Objectives

• Staffing agencies do not recruit workers, but instead accept applications from job seekers. They then try to match employees as best they can with the needs of their clients: companies seeking to fill positions. These are most often entry-level positions that are temporary in nature; thus the term "temp agency" is often used to describe these agencies. On the other hand, recruiting agencies are hired directly by firms to seek out candidates for specific high-level, executive or middle-tier positions. These agencies are often called "head-hunters."
  
  

Methods

• Staffing agencies solicit employees through posting generalized job descriptions on employment websites and at job fairs, as well as running classified ads. Recruiters also solicit at job fairs and on social networks utilized by professionals, as well as using online resume banks and other forms of networking. Recruitment searches are position specific, and recruiters often seek particular individuals based on their background and skills. Staffing agencies, conversely, take all comers and use software programs to match a pool of applicants to a job's basic requirements.
  
  

Fees

• Staffing agencies charge companies an hourly rate for use of their employees. While a temp worker or temporary staffer reports to a specific company every day and works under their supervision, he or she is not employed by that company, but is instead an employee of the staffing agency. Recruiters, on the other hand, find permanent employees for their clients and receive compensation once they've filled a specific position. They're paid either with a flat fee or receive a percentage of a negotiated salary.
  
  

Employee Status

• Employees of staffing agencies are usually temporary, and their positions tend to expire upon completion of the project to which they were matched, or when the person they're replacing returns. Some temps establish quality professional relationships with the companies for which they work and are considered for permanent positions. Recruited employees customarily become full-time, permanent employees of their new companies on day one, and a fee is negotiated between the recruiting agency and the employing company. Payment of this fee completes the contract, terminating the relationship between the recruiting agency and recruited employee.