If you’re looking for a new job, we know it can be exhausting work. The phrase ‘looking for a job is a job in itself’ comes to mind. Endless applications with not much response. Oh and let’s not forget tailoring your CV to each job instead of sending the same application to every job.

Did you know if you work with a recruitment agency, they can take this stress away and do all the hard work for you? And, the best part is, it’s free. What could be better than a free personal service to help you to find your ideal job?

Now, we don’t just mean applying for a job advertised on a job board by an agency but making the effort to contact and send your information to them. As a recruitment agency ourselves, we regularly receive CVs from those who have registered on our site and people walk through our door enquiring about work.

Before you click the back button and think this sounds like too much hard work, I’ll keep applying for jobs and see what happens, take a look at these 5 great ways a recruitment agency can boost your job search.

1. Access to more jobs

When you’re looking for a new job, you may believe that you’re applying for lots of jobs on a job board. Did you know more than one agency could be advertising the same job? This means you could be applying for the same job more than once. Twice the work.

However, recruitment agencies have more jobs than those you see advertised. They will have jobs in the pipeline, jobs that aren’t publicly advertised and they can even sell you into companies where a job could be made for you.

What does this mean for you?

Well, I don’t think it takes a super brainy person to work out:

access to more jobs = more opportunities for you to be in front of employers

2. Extensive Network

The reason why recruitment agencies have access to more jobs is because of their network of contacts. They will work with a wide range of various sized companies (SMEs to large corporates) with different cultures, projects, and growth prospects.

Why does this help you?

It’s like having a personal shopper but for jobs. Your consultant will provide you with great insight into each company (more than what you’d see on a job advert). It allows you to understand which companies would be better suited to you.

The network keeps growing too, meaning more options may be available to you.

3. Excellent Market Knowledge

Recruitment agencies are becoming extremely focussed on certain sectors, industries, and disciplines. This is to ensure they understand the job they are recruiting for inside out. It means they can provide a better service to you as a job seeker.

Therefore, because they keep updating their knowledge of the industry, they are in the know. They are aware of average salary levels and good benefit packages for you to compare to. They hear about opportunities first that could be what you’re looking for.

4. They get to know the real you

Unlike your application to an employer, a recruitment consultant will contact you to chat through your experience and ambitions.

They will spend time with you to truly understand the ins and outs of your skill-set, which companies you enjoyed working at and why, which ones you didn’t, where you want to take your career, what’s important to you, how far you’ll travel and well, pretty much everything.

How does this boost your job search?

By understanding who you are and what you’re looking for, they can select companies and roles that match this. When you apply for roles, it’s hard for you to know what the company is like, what will the management style be like, do their values match yours or answers to questions you have about the role.

5. Support and Feedback

It can be frustrating not hearing anything back from your applications when you’re looking for a job.

But, Recruitment Agencies don’t just look at your application, they support you to prepare for your interview, structure your CV, sell your best bits to a company and providing you with constructive feedback.

Quick tips on finding a recruitment agency to work with

Although we would highly recommend working with a recruitment agency. There are a few points should consider when looking for an agency.

• Find an agency that specialises in your area of work. For example, here at ASC, we focus on roles within the Supply Chain & Procurement, IT and Engineering & Manufacturing sectors. Within these sectors, we also recruit for business support roles and Executive level positions.
• Check out reviews about the agency. We have reviews on our own website but you can check other sites such as Google, Glassdoor and Facebook.
• Do they have REC Audited Status? This means they have been checked to ensure they provide a good service to their customers from the overriding industry body, The Recruitment and Employment Confederation.
• Whichever way you contact them, when do they respond? If they don’t respond at all, maybe question how good they are as a recruitment agency. At ASC we will always respond to you even if it is to advise we are unable to help and why.
• Are they GDPR compliant? Since May 2018, you now have the right to request your data to be deleted or what data is held about you. Read ASC’s GDPR statement here.

After reading this we hope you feel more confident to work with a recruitment agency. If you think ASC could help your job search, register with us today.

If you’ve got any questions, feel free to contact us.

Rebecca Crowther is a Marketing Executive for ASC Connections. Her love for writing started when she was young. In her current role, she loves creating content to support candidates on their career journey and help clients hire talented individuals.