Think Corporate Staffing is Easy? Guess Again

Today many placement firms want to specialize in corporate staffing. And why not; it is one field where the returns are high and business is usually good. Companies are willing to pay big money to get the right employee because they don't want to waste time locating the employee themselves. Most then decide to outsource the screening work to corporate staffing firms.

The two most common forms of corporate staffing are retained search and project based recruiting. In the case of retained search, the placement firm spends considerable time familiarizing itself with the inner workings of the company.

This enables it to shortlist a handful of candidates, suitable for different positions in the company. The list of these candidates is then sent to the company, which may select a few names and ask the placement firm to do another check on them.

Once this happens, the company and the corporate staffing firm can really work together to come up with the right person for the job. This can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on the complexity of the job and the amount of candidates available for it. The role of the placement firm comes to an end when the company appoints a candidate recommended by the placement firm.

There are two major types of recruiting, retained and project-based. Retained search is normally a long-term contract, and works well when both the company and the placement firm develop confidence in each other.

In the case of project-based recruiting, the placement firm uses a team of recruiters. The interviews are carried onsite or offsite, and the selected names forwarded to the company for interview and appointment. There may be occasions when this may be a rush job, and the placement firms have to work hard to get the right candidates.

Besides this, corporate staffing firms also provide consultancy and training, which can be either on-site or off-site. Each of these functions requires a difficult skill set. That is why corporate staffing firms often have a big team. They realize that much depends on the way they select a candidate. One wrong candidate and they may end up losing a lucrative contract. These are just several aspects of corporate staffing; there are more subtle elements and methods within those above, and it really takes the skill and accomplishment of a professional who knows what they're doing.