3 Questions to Ask a Staffing Firm Before Hiring Them

The Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical industry is undoubtedly one of the most lucrative industries in the world. From cutting-edge treatments through to innovative research and development, business is truly booming.

However, an organisation is nothing without its people, so it’s crucial that you have a detailed talent acquisition strategy to attract and retain the right skill sets. This is especially helpful for those niche, hard-to-fill roles that require the special touch of a recruitment partner.

Whether this is volume hiring to fulfil a project, or a pivotal senior hire that requires more resources to acquire, a staffing firm can be instrumental in translating your brand message, attracting talent, and creating a seamless process both for you and the candidates involved.

At Planet Pharma, we have a specific way of operating that allows us to nurture our established relationships and ensure that our standards internally aren’t ever compromised. We always want to ensure that quality is at the forefront of what we do, so creating niche teams allows our whole recruitment function to be laser-focused on what they’re good at.

This also means that each client has a dedicated point of contact, which eliminates unsolicited calls, poor communication, and a stronger external brand – all of which are crucial things to maintain when trying to grow an organisation.

However, each recruitment agency has a unique way of operating, which is why it’s important to find a staffing firm that aligns with your operational methods.

If you’re in the process of looking for a new staffing firm to partner with, here are three opening questions you can ask to get a more in-depth understanding of whether they will be right for you:

1. How do you approach large-scale recruitment projects? 

This is a great question to ask if you know that you’re going to be going through a growth phase and will require more than two people for each team. You want to have the confidence that the staffing firm you choose will be able to fulfil these requests without sacrificing quality and speed to hire.

2. What is your resourcing process?

There are some staffing firms who will have dedicated resourcing teams for specific roles, or they may be managing the client (you) and potential candidates on their own.

There is nothing wrong with either model and both are incredibly common globally, however, understanding how they run each process will enable you to decide whether it’s in alignment with your expectations.

3. Who will be our main point of contact?

If you are trying to create a streamlined process, it’s important to have an immediate understanding of how many people you will need to speak to on a regular basis.

For example, you would only have one point of contact at Planet Pharma, however with another staffing firm, you may have two or even three depending on how they run their process. Understand what that looks like and decipher which model would work best for you.

If nothing else, ensure that you find a recruitment partner who is consistent!

Consistency is key when hiring, whether this is internally using a talent acquisition team or externally through using a staffing firm. A good partner will consult and advise you on the best possible outcome, even if it means a short-term loss for a long-term gain.

When searching for a staffing firm, don’t be afraid to have meetings and conduct your own interview process to decipher who would be best to represent your brand!

Photo Credit: Canva

By Maja Jed, Senior Account Manager, Planet Pharma EU