Multiple Recruitment Agencies vs. Single Hiring Partner: What to Choose?

They say two heads are better than one. But does this apply to working with several tech recruitment agencies? On the one hand, you get twice the experience and reach, on the other — twice the management.

We’re here to help you understand what works best for your business: cooperating with multiple tech staffing agencies or an exclusive partner. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages, and we’d like to walk you through them before you decide.

Pros of multiple recruitment agencies

• Increases chances to hire top talent. No hiring partner can maintain relationships with every candidate. It’s simply impossible. Besides, staffing agencies are not created equal: each one uses its own set of recruitment strategies. So, the more recruitment agencies you work with, the more networks and opportunities they offer.
• Saves time. With more people looking for candidates, your vacancy will be closed sooner.
• Broader market knowledge. Several hiring partners will help you expand your search area. For example, an agency from the UK knows the Scottish market better, while a hiring partner from Norway knows the peculiarities of hiring in a Scandinavian country.

Cons of multiple recruitment agencies

• Longer onboarding. Though working with several hiring partners allows finding talent faster, onboarding (yes, you should explain your needs clearly to each agency), and managing them will require proportionally more time. At least, in the beginning, when the processes aren’t fine-tuned yet.
• Challenging management. When it comes to working with several recruitment partners, consistent communication, integrated processes, and shared metrics are critical. Otherwise, you’ll have more problems than wins. For example, agencies can write to the same candidates/companies, which can damage your reputation and avert some candidates tired of multiple recruiters bombarding them with the same offer.
• Confidentiality is at risk. Working with a third-party recruiter involves sharing sensitive information. And when you share it with multiple agencies, the chances of it being disclosed increase. So, it’s generally recommended to avoid working with multiple recruiters when it comes to confidential positions and projects.
• Many partners want to work exclusively. Juggling several agencies might be beneficial for you, but it doesn’t always serve the interests of these agencies, especially if they operate on contingency.

As you can see, working with multiple hiring partners does offer benefits like a broader search scope. At the same time, it requires more time and effort to fine-tune all processes. That’s why many companies lean toward cooperating with a single agency.

Pros of an exclusive recruitment partner

• Promotion of your brand. A strong employer brand is critical; it reduces the cost per hire by 50%. An exclusive partner will promote you by posting your vacancies on their social media pages, blogs, and websites, in addition to their primary responsibilities.
• Trust. A trusted partner knows your business and its needs and shares your values. This allows your exclusive recruitment partner to hand-pick the candidates that meet them too.
• Less explaining. When you’re continuously working in the same environment, you spend less time explaining specific details before each task. Which means an exclusive partner is quick to understand your requirements.
• Value and quality. For an agency working on contingency, being an exclusive partner means regular income. That’s why when a recruitment partner knows you work with them exclusively, they cherish your partnership, delivering high-quality services to keep working with you.
• Confidentiality. If your project is confidential, cooperating with an exclusive hiring partner is much safer than divulging sensitive information to several agencies.

Cons of an exclusive recruitment partner

• Narrower candidate reach. Naturally, one recruitment agency has fewer resources for job search than several agencies combined.
• Fewer possibilities. Every agency has different hiring approaches, and by partnering up with a single one, you may be missing out on other, potentially more effective, approaches.
• The risk of losing your partner. If something goes wrong, you lose your only hiring partner. This means you’ll need to go over the hassle of hiring a new one again while not being able to put open positions on hold.

All in all, when it comes to choosing between hiring an exclusive partner or several ones, it depends on your business case. For instance, if you don’t have the resources to manage multiple partners, it’s better to decide on an exclusive one. But, if finding a suitable candidate immediately is a top priority, hiring several agencies at once may be a wiser option.

Why outsource technical recruitment to MagicHire?

Regardless of the number of agencies you choose to hire, finding partners able to do an excellent job remains critical. After all, 40% of applicants won’t go on with the hiring process if the first interaction with a recruiter was poor. So why not try MagicHire? We are a tech recruitment agency that puts every effort into finding top software engineers around the globe.

Working with MagicHire is great since we offer:

• Worldwide reach. When searching for candidates, we aren’t limited to a single location. Since we have offices in Ukraine, the UK, and the US, our working hours overlap with our clients’, offering smooth communication.
• Two-month guarantee. You only pay for successfully closed positions. And if a hired candidate doesn’t fit the role, we can replace them at no charge within two months.
• Diverse services. We do more than just hiring. Our services include market estimation, consulting, background checks, and more.

The bottom line

Hiring agencies come in different shapes and sizes. Some clients respect this diversity and eagerly cooperate with several agencies at once. Others can’t afford to manage more than one tech recruiter and prefer working with a single hiring agency exclusively.

Whichever case is yours, tech recruitment agency MagicHire can help you out with the process of recruitment. Regardless if we are your only hiring partner or one of a few, we do our best to bring the most fitting talent to your in-house or remote team.