The lifeblood of any organization is its people, and the recruiting partners you work with play a direct role in the quality of hires your company makes. In Salt Lake City’s extremely competitive hiring market, choosing the right recruiting agency can mean the difference between building a top-performing team and months of wasted time with bad hires.
After more than three decades serving Salt Lake City’s hiring community, PrincePerelson & Associates understands the value of asking questions. Before signing a contract or even sharing sensitive details about your hiring needs, use these 14 questions to quickly separate top recruiting agencies from potential mistakes.
Industry Expertise
1. How much experience do you have in our industry?
Salt Lake City is home to a diverse economy, from healthcare to IT to engineering to logistics and beyond. You want a recruiting partner who truly understands your industry, speaks its language, and appreciates the unique challenges your hiring managers face. It’s one thing for an agency to know how to post jobs and review resumes, but does the recruiter also know the languages your engineers need or the unique licenses your finance professionals require? They should be able to provide examples of previous clients and positions filled in your industry in the past six months. The Salt Lake City job market is constantly evolving, and recent examples provide the best insight into their level of experience and success.
2. Can you tell me about some similar positions you’ve filled in the past six months?
Nothing speaks louder than a track record of success. Any agency worth their salt can post ads and upload candidate resumes, but when the going gets tough and the candidate search proves difficult do they still have the expertise to deliver? This question probes for recent success with similar positions in terms of job function, title, salary, responsibilities, and requirements. It also reveals how deeply they understand your market. The best recruiting agencies know how to find qualified candidates in every industry, but they also will know where the current talent is in your sector and how long it will take to find the best person. If an agency can’t provide examples of recent success with similar roles to the one you’re trying to fill, move on.
3. How well do you know the Salt Lake City talent market?
Salt Lake City is a unique market with local subtleties. Do they know the pain points of Utah County professionals unwilling to commute to downtown Salt Lake? Do they understand the cultural and quality-of-life elements that are non-negotiable for Utah candidates? Every market has local differences and yours should be no exception. As an employer you want an agency that has earned local credibility and proven their ability to deliver in Salt Lake City specifically. The best recruiting agencies have a proven track record of success in your market with a history of employers you can speak to.
Recruiting Process
4. What is your screening and vetting process?
Interviews and phone screens are great, but top talent is vetted at the application stage. Does your recruiting agency have a rigorous screening process before candidates are ever interviewed by your hiring manager? The most effective recruiting agencies have documented vetting processes that include skills and abilities testing, reference checks, professional background verification, and structured interviews. A complete vetting process that weeds out unqualified candidates early in the process and finds quality talent is a critical part of an agency’s recruiting value.
5. Where and how do you source candidates?
Job boards and social media? This answer is not acceptable. The most successful Salt Lake City recruiters have a proven talent pipeline that consists of thousands of candidates already qualified for your openings. The vast majority of talent is passive, meaning they aren’t actively searching or submitting applications. Top talent is engaged, not found. Passive candidates make up an estimated 70% of the workforce. The best recruiting agencies have a vast professional network of industry contacts who regularly refer candidates directly to their team.
6. What is your average time-to-fill?
Speed is important but don’t sacrifice quality for timeliness. Agencies with a ready pipeline of qualified candidates in your industry and experience level can typically fill mid-level professional positions in 3-4 weeks and executive positions in 6-8 weeks. This average time-to-fill will fluctuate up or down depending on market dynamics and role complexity, but high-performing agencies will always be faster than generalist recruiters.
Scope of Services
7. What services do you offer beyond direct placement?
Temp-to-hire, contract, and temporary staffing are often used to test-drive candidates or simply meet a short-term need. While you may only need direct placement services today, tomorrow’s needs are unpredictable. Flexibility and multiple engagement models allow the best recruiting agencies to grow with you, meeting your company’s ever-changing talent needs.
8. How do you handle counteroffers and candidate dropouts?
Candidates receiving counteroffers from their current employer is a common occurrence, especially in today’s tight hiring market. How does the agency prepare your candidates for counteroffers and how do they pivot if your top-choice candidate is tied up with a better offer? Professional recruiting agencies have contingency plans for both situations and work to source backup candidates that meet your needs throughout the recruiting process.
9. What if a placement doesn’t work out?
Reputable agencies back their work. If an employee is let go within a certain period of time, the agency will usually provide a replacement at no additional charge to the client. This can vary from 30-90 days with permanent placements and important details like payment, void events, and hiring manager’s input should be discussed upfront.
Communication
10. Who will be our primary point of contact?
A revolving door of recruiters working on your searches will never provide the consistency and support you need to build a team of top performers. Identify your point of contact (POC), their experience and qualifications, and their availability from day one. In the Utah business community, strong relationships are a fundamental part of success, and your recruiting partner is no different.
11. How often can I expect updates during the search process?
Communication gaps are recruiters’ worst enemy. Agree on expectations for frequency, reporting format, and response times during your initial discussion and throughout your work together. Whether it’s weekly calls, daily emails, or something in between, it’s critical to establish a communication process during your initial discussion and hold them to it.
12. How do you gather feedback and resolve concerns?
Strong recruiting partnerships evolve over time, improving with consistent communication and a commitment to doing better. The top agencies have a formal feedback process that includes systematic feedback during and after the recruiting process. They also have a process to escalate and correct problems, improving service over time.
Compliance
13. How do you ensure compliance with employment laws?
Utah employment law is unique, and the federal laws and regulations add another layer of complexity. Your recruiting partner should be fully knowledgeable of compliance and legal best practices for areas like discrimination, hiring regulations, and appropriate compensation. Errors in any of these areas can be extremely costly.
14. Can you provide references from other Salt Lake City clients?
If a Salt Lake City recruiting agency can’t or won’t provide local references, don’t work with them. References are your most valuable source of insight when choosing a recruiting agency. Talk to other Salt Lake City employers they’ve worked with about their experiences, candidate quality, and ability to resolve problems, and decide for yourself if this is the right agency for your organization. If a recruiting agency won’t stand behind their work, neither should you.
Bottom Line
In Salt Lake City’s relationship-driven business culture, the strength of your recruiting partnership has a direct impact on the quality of your hires. A trusted recruiting agency becomes an extension of your team that understands your culture and business, anticipates your needs, and consistently delivers talent that makes your company stronger. These 15 questions are a starting point, but take the time to understand the full scope of an agency’s work. Visit their office and meet the team you’ll be working with. The best recruiting agencies in Utah are happy to let you see for yourself that they have the experience, market knowledge, and professional network to meet your hiring needs now and in the future.
For more than three decades, PrincePerelson & Associates has been perfecting our approach to Salt Lake City’s recruiting market. We know these questions are important, not just because we’ve seen the mistakes and have the answers, but because we have a reputation to uphold. We show up every day because we want to earn your trust and deliver the talent your business needs to thrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does a staffing agency do?
A: Staffing agencies typically provide a range of recruiting and hiring services, including sourcing, vetting, and screening candidates as well as filling full-time, temp-to-hire, temporary, and contract positions.
Q: Do recruiting agencies specialize in specific industries or types of positions?
A: Recruiters are generalists by trade. The best have experience and a proven track record of success in a wide variety of industries and positions, but they also specialize. Specialization allows agencies to understand an industry’s specific challenges and develop subject-matter expertise for each sector.
Q: How long does it take a recruiting agency to fill a position?
A: Average time-to-fill depends on the complexity of the role and varies between industries, salary ranges, and types of positions. Entry-level positions usually take 1-2 weeks, while professional-level positions average 3-4 weeks. Executive searches can take 6-8 weeks or longer. Specialized or highly technical positions will take longer to fill due to scarcity of skillsets in Utah.
Q: Who pays a recruiting agency – the employer or the candidate?
A: The employer always pays the recruiting agency and legitimate agencies will never ask candidates to pay fees to work with them or get hired. If a recruiting agency in Salt Lake City, Utah, or anywhere else in the U.S. ever charges a job seeker for their services, it’s a major red flag.
Q: What should I do if an employee recruited through an agency quits within 90 days?
A: Most recruiting agencies offer some type of replacement guarantee within a certain period from the employee’s start date (typically 30-90 days for permanent placements and varies by agency). If an employee leaves within this window, the agency should replace them at no additional cost subject to guarantee terms (some agencies exclude layoffs, RIFs, and other termination methods from the guarantee). As always, read the fine print and understand what’s covered and what voids the guarantee before agreeing.
Q: Should I use a local Salt Lake City recruiter or a national firm?
A: Local recruiters will usually provide better results than national firms. Utah is unique, which is why local recruiters have more in-market experience and industry connections. National firms may be useful for executive recruiting and when you’re bringing in talent from outside Utah, but for the majority of positions local recruiters yield faster, more reliable placements.
Q: How do I find the best recruiting agency in Salt Lake City, Utah?
A: Ask questions, do your due diligence, and see the office in person. You wouldn’t hire the first lawyer or accountant who came along, and your recruiting agency should be no different. The best recruiting agencies have built a strong reputation in Salt Lake City’s hiring community by delivering exceptional service and top-quality candidates to employers like you. Visit their office and meet the team you’ll be working with on your searches. The top recruiters in Utah welcome your questions and expect you to do your homework.