It’s no secret that today’s job market is candidate-driven and highly competitive. For the first time in a while, the job seeker has the advantage. Employers are finding it increasingly difficult to lock down top-notch talent and are seeing their hiring numbers suffer as a result. This candidate-driven job market has caused many employers to seek out help from recruitment agencies to fill their open job positions.

But is this the best use of your resources? We don’t think so. The reality is that when you use a recruitment agency, you’re overspending. You can save a lot of money by handling your own recruitment. The first step toward agency independence is by finding an efficient programmatic vendor that will enable you to automate your hiring.

The Disadvantages of Using a Recruitment Agency

Employers turn to recruitment agencies because there are some benefits that stem from using their services. They help you hire qualified candidates and even offer to act as your personal advocate, helping with employer branding. However, the use of a recruitment agency doesn’t come without its fair share of disadvantages.

It’s Expensive

There’s no way around it. Recruitment agencies provide an expensive managed service. Third-party recruiters require a fee for their services as well as a mark-up of the employee’s salary to cover additional costs. You’ll have to pay a percentage of the employee’s salary directly to the agency, making the hire far more expensive than if you were to have hired the candidate yourself.

You’re Giving Up Control

When you hire using a recruitment agency, you’re giving up a lot of control. You’re forfeiting the ability to review every resume and interview certain candidates. Agencies use a cut and dry recruiting method, and tend to miss those “hidden gem” candidates. Essentially meaning, you lose the ability to access a candidate’s information. You’ll have to trust that the recruitment agency did their due diligence and if you’ve ever worked with a recruiter as a job seeker, you know that this isn’t always the case.

Some Recruitment Agencies Are Purely Profit Motivated

Any good business is motivated by profit. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, except when it comes at your expense. Many recruitment agencies are motivated to fill positions as quickly as possible without giving much consideration to the quality of the applicant they’re bringing to the table. And since no recruitment agency is ever going to admit this, finding a genuine agency focused on results is no easy task.

The Advantages of Using a Programmatic Recruitment Technology Vendor

If the drawbacks of using a recruitment agency are too much for you to overlook, then perhaps a programmatic recruitment technology vendor is more in line with your company’s bottom line. While it’s true that with a programmatic recruitment technology vendor, you’ll have to manage your recruitment, it brings its own share of benefits.

You’re Empowered to Reach the Right Job Candidates, at the Right Time

Empowered being the operative word, you don’t have to give up control of your job advertising process. All programmatic recruitment does is make your job easier by automating various aspects of the job advertising process, while giving complete control to change parameters at your discretion. You’re able to distribute your jobs across a variety of job sites with the click of a button, giving you access to a variety of potential job candidates.

You Have Access to Timely Analytics and Reporting

Data is power. Unlike when you use a recruitment agency, programmatic recruitment vendors give you access to timely analytics and the ability to measure your campaign ROI in real-time. You’re given complete transparency into how your job ads are performing, so you’re not kept in the dark. You’ll be able to consolidate your data from all traffic sources, receiving real-time reporting on views, applicants, conversion rates and the average cost per applicant.

You Save Money

As the old saying goes: you have to spend money to make money. But with programmatic recruitment vendors, your job advertising dollar is seen as an investment. Dynamic budget allocation takes your budget and allocates it across jobs based on difficulty to fill. What’s more, you’re also given prediction data for each job, so you’ll have a general idea of how well that job is going to perform based on your allocated budget, allowing you to be proactive rather than reactive, increasing the number of qualified job candidates walking through your front door.

Summary

Ultimately, when choosing a programmatic recruitment vendor, you’re choosing to go with the best of both worlds. You’ll have access to an automated service that requires very little management and upkeep. After a few clicks, your job advertising process will be automated and streamlined. You will maintain complete control over your job advertising while retaining the benefit of a managed service. Knowing this, the need for a recruitment agency becomes less practical.