How a Staffing Firm Can Help You Find a Job

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There seems to be a sense of embarrassment among many job seekers in working with a staffing firm.  This should not be the case.  Today’s workforce management companies (i.e. staffing firms) are much different than the stereotypes of the past.  While still providing a wide range of flexible job solutions, they can also supply you access to jobs that simply are not accessible anywhere else – not on a company’s career page, on an online job board, not at a job fair.

For example:

  • Some companies outsource their entire hiring process to a workforce management (i.e. staffing) partner, feeling that they are more experienced to screen and interview candidates.    
  • Many companies bring in specialized staffing to recruit for a certain job simply because it is outside their internal recruiter’s knowledge base.  So if you work in healthcare, IT, or any other specialized sector, investigate which local staffing firms are best suited to assist you.  They know where the jobs are.
  • Many companies contract with workforce management firms to help them hire for their seasonal needs.  Eighty percent of businesses are seasonal – at some level – and need to bring in new workers to better align their staffing and demand levels.  Seasonal employment can be a great way to get your foot in the door at a particular employer, and you can turn seasonal work into an opportunity for full-time employment.
  • Many staffing firms have exclusive contracts to fill either all the jobs at certain facilities or certain positions within the entire organization.  This means that all candidates are submitted through the onsite or contracted staffing firm.
  • Recruiters, who have a good track record with a company, will present a resume to a company where they feel that the candidate would be a good fit.  This is a wonderful resource to have at your disposal, but you have to provide the recruiter something to sell.  Look at your resume and highlight your skills and competencies.  What can you bring to the table?  What value you can you provide?  What resources do you have at your disposal (in the form of references, LinkedIn endorsements, bodies of work, awards, etc.) to highlight that value?
  • The company is running a “confidential search” which means that they are looking for a replacement and do not want to advertise that fact – for a variety of reasons.  Therefore, they are not advertising the open job in any way.

All of these jobs are part of the hidden job network, and are simply not available to you as an individual job candidate.  This does not mean that you can simply interview with a staffing firm and instantly be offered a job.  What it does mean is that you should pursue every avenue in your job search.  Staffing companies are simply one such avenue.

So if you are ready to start the process, contact your local Snelling office today!

By Christiane Soto,