A basic reference guide to Boston staffing/employment/recruiting agencies

Most local staffing agencies tend to be what’s usually described as “Client-Intimate” staffing agencies. That means they work for their clients, who tend to be employers willing to pay a fee to find the right person for their open position(s). In other words, the employer is their client. Client-intimate Boston staffing agencies probably make up more than 90%-95% of local employment-related agencies¹.

Most Boston staffing agencies provide 3 major services to employers. Temporary Hire, contract-to-permanent and direct hire are the three major services.

Temporary Hire

This is the most well known service of staffing and recruiting agencies. This is where an employer pays a fee to the agency to hire someone with a specific set of skills temporarily to fill a vacancy, cover for an employee, keep up with new workloads etc.

Employers generally use this service for several fairly re-occurring reasons. Here are some of those reasons:

Seasonal work.

To cover for an employee who is on leave (medical, personal or any other).

To cover for employee vacations.

When current work-load exceeds employee capacity.

Sudden changes in company structure, business or employees.

And many other reasons.

The most common misconception about temporary work is that it is mainly used by both jobseekers and clients as a last resort. This is entirely inaccurate. In fact, more and more professionals choose to be employed only temporarily, so that they can spend more time with family, vacations or because they like a continuous change in their life-style.

Contract-to-Hire (also known as temp to perm)

This service is mainly used to hire someone on a temporary basis with a good potential that they will become a permanent employee. Sometimes this service is used when there is uncertainty about long term company projects, or when the employer wants to see the employees work in action before either party makes a long term commitment.

It works in the same way that a temporary service works except that at any time during the length of the contract the employer may choose to "convert" a contract professional into a permanent employee. This usually means the re-negotiation of that persons salary and benefits.

Permanent services (Direct Hire)

Direct Hire services are mainly recruiting services and do not involve the “staffing” services portion. Employers that understand that an organization that invests in the quality of it’s employees will inevitably achieve success usually tend to go for this option. The Employer wants to find the right individuals for their open positions, and that usually requires that they hire recruiting professionals who spend 100% of their time recruiting and networking with those individuals.

The key to understanding Boston, MA staffing agencies is that most tend to be Client-Intimate and not Candidate-Intimate. In addition, the agencies are not decision makers but rather, employment brokers. They play a major role in finding, identifying, screening, interviewing, submitting, negotiating a salary and some post-employment follow-through, but they ultimately do not make the decision on who is to be hired and who does not get hired. The employers make those decisions, but with a hiring process expert helping both sides understand the benefits of each prospective match usually the result is a mutually positive one.

Advantages of working with a Boston Staffing Agency

There are advantages and disadvantages to working with a staffing agency whether you are an employee or an employer, but the advantages are very visible.

Many job seekers need help in their search, interviewing skills, resume writing skills and many other job-search essential skills. These skills are expensive to acquire and most of the time there’s a lack of availability for professionals who offer them. These skills can be attained with the help of a recruiting professional at no charge. Recruiters spend their time in touch with their perspective markets and more often than not they can feel the pulse of the market and give a job-seeker relevant information about their local industry.

Among the many advantages for employers is that many times the agency’s services are contingent upon hire. Therefore, the agency transfers all hiring-associated risk from employer to agency and concentrates it’s effort to finding the right candidate no matter what hurdles come up in the search.

The Boston, Massachusetts market tends to be a more competitive market especially in the following fields:

Finance & Accounting

Information Technology

Pharmaceuticals

Medical Devices

Venture-capitalist funded organizations^*

Staffing and Employment agencies in the greater Boston area and generally in eastern Massachusetts tend to be numerous and fairly different in their operations, customer service levels and general services. However, the staffing structure in each organization usually tends to mirror and is designed for the employers that they are gearing towards.

Boston employment, recruiting and staffing agencies usually tend to be innovative and competitive. But it’s the rich heritage, long history and the New England character that makes this area of United States a great place to work.

¹ Not based on actual Data but rather on the general local trend.

^*This is a very broad category that may include anything from Manufacturing firms to medical devices to Design organizations.

Joe Shaheen is a local Boston technical staffing professional and a Senior Consultant for DxDt Staffing & Professional Services.

This article is the property of DxDt Staffing & Professional Services. If you wish to reference this article please do so and provide due credit.

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