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For over a decade, I have worked as a professional in the Recruitment & Staffing industry and have performed both functions of recruitment and sales. I have heard thousands of stories about working with staffing agencies (good and bad) and hundreds of reasons that people choose not to use our services. Today, I’d like to address a couple of the most common misconceptions I hear.

“Staffing Agencies only represent candidates that are unable to find work on their own or who people deem as undesirable due to lack of skill.”

Are there agencies out there that specialize in entry level, no-skill-required employment opportunities? Sure. However, most recruitment and staffing services, including mine, pride themselves on being able to seek out and identify the best talent on the market so we can make the best marriage between our candidates and our clients as possible. It is our collective goal to enhance and support the HR departments and hiring managers of the companies we work with by bringing fresh, innovative ideas to the table that allow us to engage with both active and passive job seekers.

At Goodwill TalentBridge specifically, we are always looking for talented individuals that will be well suited for not only the functions of a specific job, but those that will fit into the culture, industry, and beliefs of the organizations that we work with. This means that we utilize a variety of recruitment techniques and platforms that allow us to not only help individuals that may be struggling to find their next employment opportunity, but also individuals that are currently working but looking to make a career change.

Before accepting the position as Branch Manager for our Niles location, one of my very last placements is a perfect example of finding a passive candidate with very technical, hard-to-find skills. I had a client in the electronics industry with a very difficult-to-fill Technician position available. I of course deployed all of the usual tasks associated with recruitment, but because this was an extremely niche position I had to explore all available options. I used social media outlets, networking, referrals and I finally found Adam.

Adam was a little hesitant to really delve into a search for new employment since he was employed at the time, but after a 30 minute phone call we uncovered that Adam was really unhappy in his role. He was driving an hour and a half one way to work each day, he was not able to fully utilize all of his skills, and he felt he was underpaid. With that being said, he still had a family at home to think about, which is what ultimately caused him to pause. After a few interactions, Adam and I developed a strong relationship and he agreed to come in for an interview. This eventually landed him a job offer with my client that was looking for a “Purple Squirrel,” as we like to call our tough to fill positions.

Adam has informed me that he was glad we had connected as he now has a much greater quality of life since he is working 15 minutes from home, is in a role that not only utilizes his skills, but also challenges him and he is earning a good wage.

In addition to this one example, we even have a program called Project Prism that is focused on identifying individuals with a strong customer service focus from varying industries and re-training them to put them on track for a career path in the healthcare industry. Last year alone, we placed upwards of 500 individuals through this program.

Going hand and hand with this topic, I also frequently hear “Staffing Agencies only offer temp work.”

Once again, I ask, are there agencies out there that specialize in temporary extremely short term staffing and/or day labor opportunities? Absolutely. However, most professional staffing and recruiting agencies, including Goodwill TalentBridge, offer a customizable full service partnership. This means that we offer a variety of staffing solutions that encompass either portions of your recruiting process or the entire cycle. Visit our website to learn about all the solutions we offer.

So, as with anything in life, before you choose to partner with a staffing and recruitment agency, and whether you are a job seeker or a candidate seeker, do your research to make sure that you are partnering with a service that is going to truly be able to meet your needs.

The lists of “myths” about staffing could go on forever. Hopefully this information will help you to better understand the different types of staffing and recruitment services that are out there and how they are uniquely qualified to help a variety of individuals both active and passive to find their next career opportunity. For more information on Goodwill TalentBridge feel free to contact me at Jennifer.Plocinski@goodwillsew.com. I’m happy to help!