“Hiring is the most important people function you have, and most of us aren’t as good at it as we think. Refocusing your resources on hiring better will have a higher return than almost any training program you can develop.”

Laszlo Bock, Co-founder, and CEO of Humu and Author of Work Rules

Before we dive into taking a look at some of the best recruitment agencies, let’s get the basics right. What is a recruitment agency, why do you need one, the types of it and everything around it?

What Is A Recruitment Agency?

Over the past few years, recruitment agencies and their use in the employment sector have increased dramatically. There was a time that you’d post a job and simply wait for responses to come in. But, unfortunately, most applicants wouldn’t meet your requirements and weren’t quite what you were looking for. 

Fast forward to today, with technology being so advanced that it can be tough to keep up with, have companies have opted for using recruitment agencies to help with the sourcing of new employees.

A recruitment agency is a company that helps organizations find the right candidate for a vacancy based on specific criteria. So, basically, a recruitment agency is a professional service that enables you to hire the right person for the job. The agency recruits and places employees into a potential employer’s business or organization to fill a specific position.

It helps organizations find the right talent at the right time, within a suggested budget for their job openings, and assists them in filling those positions. It has become a strategic alliance where two completely different establishments, one functioning as an employer and the other, come together to meet their everyday business needs.

Furthermore, a recruitment agency is a business that employs professional recruiters to source and screen applicants to fill job vacancies with its clients. Usually, the company uses many filtering techniques to ensure they get the best fit for the job from a large pool of applicants.

In a nutshell, a recruitment agency is a business that builds relationships with clients and candidates to represent their best interests.

Top 8 Recruitment Agencies in 2023

1. Artisan Talent

Founded in 1988, Artisan Talent is an award-winning creative staffing agency. They specialize in accommodating the staffing needs of major corporations, interactive agencies, and small nonprofits. 

Headquartered in Chicago, and spread across the United States, this agency claims to have a unique approach to making the right connections. They are a suitable agency for all sizes of business – small to big corporations. They have a variety of offerings and memberships for both – the talent as well as the company.

What people say about the company:

“People from Artisan are really friendly. I consider them as friends more than just a person to hire for. Josh was extremely friendly and offered to fix our website even in areas that we’ve never thought about. After he fixed the display issues for our graph charts, he also went out of his way to fix other display issues around our website. They offer more value than we thought. They’re extremely thoughtful during the whole process while fixing our site. They asked us for permission before they do anything, which we all complied to.”

2. Randstad

Randstad NV, commonly known as Randstad, takes its legacy forward on the roots of human forward stories. Stories where humans are put first. They not just help people gain employment but bridge a gap and help realize dreams.

Headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands, this Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm was founded in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding and currently operates in around 39 countries. They empower businesses with various staffing solutions, including IT talent cross-border, in-house, digital services.

Furthermore, this human resource giant has worked with 90% of all the fortune 100 companies. They not only focus on recruiting the best talent, but also help the companies retain them by implementing the latest and most effective strategies.

“Overall, a good recruiting agency. Quick, Reliable, Quality Candidates”

I worked with the Randstad team during my time as a client relationship specialist at Beeline, on-site at Northern Trust. The account manager that I worked with was quick to respond to job inquiries, and his team of recruiters was knowledgeable in the tech industry. They submitted candidates within a short amount of time and helped walk candidates through the process. We hired some of their contractors over the year while I was at Northern Trust.

3. Kelly Services

With experience of over 75 years, Kelly Services Inc. connects 1,000,000+ talent with the right job every year.

Headquartered in America, this staffing company has its presence in 15+ countries, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany being a few of them. The company places employees at all levels in various sectors, including financial services, information technology, and law.

Its mission statement is To be the most creative, insightful, and agile talent company, committed to uniting vital talent with great organizations where, together, we thrive.

The company’s commitment to equality is what sets them apart from the crowd. Above all, they specialize in multiple industries such as education, engineering, government, telecom and digital, science and clinical, and more.

What people say about the company

“They manage all the 3rd party suppliers to ensure we get the candidates we need.”

4. ManpowerGroup

With a history of 65 years, ManpowerGroup has established itself as a  global leader in next-generation workforce solutions. They envision enabling their clients to win in the changing world of work.

This fortune 500 American multinational is Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1948 by Elmer Winter, and Aaron Scheinfeld, ManpowerGroup is the third-largest staffing firm behind Swiss firm Adecco and Dutch firm Randstad.

Their focus on people, knowledge, and innovation altogether sets them apart from the crowd. As a result, they have gained multiple recognitions over the years, such as best employers for women, Best places to work for LGBTQ equality, Best management consulting firm, World’s most ethical companies, and more!

What people say about the company

“The personalized service we received from everyone involved in the process and, of course, our effectiveness found great talents.”

5. Robert Half

Robert Half was founded in 1948 and currently operates from over 345 locations across the globe. It has a variety of divisions. The company operates through temporary and consultant staffing, permanent placement staffing, risk consulting, and internal audit services.

Highly ethical standards are their cornerstone. They offer support, especially in Finance & Accounting, Marketing & Creative, Legal, Technology, and Administrative & customer support. 

Amongst many of its accolades, Robert Half has been recognized as one of FORTUNE’s “Most Admired Companies” every year since 1998. (February 2021).

Furthermore, the company has forged strategic alliances and relationships with trade associations to serve the professionals better. Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA), AIGA, American Advertising Federation (AAF) are a few of the many.

“Proactive Co. with great Talent pool”

We worked with Robert Half and have had a great experience. They are very proactive about staffing (calling to check in, sending me emails with employee profiles, etc). We are small and don’t hire in our accounting office often, but this is a great group of people and they give great service! Robert Half hires the best talent!

6. The Adecco Group

The Adecco Group directly employs approximately 700,000 people a day, and with the expansion of its operations to China, the number of people working under them today totals up to 3.5 million.

Amongst their many solutions, Adecco is the one intensely focused on staffing. Established in 1996, Adecco, based in Zurich, Switzerland, is the world’s second-largest Human Resources provider and temporary staffing firm and a Fortune Global 500 company.

Over the years, they have catered to approximately 100,000 clients globally and enabled 3.5 million careers annually. From up-skilling one employee to entire workforce outsourcing, The Adecco Group has the most extensive portfolio of global talent and HR solutions in the world. 

They cover a myriad of industries – right from engineering to warehousing, IT, and marketing.

“An easy-to-use and effective platform”

I have used ADDECO to find jobs and I would recommend it because it is an excellent search tool. It has job offers in all areas of work and that makes it a platform that recommends family and friends who are looking for work.

7. CNA IT

This recruitment agency has been on the market for more than seven years, maintained 50+ long-term clients, built 120 000+ candidates in the database and 15 000+ C-level candidates in the database, And above all closed 520 closed positions 80+ for C-level.

CNA International IT is dedicated to improving the quality of both customer and candidate recruiting services. Their company has a global network which offers them a competitive advantage in market information.

They currently source and recruit in 42 countries and manage a multimillion-euro budget.

The company catered to clients all over the globe, including locations such as Ukraine, Canada, USA, Africa (Кenia, Nigeria), Austria, Greece, India, Izrael, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Armenia, France, Ireland, Norway, Great Britain, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Chech Republic, Switzerland, the UAE and more.

CNA IT has built its foundation on Scalability, Quality, Honesty, Integrity, Impact, Globality, and Inspiration.

8. Insight Global

Insight Global claims to be more than simply an employment firm. They are a corporation that is concerned about the well-being of others. Insight Global is a company that people can rely on in times of success, failure, and all in between. It is a people-centric firm.

They always take a unique approach. The company was formed as an entrepreneurial start-up in 2001 with the premise that staffing might be more about genuine relationships and meaningful impact than about financial gain and corporate inroads. 

Since then, they have grown in leaps and bounds in a variety of ways.

Today, they are a mission-driven organization committed to empowering individuals through the power of opportunity.

They live and breathe their values. They practice what we preach. It’s one of the rare qualities that makes them who they are. As a result, they have established communities dedicated to developing women in leadership, boosting diversity across the board, and making a difference by giving back to the community.

How To Pick The Right Recruitment Agency?

While there are multiple best agencies, there might be fewer right ones. To pick the right one, you need to read between the lines.

It’s not possible to generalize about recruitment agencies. There are too many different sorts of people who work there, from people whose only job is to sell on commission to people who want to do good.

If a recruiter is a legitimate link between you and the work, you need to find one that understands what you’re getting at, knows which jobs are likely to be right for you, and is good at selling them. But if a recruiter is just a salesman, you would be better looking on your own.

How do you know if a recruiter is legitimate?

First, look for a code of ethics and accreditation. A code of ethics tells you what the agency will do if it finds you a job you don’t like or a recruiter who cheats you. 

Look for accreditation from a well-known organization like the National Association of Personnel Services or Executive Search Consultants.

It would be best if you were wary of recruiters who already have you in mind. No matter how qualified they think you are, chances are they already know other people who might be just as good. They are looking for more business, not yours. They’ll give poor service because they know they’ll make less if they do a good job.

Similarly, a recruiter who is only interested in you when they think you might be helpful to them should be suspect. If they want to find you a job, they should be trying first to find a job for you.

When picking the best recruitment agency for your organization, the first thing you should consider is your requirement. Next would be the recruitment agency’s expertise on whether it is a temporary or permanent placement service that should be considered. And the last one but not least would be to look at the agency’s fees and your budget. 

Types of recruitment agencies

1. Temp Recruitment Agencies:

Temp agencies hire candidates to work at companies for temporary periods. Their primary purpose is to fill short-term needs.

The term “temp agency” is misleading. Temp agencies don’t hire temps. Instead, they employ “permanents,” who work on a project or contract basis. The temp agencies then finds them a suitable project or contract and pays them for their time working on the project or contract.

2. Contingency Recruitment Agencies:

It’s the most honest form of recruitment. There are no guarantees. The recruiter doesn’t get paid unless their client chooses to hire one of the candidates they put forward. They will usually have a rebate and replacement scheme in place too, which means if they place someone who drops out within a certain amount of time (3 months usually), they either have to replace them for free or give the fee back.

The rebate and replacement scheme is often tied into the guarantee, so the contract is only suitable for the first 3 months.

3. Full-scale Recruitment Agenciesseisisi

The definition of full-scale recruitment varies according to individual organizations. However, according to the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), a recruitment process outsourcing arrangement is a full-scale recruitment arrangement when “a provider acts as a company’s internal recruitment function for a portion or all of its jobs.”

4. Retained Search Agencies

This kind of recruitment agencies provide search services for senior, executive, or other highly compensated positions. These agencies typically will not perform any marketing or advertising but may retain a recruitment consultant to conduct the initial screening of candidates. They then refer candidates for interviews with the client. The client then interviews the candidates and decides whom to hire. Retained search firms charge a percentage of the candidate’s first-year base salary or hourly fee; they also charge a retainer.

Benefits Of Hiring A Recruitment Agency

Frequently Asked Questions: