It is estimated that there is a shortage of about 147,000 programmers in Poland (data from the Polish Economic Institute 2022). As many as 42% of vacancies for the position of an IT specialist are described by companies as difficult to fill. On the other hand, when analyzing the situation in Europe, as many as 55% of companies reported difficulties in recruiting programmers. What can significantly solve this problem is the help offered by companies recruiting employees for positions related to new technologies and programming.
A recruitment agency is an intermediary between a company that wants to hire a given specialist and a job seeker. It is estimated that there are several thousand companies of this type in Poland. Employees from an agency focused on recruitment related to new technologies are certainly distinguished by their knowledge of IT technology and ongoing analysis of this specific labor market. What are the benefits of using their services and what are the cooperation models? What to look for when deciding to cooperate with an IT recruitment company? We will provide answers to these questions in this article.
What is the cooperation with an IT recruitment agency like?
We are aware that the client needs to thoroughly analyze the possibilities of the recruitment agency and decide whether they really need its services. An article in which we present the pros and cons of using the services of IT recruitment firms can help you make the decision.
Below, we present an example scheme of starting a cooperation.
1. A company that is looking for a qualified employee, contacts a consultant from the agency by phone or e-mail.
2. There are conversations about the client’s needs and requirements (it is also a space for consultation and sharing best practices due to the experience of people working in the agency).
3. After establishing the terms of cooperation, an interview with dedicated agency employees and an employee of the HR department (or Hiring Manager) is organized. At this stage, the angency usually learns more about the required technology stack, project and team.
4. The process of searching for candidates begins. The most popular sources are internal databases (crucial in the case of urgent recruitments), LinkedIn and job portals. Our standard process is to send detailed feedback after 7 days of work on a given vacancy – thanks to this, the client is kept informed about the progress of the whole process.
What are the models of cooperation with recruitment agencies?
3 most popular cooperation models
If you are wondering how much it costs to cooperate with a recruitment agency, it is worth starting by explaining the cooperation models.
Success fee model
It is a model that does not require a prepayment but is based on paying the agency 100% at the end of the recruitment process. The invoice is most often issued when the candidate signs the contract or on the first day of his work.
Mixed model (Semi-Retainer)
The prepayment in this case is usually around 10-40% of the project value, and the remaining amount is paid by the client at the end of the project.
Retainer model
Usually divided into 3 (but you can also find solutions divided into 4) installments. The salary is paid to the agency after the completion of stages such as: starting the recruitment process, presenting the candidates and closing the process.
What is the cost of cooperation with a recruitment agency?
The methods of negotiating and collecting fees differ between recruitment agencies and most often depend on the salary of the employee sought and whether the vacancy is temporary or permanent. Standard recruiting costs range from 15% to 20% of a candidate’s first annual salary, but for high-level or hard-to-fill positions, this can be as high as 30%.
While the fee charged by a recruiting agency may seem large at times, it is a cost that is also an investment, as in return appears the right person to suit your organization or a specific task. Additionally, the agency guarantees a quick candidate finding, and often the cost of the project’s delay, due to lack of people or team frustration caused by too many tasks, can be many times higher.
Is there any guarantee for the success of cooperation?
At Next Technology Professionals, we offer a guarantee, which means that if either party changes their mind and wants to resign, as a recruitment company, we will restart the recruitment process free of charge in order to find the next IT candidate for a given position. The standard warranty period is 3 months, but not all recruitment agencies in Poland offer such an option, so it is always worth looking carefully at the terms of the contract.
We encourage you to read the article: behind the scenes of an IT recruitment agency, where you can learn more about the credibility of recruitment agencies along with examples of situations that occur.
Where do the costs come from?
Time-saving
Our experience shows that in order to send 2-5 good CVs to a client, a recruiter often has to contact over 500 people. In the IT industry, this can be a particularly difficult task. This is due to the fact that the demand for such employees far exceeds their availability on the labor market.
Advanced recruitment tools
The number of tools to improve the work of the recruiter is growing. Companies that follow market trends invest in new recruitment tools, such as recruitment management systems. We have described more about ATS systems, along with a comparison of their individual costs and functions, in a separate article. Another issue is about posting job offers on advertising portals. Do you know what are the costs of promoting one advertisement? You can check it out in the article about the 9 most popular Polish IT job boards. We know from experience that posting an advertisement on a job offer portal is often not enough, which is why we use our own methods to reach candidates and then manage the process.
Individual approach
Preparing for a meeting with a candidate is an essential part of a good recruitment process. By reading the CVs and carefully looking at the LinkedIn profiles of the candidates before having a conversation with the candidate, the recruiters show their interest and respect. The information that the recruiter has from the Hiring Manager is crucial for a meaningful conversation to happen. That is why the employees of the agency, who work on a specific project, must know what is the profile of the sought-after candidate.
Being a real partner in the conversation and showing knowledge in the domain, while working on several other projects at the same time, can be quite a challenge. However, this type of concentration always pays off. For example, it helps the IT specialist to open up and encourages them to share more about their previous work experience. With that type of useful information, the Hiring Manager can get a better understanding of a candidate. In return, this increases the chances of finding “the right fit” and ending a recruitment process with success
Expanding the knowledge
The IT job market is changing. A good recruitment agency should be up to date with reports on the IT job market and regularly research and adapt the needs of candidates. In order for the interview to go well and the candidate’s skills to be properly assessed, the recruiters’ good knowledge of technology is crucial. The best recruitment companies organize training and provide employees with up-to-date reports and guides so that they can constantly improve their know-how and develop.
Company maintenance
As with any business, there are costs associated with team members’ salaries or administrative costs. Fees paid by the company include also costs of health care and other benefits and income taxes.
What should you pay attention to before starting the cooperation with an IT recruitment agency?
Factors that may help you decide whether it is worth working with an IT recruitment agency may include:
- Quick response to questions and availability for possible meetings;
- Declaration of how much time is needed to deliver the first CVs;
- Previous recruitment experience of an agency;
- Skills of recruiters in the context of technical knowledge and experience in similar processes;
- The speed and method of feedback promised by the agency;
- Case study and recommendations from previous clients.
If you want to check the opinions of other customers, a good option is to viewthe profiles on Clutch. Another way to check satisfaction with the cooperation is to check the recommendations, which are usually available on the main website of the agency. Due to the competitiveness of agencies and the difficulty in choosing, an additional factor that proves the knowledge of employees is the creation or publication of useful content by them. It is worth checking whether a given agency prepares reports on the IT labor market or conducts other research. The willingness to share knowledge and the right approach to candidates may be indicated by posts on social media or published guides on hiring IT specialists. It is also worth subscribing to the newsletter, if a given agency provides such an option. All this makes it possible to make sure that we will cooperate with a professional partner.
If you want to learn more about how to choose the best recruitment agency, we encourage you to see the rest of our tips in another article.
Summary
The process of finding the right candidate for the position requires time and the right way to reach them. Employees of the recruitment agency know how to reach IT specialists faster and more effectively. Agencies have their own databases and contacts to find people with the best skills. If you are thinking about establishing cooperation with an IT recruitment agency, contact us.
IT contracting in Poland
Perhaps there is a possibility that you may be interested in a flexible form of cooperation, which is IT contracting, this service is a part of IT outsourcing. Our consultants from Next Technology Professionals can present you the advantages and disadvantages of this solution and advise whether it is suitable for your business. We can support you in working on the project thanks to IT contracting. If you are interested in more issues related to this, we encourage you to read the article: Is it worth being a contractor in the IT industry – IT contracting service in Poland.