Rules for new recruitment agencies and recruiting for e-commerce

September 11th, 2018 | Industry News

The recruitment sector is often said to be one of the faster growing industries in the UK – which ignores the fact that as many agencies close as open. It’s certainly true to say that the industry is one of the fastest-moving; agencies come and go with lighting speed! So what gives a new recruitment agency longevity?

1. Knowing how the sector operates – ‘disruptors’ have ideas about how to make recruitment faster, more reliable or less labour intensive. Good for them. But when disruptors don’t actually know how recruitment works, they have a one-dimensional view of the sector. The reputation of an agency depends on:

• matching demand with supply
• sourcing high calibre candidates
• building great client relationships
• securing a recruitment package that suits both sides.

Online recruitment software therefore has to do more than just streamline the recruitment of candidates, it must build relationships and be sensitive to change. The best recruitment CRM is therefore a necessary investment for new agencies.

2. Starting where you are strong – nothing uses up the resources of a new recruitment agency more than trying to ‘break into’ a new area. Instead it’s good to focus on your current expertise and your existing network. SAAS recruitment agencies get a head start in this by building their network into their software so they have a strong resource from day one.

3. Get social – social media (e.g. LinkedIn) is a vital tool for a new recruitment agency. The best new agencies view social media as a vast applicant tracking system UK-wide, even global! They use their social media presence to communicate, to attract, to inform and to engage both candidates and – more importantly – new customers!

Recruiting for e-commerce

E-commerce recruitment has its own imperatives – with 48% of e-commerce teams saying that maintenance of their teams is the key concern for the year ahead, and 42% saying finding the right personnel is problematic, there’s a lot at stake.

Prioritising recruitment and retention is crucial. E-commerce is tricky because it often takes place in the ether, and the ‘team’ itself may be virtual rather than people who meet regularly to work together. As a result recruitment profiles need to be carefully calibrated – recruitment software needs to be sensitive to the need for people to be able to work alone, but also to find individuals who can pull together as a team. ‘Good enough’ is rarely good enough for sectors where fast-moving developments are allied to a lot of pressure to achieve results. Planning the recruitment process is essential so that potential team members are properly channeled to final job offer and where strong fits to both technical and soft skills have been established.