With 83% of companies reporting difficulties in recruiting last year, many are using 2025 to rethink their recruitment practices in order to gain an edge in the competition for well-qualified candidates.
Offering expert advice and industry knowledge, reduced hiring times, and access to a pool of talented jobseekers, using a recruitment agency will put you several steps ahead when it comes to your next hire.
1. What does a recruitment agency do?
2. How do recruitment agencies differ from job boards?
3. What are the advantages of using a recruiter when hiring candidates?
4. What are the signs it’s time to use a recruitment agency?
What does a recruitment agency do?
A recruitment agency acts as the bridge between your company and potential new staff members. They share information about the role and company with jobseekers, and provide applicant details to the hiring panel. Recruiters update both parties on the application and interview process throughout.
At Unitemps, our recruiters take on the parts of the hiring process that you or your company don’t have the time or expertise for. Our consultants are skilled in:
- Sourcing and selecting candidates
- Advertising jobs on our dedicated jobs portal, as well as other job posting platforms
- Screening and shortlisting applicants
- Arranging interviews and assessments
- Maintaining legislative compliance throughout the process
How do recruitment agencies differ from job boards?
A job board acts as a bulletin board for job listings, which jobseekers use to search and apply for roles. Job boards reach active jobseekers and increase the visibility of your role, helping more people to see it than if you only posted the vacancy on your company’s careers site.
A recruitment agency goes beyond a traditional job board. Rather than posting a job advert and waiting to see who applies, recruitment agencies work with you to actively search for people with the right skills and aptitude for the position.
Recruiters are experts in the world of hiring. They use this expertise, their understanding of your company’s needs, and their knowledge of the role, to find the ideal candidate for the job and your wider team or business.
What are the advantages of using a recruiter when hiring candidates?
1. Expert advice from experienced recruitment consultants
The beginning of 2025 saw an increase of 7.2% in the number of job postings – the first time this figure has risen since June 2024. What this means in practice is that it’s harder for your vacancies to stand out, and this is where using a recruitment agency can give you a competitive edge.
Recruiters have a deep understanding of industry trends, stay up to date on best practice for attracting candidates, and often have specialist knowledge within certain sectors. They consider a variety of factors such as salary range, role requirements, company culture, candidate expertise and career expectations, and are committed to finding a suitable match for both jobseekers and businesses alike.
2. Unbiased and fair recruitment process
Recruiters can act as a neutral third-party to ensure your company remains free from bias when assessing applicants. This is useful during the initial sourcing and selection of candidates and the screening process. A recruitment consultant can even be involved in the interviews, to offer impartial advice or feedback after an interview has taken place. This can be particularly helpful if you’re struggling to choose between two candidates, or in cases where you have internal applicants as well as external applicants, to ensure everybody is being assessed fairly.
3. Reduced hiring time
According to StandOut CV, the average time to fill a vacancy is 42 days. This is the number of days from making a job advert live to a jobseeker accepting a job offer.
Partnering with a recruitment agency reduces hiring time for a few different reasons. Not only do recruiters have the skills you need to quickly attract candidates to your role, but they’re also well-practised in the art of screening applicants, arranging interviews and assessments, and conducting pre-employment checks – speeding up the admin side of recruiting new staff members.
A reduced hiring time makes candidates less likely to pull out of the hiring process, either because they found another role within that time frame, or are frustrated at the length of time between submitting their application and hearing back from your company.
4. Cost effectiveness
While it may feel tempting to take on the task of hiring yourself, there are some hidden costs to in-house recruitment:
- To attract high quality candidates, you’ll probably need to pay to advertise your vacancy on several job boards
- The cost of candidate screening software and applicant tracking software to avoid needing to manually screen candidates and their CVs
- Hiring staff is a full-time job, which means either taking a member of staff away from other projects (which are generating revenue) or paying to hire an in-house recruiter
- Interview costs, such as travel, taking staff away from their regular work to be on the hiring panel, and even paying for assessment tools such as psychometric tests, can all add up
- Onboarding new hires successfully requires a lot of attention and time. A negative onboarding process creates a higher chance of that employee leaving early – putting you right back at square one with the hiring process
We already know that working with a recruiter reduces hiring times – and quicker hiring times result in less money being lost due to an empty role. It gets your company back up and running at full capacity, increasing your productivity levels and putting you back on target for business growth and development opportunities.
5. Candidate quality
It’s true that recruiters have access to a pool of talented jobseekers who are on the search for a vacancy like yours. However, good recruitment is about quality, not quantity. With 65% of hiring managers stating that a lack of quality candidates is one of the biggest frustrations in their job, recruiters can alleviate that stress by tapping into their candidate pools and selecting those with the most relevant experience and qualifications for your role.
6. Retention rates
Expert advice from recruiters, a fair recruitment process and reduced hiring times are advantageous for jobseekers as well as businesses. A candidate having a positive experience with the recruitment agency that you use will reflect well on you, improving the reputation of your company and, in turn, increasing your staff retention rates.
A recruiter taking the time to find the most suitable candidate for your role also minimises the risk of your business hiring somebody who doesn’t turn out to be the right fit. So you can feel confident that whoever you hire through a recruitment agency will remain with your company for the long term.
What are the signs it’s time to use a recruitment agency?
1. You’re looking for candidates with specific skills, qualifications or experience
When it comes to hard to fill or niche vacancies, a recruiter will use their networks and specialist knowledge of the recruitment industry to source candidates with the right expertise. Recruitment agencies also take the time to double check the details of a candidate’s work history and education, making sure they definitely have the background you’re looking for. This limits the amount of time you spend sifting through applicants who aren’t quite right for the job.
2. Equality, diversity and inclusion is a priority for you
According to the CIPD’s ‘Resourcing and talent planning report 2024’, 29% of managers report challenges with hiring diverse talent – up from 16% in 2022. A recruitment agency can proactively source a diverse range of candidates for your roles, help you to build a recruitment strategy that attracts a variety of people, and support you to create a selection process that is objective and inclusive.
3. You want to protect your employer brand
Picking someone who is well-suited to your company culture and brand can be just as important as them having the skills for the job. A recruiter will get to know your company and team, your needs and pain points, so they can source jobseekers whose values align with yours.
When reaching out to candidates about your company, a recruitment agency will act as an extension of your marketing team – sharing information that promotes your employer brand, highlights all the benefits of working with you, and showcases the great work your company does.
4. You need support with recruitment compliance
Navigating the legal aspects of hiring someone isn’t easy. A recruitment agency can help you maintain legislative compliance throughout the recruitment process. At Unitemps, our in-house compliance team ensures our recruiters maintain legislative compliance when it comes to right to work checks, visa working restrictions, data protection, equality and diversity, and more.
On the lookout for new staff? Unitemps has over 25 years’ experience in recruiting for temporary and permanent roles across a variety of sectors. Take a look at Unitemps’ recruitment services and get in touch with one of our friendly consultants today.
This article was written by Becky Marrow.
Last updated on 2 September 2025
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