Five Ways to Tell If Your Staffing Agency is Great

Jul 11, 2018

But how do you really know if a job will be the right one for you? While online searches are useful, they usually don’t give you a good feel for company culture. And once you do land an interview, you sometimes only talk to one or two people for a couple of hours at most – how will you know for sure that you’ll be working for a reliable company?

Using a staffing agency is one of the best ways to save time and energy when searching for a job; a staffing agency has connections with multiple companies and can usually find a job match for you quickly, but you’ll need to make sure you’re dealing with one that will go beyond just helping you find a job. Here are five ways to tell if the agency you’re considering is merely good, or if it will go above and beyond and be the BEST:

#1:  A good staffing agency will gather your basic information and present you with a list of options. A GREAT staffing agency will take the time to learn where you excel and can find the BEST match for you.

A good staffing agency will ask for your skills and experience, but a great staffing agency will find out what you’re CAPABLE of and encourage you to apply for jobs where you can continue to apply your capabilities. That might sound counterintuitive; don’t skills and experience matter? Sure, but consider this: do most of us perform the exact same work, all day every day, all of our working lives? Most of us don’t; what you do might change, even if slightly, from one job to another. Performance skills like “increased production by 90%” at your current job are fantastic, but your real success came from your drive and ambition. A great staffing agency recognizes that you’ll be able to use that same amazing ambition and work ethic within another company, even if you’re doing something a bit different than you did before.

#2:  A good staffing agency has good local connections. A GREAT staffing agency has had a presence in the community for many years and has developed and maintained solid, lasting relationships with reliable companies.

Many staffing agencies have set up shop in your community and have a good working knowledge of local companies. But their portfolio can also include national and even international clients. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but building strong relationships takes time and energy, and unless you’re looking to relocate for a job, you might want to consider an agency who has dealt with local companies for many years. A great staffing agency deals only with companies they know are reliable – companies who are good to work for and who they communicate with daily (or sometimes hourly!) about the needs within that company. They know how the company operates. They know the human resources personnel, plant managers and CEOs by first name. They’ve kept strong relationships with them, even when the company or the economy has gone through hard times. So they know what the company really stands for, what kinds of people work well within the company and how the company handles challenges, such as personality conflicts or workers comp issues.

#3:  A good staffing agency will spend just enough time to find a decent job for you. A GREAT staffing agency will find the right job for you and will follow up to make sure it continues to be a good fit for you.

A great staffing agency will call YOU soon after you begin the job to see how your first few days have gone. And if you encounter any challenges or concerns while on the job, a stellar staffing agency will act as a liaison between you and the company to help determine solutions that work for everyone. When you interview with any staffing agency, ask them what their process is after you begin work at the company, and listen carefully to what they say. If it’s along the lines of “Give us a call if you need anything,” you might want to consider another agency.

#4:  A GREAT staffing agency will never charge you to use them. They are paid by the company. If fees or charges are mentioned at any point in your interviews with an agency, keep walking.

#5:  Finally, a GREAT way to determine if you’ve found a GREAT staffing agency is to take note of how their employees conduct themselves. The first time you enter their office, does someone immediately acknowledge your presence and smile at you? Is the staff professional, and do they seem excited about what they do and happy to be at work? These factors are all good indicators about the way the agency is run and if the people who will be helping you are invested in what they do — or if they’re just phoning it in. It’s your livelihood – don’t accept less than an agency who truly cares about you as a person and wants to help you find the RIGHT job for YOU. Circumstances in life can change – you might take a break from work to start a family or for medical leave. A great staffing agency will always be there for you.

In short, a GREAT staffing agency is all about relationships – with you and with the placement company – that continues beyond simply signing you up and wishing you good luck as you head out their door.

About Friday Services

Friday Services’s mission is to bring the right people to the right job, every time. Accomplishing this, we better people’s lives, and increase our customers’ and employees’ success. Locally owned and operated for nearly 40 years, we’ve been the leading employment solutions provider for Western North Carolina, providing staffing services for Professional, Administrative, Industrial and Technical industries.

As our employee or client partner, we believe that you deserve and should receive:

  • The highest quality professional services
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  • Solid experience doing what we do best

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