In today’s competitive job market, finding the right opportunity can often be challenging and many times downright frustrating, and we wanted to gather some insights into that.
So, in our 2024 Salary Survey, we asked the question: Have you worked with a staffing agency before?
- 18.1% responded that they hadn’t
The follow-on question was – why they hadn’t
The responses were insightful and the majority of them could be grouped into one of 5 categories of common misperceptions.
On this episode of the iMPact Job Talk Podcast we talk abut how you can work with iMPact to find your next career opportunity.
Misconception #1 – Part of my starting salary is going to go to the staffing agency
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of staffing agencies of all types out in the job market. While there may be firms who do charge something to the candidate, the majority of Staffing firms DO NOT.
At iMPact Business Group we NEVER have any charges for our Placement Services paid for, directly or indirectly, by the Candidate. Â There is zero cost to our candidates at any point in the placement process with our Clients.
When you are working with one of our Recruiters, they will discuss salary/compensation with you and they will help you navigate through the negotiation process with the Employer.  Once a salary/hourly pay rate has been agreed upon, whether it’s for a direct-hire role or a contracting role, that WILL BE your compensation.
Misconception #2 – Compensation and Benefits just aren’t as good
We staff for both direct hire and contract-based roles.
When working with iMPact Business Group, we have well-developed relationships with the Human Resources department and many of the Hiring Managers at a client, and in many cases, we’ve already placed others in the same organization and we know how to navigate their hiring processes.  This experience and resultant relationships allows us to help you best showcase your background with the employer, and help you negotiate a competitive salary.
For direct hire roles, the benefits will vary by what is offered to all staff at the hiring organization, those benefits will be the SAME exact benefits package that every single employee has at that firm.
For contract-based roles, we are fully ACA compliant and offer medical, dental and vision benefits. With the hourly pay rate typically being higher for contract roles compared to direct hire roles, this will give you additional compensation and the flexibility to add supplemental insurance, should you choose to.
Misconception #3 – I’ve had success doing my own networking and finding jobs by myself
While personal networking is good when seeking a new job, it does LIMIT the potential for finding a really good position to JUST your own set of contacts. It’s not unlike wanting a lot of variety when shopping for something important to you – but limiting yourself to only going to ONE store.
Working with iMPact Business Group brings the benefit of being able to tap into a much larger network of contacts/employers across a variety of industries and locations, which no individual can really tap into on their own.
At iMPact Business group, we often have access to exclusive, non-advertised roles, and future hiring/talent needs that could perfectly align with your skills/experience and best meet your career goals.  We have inside access to organizations that most individuals just won’t have on their own.
If you are able to find a job through your own network, that’s great!  But, if you’d really like to open up your employment possibilities to a much larger network giving you more options to consider, we can certainly help you do so actively or confidentially.
Misconception #4 – I’m not interested in contract/part-time work
While some staffing agencies specifically focus on short-term temping roles, at iMPact Business Group you will generally see full-time (40 hours a week), W2 hourly positions. Some of these roles will run for several months up to several years which will vary by position and we share with you the expected duration up front and encourage you to explore that during any interviews with our Clients.
A common misperception about contracting roles is that they’re riskier than a permanent hire role, yet as we have often seen, layoffs can come at any time (at-will employment) even for individuals in a long-term permanent hire role.
What you may not have considered is that contracting roles can, and often do, turn into a permanent hire position over time. At iMPact Business Group the majority of our Master Service Agreements with our clients allow for the conversion from a consulting position to a Permanent Hire role during the contract.
Employers have decided that a certain portion of their workforce will be filled by consultants, so contracting roles are now very commonplace in the Job Market and have their own set of pluses, including –
- Flexible scheduling
- No overtime expectations
- Paid overtime when the workload requires it
- Access to a wider variety of environments and technologies/processes/tools
- Provides candidates the opportunity to test out multiple employers/environments to see if they truly fit YOUR needs.
Whatever you’re seeking for your career, a contract role or direct-hire role, we offer you access to both.  So, if you see a role of interest while seeking a permanent-hire position and that role happens to be a contract position, still reach out to us and we’d be happy to have a conversation with you about the potential for that role to eventually become a steppingstone into a permanent hire position long term.
Misconception #5 – Working with a staffing agency / recruiter just hasn’t been top of mind
If you’ve ever had one of those annoying calls from a recruiter, like a telemarketer calling you just as you sit down to dinner, we get it. Timing is usually a key factor for when someone is open to considering a new position and those experiences can be flat-out irritating, but they don’t represent what the best staffing firms can actually do for you.
With that said, some things to keep in mind — Recruiters are often on the front end of hearing about new and upcoming job opportunities.  Once a position hits the job boards, there’s a good chance our Recruiters have already reached out to potential candidates within our network and have started setting up interviews.  So, applying on your own may mean you’re going to be late to the party.
Also, in working with our Recruiters and Account Managers, you have advocates working for you behind the scenes to help you successfully navigate through the hiring cycle. There are several ways we will help you through the process:
- When misconceptions created during the interviews could de-rail an otherwise ideal match for both you and the employer.
- We also provide you with coaching on how to approach an interview, we’ll help you feel more comfortable interviewing, and give you ideas on how to make sure you get what you need when interviewing.
- We also can help you with the final salary negotiations that everyone hates to go through.
We realize that most (some might say all) candidates are NOT really professional interviewers and can benefit from someone guiding them through the interview cycle.
We would suggest you reach out to us today to make a connection, even if you’re not in between jobs, and let us know your ideal work situation / position you’d like to hear about.  Let us be your eyes and ears to the job market so you don’t miss an ideal situation when it opens up. Let us give you access to exciting job opportunities that you wouldn’t have come across otherwise.  Once we know what is important to you, you’ll be then receive our monthly newsletter which highlights some of our most recent job opportunities, which is a great way to stay up to date on what’s new in the job market.
On this episode of the iMPact Job Talk Podcast, we share insights on benefits of connecting with a recruiter before you need one.
What to do next
Proactively reach out to us, even if you’re actively employed today.  The best time to find a new position, and ideal position, is when you’re gainfully employed and have the luxury of time to be selective in where you go next with your career, there is less pressure for everyone in that case.
Let us be your partner in your job search and career development.  We confidentially talk with thousands of candidates every year and offer our insights into the job market to help you make informed decisions about where you should go next. We also share trends that we see in the job market so you can make informed decisions about training and career growth experiences you want to pursue in your current role, to best prepare you for bigger and better things down the road.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay updated on the latest job opportunities and connect with our Recruiters to discuss your short-term and long-term career goals.
Refer your friends and colleagues to us, for the people you care about. We can help them too, and we highly value referrals from someone we know.
About iMPact Business Group
iMPact Business Group is a staffing agency specializing in Information Technology, Engineering, Finance/Accounting, and Business Administration/Process positions. We have locations in Grand Rapids, MI and Tampa, FL with job opportunities nationwide. To connect with one of our professional recruiters, view our job board for all available positions, or submit your resume for consideration here.Â
