hiring process on your own. This is especially true if your employees lack an HR background, which may lead to costly hiring mistakes.

5. You lack corporate marketing skills. There are outstanding employers who may not necessarily be adept at promoting their companies. Instead of rebranding (which you eventually need to do) to attract qualified jobseekers, you may work with a recruitment agency. They can present your company in the best light, highlighting your strengths and value to candidates.

6. You want to avoid problem candidates. Some candidates are not entirely honest. Some include false skills and experience on their resume. So, if you rush the hiring process, you may miss out on fraudulent practices, and end up with less than desirable employees. The recruitment agency can do background checks for you. This way, you are assured of quality candidates.

7. You want to save on costs. If you don’t have a dedicated HR team, time spent on screening jobseekers translates into lost opportunities for your business. Moreover, making bad hires are also additional expenses. If employees don’t fit the roles, you need to constantly train and motivate them. Also, this eats into your time and resources.

If you’ve decided that a recruitment agency is the best option for you, Alberto offers this advice: “The basics would be to look for reputable companies, to understand the costs, and then the commercials. Recognize that you need to go deeper than those in terms of how well the firm is able to align with your recruitment process and hiring needs. In addition, will the firm provide you insights regarding your industry or best practices?"

Here are more tips:

• Research on the agency. To make sure the agency is reliable, read reviews about its performance. Some agencies excel only in specific industries. So, make sure that their expertise matches your needs.

• Clearly explain your requirements. The agency should know exactly what you want. Through this, they deliver the most suitable candidates.

• Review your budget. Recruitment services cost money. First, check if you can afford hiring a recruitment agency. Check if it’s a cost-efficient move and a worthy investment.

However, if you think you can handle hiring on your own, JobStreet offers its services as a preferred partner of Filipino jobseekers for over 20 years. Even recruitment agencies work with JobStreet to find premium talent. “Jobstreet helps us in two ways – branding and expanding our reach for active candidates,” says Alberto.

With JobStreet’s consistently high candidate traffic, it guarantees strong business visibility through the JobStreet ads. Try our free Lite ads for your easy-to-fill positions. Meanwhile, Branded and Premium ads, which garner more applications for posts, have these features:

Plus, check out helpful tools to write effective job ads.

Ready to start hiring? Remember to update your company profile in JobStreet. Find the perfect employees for your team by accessing the Talent Search page. Finally, visit our Inspirations page for more news and expert advice about your industry.