Understanding how recruiting agencies operate
Recruitment agencies are similar to the specialists on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange who match buyers and sellers.
The agencies for their part serve to match job posters and job seekers. In doing so however the agency can be expected to go through a type of life cycle wherein it is either working with a business on openings, identifying applicants, or placing candidates.
These general areas of the recruitment timeline serve to demarcate the tasks that an agency is most focused upon. For example, in working with a business, a recruitment agency would be most focused upon marketing their search services to employers.
Then, in identifying applicants, the agency would move to combing through its database of candidates to identify ones who best fit openings they are working to fill. The identification process involves not only interfacing with a candidate but also prepping interested candidates for interviews and subsequent debriefings on their candidacies.
And finally, in placing selected candidates, the agency is focused upon working with businesses to draft offers of employment including pay and benefits specifications, as well as helping both the business and the candidate to transition smoothly into the new job.