Thanks to covid-19, remote work has become a trend nowadays, and it is likely to remain the same even after the pandemic ends. Here’s a detailed guide on setting up a 100% remote recruitment agency from scratch.

What is a Recruitment Agency?

Recruitment agencies are external firms that help employers find qualified talent for their company. From candidate sourcing to onboarding of talent, everything is done by a recruitment agency.

In other words, recruitment agencies work as mediators between job providers and job seekers. According to the data by Trading Economics, the employment rate in the United States has increased to 59.50% in December from 59.30% in November 2021.

Like many new companies are booming, the number of job seekers has also increased, so many companies seek recruitment agencies to help find the right talent. Here are the four main reasons why companies decide to use recruitment agencies' services:

To save time
To improve the quality of work.
No in-house hiring experience is required.
For additional security, recruitment is an essential step. However, if not done correctly, there are chances of company disruption in future. Hence, recruitment agencies are always in demand for such professional tasks.

Types of Recruitment Agencies

Three main types of recruiting agencies are:

General recruiting agencies or Contingency recruiting agencies: These agencies are industry-specific. They generally cover entry and middle-level positions in healthcare, retail, finance and technology industries.
Staffing recruiting agency or Temporary recruiting agency: These agencies focus on recruiting temporary or seasonal employees like candidates for a temporary project, filling for the absence of full-time employees, etc.
Executive recruitment agency or Retained search firm: These agencies recruit talent for top or C-level positions. It is called executive recruiting, which targets hiring senior managers, chief executive officers, directors, etc., within companies.

How Do Recruitment Agencies Work?

Primarily, recruitment agencies work as per the workflow of the company. Therefore, they must clearly understand the work infrastructure and their client company's expectations before moving forward with the hiring process. Their working process may be different, but the basic steps remain the same. That is:

On receiving the job description from the client company, the agency identifies the number of positions and the quality of candidates required.
Once they are thorough with the requirement, job awareness is next. The recruiter advertises the job post on multiple channels and helps build the employer's brand.
After receiving responses from prospective candidates, they go through the resumes and shortlist the best talent.
Recruitment agencies also help build a platform for better communication between candidates and recruiters.

How Do Recruitment Agencies Earn?

Recruitment agencies make money in two ways:

By making a contract with a candidate
By recruiting talent for a company

Recruitment agencies earn money by making a personal contract with the applicant where they help a candidate land a perfect job by restructuring their resumes and cover letters.

In addition, they charge an administrative fee for candidates to process their applications and match them with the employer. Recruitment agencies are paid 10-20% of their salary starting three months or according to the agreement when a candidate is hired.

The most common way for a recruitment agency to earn money is to help companies recruit a highly-skilled candidate permanently. If recruitment agencies have an agreement with both candidate and employer, they can earn twice.

Why Set Up a Remote Recruitment Agency?

Lately, demand for recruiters has soared, especially after Covid-19.

Many clients are looking for recruitment agencies to hire competent and professional employees.

If you love meeting new people and finding their innate talent, you should consider giving this business a shot. There's a misconception that remote recruitment agencies are only helpful for veteran job applicants. This is not at all true.

Like any other company, a recruitment agency can also be 100% remote and can still surpass its competitors. Now, we will look into the steps to start a successful remote recruitment agency.

1. Choosing the Right Niche is Key

To start with a remote recruitment agency, you must focus on a particular niche. Then, whichever niche you want to work in, you will have to match the candidate's application with the open position requirements and quickly fill the vacancies. Or you can even go on to provide recruitment software to companies if SaaS (Software as a Service) is your forte.

Some popular industries you can set up your niche around are:

Staffing in the IT industry
Staffing in the Oil and Gas Industry
Staffing in Health Sector
Staffing in Banking, Insurance and Financial Sector
Consultation in recruitment, Human Resource and Capital Development
Consultation in recruitment and training
Consultation firm for Highly-skilled Staffing
Staffing agency for unskilled work like Drivers, nannies etc.
Staffing in Retail Industry
Staffing in the Art and Entertainment industry You may choose any niche, but your success will depend on how unique you stand in the market. There are already many agencies. If you want to make your place, either go with a niche with little to no competition or do something that no one else is doing. This step will take some time, but almost half of the work is done once you choose your niche.

2. Know Your End Goals

You can not wander around with no strategy in your mind. You can start with the small achievable goals but visualise yourself in the next few years. Know what do you want to achieve in the long term.

Is it making your agency charting number 1 on all the lists? Is it making your brand?

Have your focus clear. Start with something like filling in xx vacancies in a month and increase it gradually.

Break your long term objectives into small plans. Whether on-site or remote, a successful recruitment agency results from dedication and hard work to achieve the set goals. Note that most of the biggest recruitment agencies were started from scratch. It will take time, but your efforts will pay in the end.

3. Know the Challenges

‍Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Know what differentiates you from your competitors.

Explore the marketplace and think about that X factor that you can add to your plan to be unique. Yes! You will find many already established staffing agencies in your niche, but the only way to surpass them is to create your market.

Reach out to startups who can not afford the fees of big recruitment agencies. Can you find a way to provide them with your service? It will help you get started and build a genuine relationship with those startups. It is small but a good start. People look for your previous work to determine how genuine you are, so won't it be amazing to build a portfolio like this?

4. Plan your Budget

‍Since you aim for a remote recruitment agency, you don't need to worry about office equipment and real estate.

You might not get funding for starting from home, but you can still consider seeking financial advice if you have a hard time. You can always consider partnership to get financial support and increase productivity. Get a loan or use your savings, but never compromise from investing in the right people and tools. Have a working PC or laptop to start your business.

Get software essential for the recruitment like an Applicant Tracking System, a dedicated CRM (candidate relationship management) software, an effective payroll and accounting system, etc. Get an attractive website for your business. It would be best to buy your domain name and other plug-ins to start.

5. Look for Prospective Laws & Regulations

‍Most people look for an attorney to handle their legal work since they have skills and experience. However, it is crucial to know fundamental laws and regulations yourself as you are your agency's owner.

Knowing laws related to data protection is equally necessary. For recruitment agencies, following GDPR is essential.

6. Develop a Marketing Plan

For proper recruitment marketing, you will need the following things ready:

Your agency name
Your logo
A website
Social media accounts
An email ID (For email campaign)
Maybe a blog can be advantageous too. You can use SEO to rank on Google.
Network with job seekers and employers.
Access to job boards like LinkedIn, Upwork, Fiverr etc.
Advertisements

You can market yourself through Tiktok or other video platforms to gain organic reach. Remember, people won't look for your product or service till you are not giving them any value.

7. Build Your Team

‍Doing everything on your own is horrifying. Start hiring people who can manage the team, finances, customer support etc. It is not necessary to have an office for building a team. You can connect with people through video conferencing.

A perk of working remotely is you don't have to worry about where they are from. If they have skills and interests, hire them. Your success will significantly depend on your team, so invest in qualified and skilled people.

Once you follow these steps, look for projects. Without experience, you will find it challenging to get clients, but you can ace a difficulty with a dedicated team and plan.

With a team to support you with a strategic plan, you will see that it isn't that difficult to start your recruitment agency. If others have done it, you can too! For more information, you can download our eBook on creating a remote recruiting agency.

Step-by-Step Guide on Setting up a 100% Remote Recruitment Agency