Matchmaking is no longer a game played only by high schoolers trying to
set
up the perfect couple. It's an art practiced daily in the business world,
connecting job-seekers and companies in mutually beneficial arrangements.
You have the skills and you've set your goals. You know how much money
you'd like to make. The next step is finding the job. But where do you
start?
Enter the employment agency. Or the staffing service. Or the executive
search firm. The matchmaking game of the business world is more complicated
than meets the eye and offers more than one option for the job-seeker.
Finding
the route that's right for you is the challenge.
"We're what is called a blended services organization," said Patti
Malik,
CEO of Kingston-based Career Network, an employment agency that finds for
its
candidates temporary place- ment in fields ranging from industrial to
clerical
to medical. "We're the classic headhunters. I hate that word, but I know a
lot of people are familiar with it."
Job candidates going through Career Network are interviewed, fill out
paperwork, take personality and skill tests, and are placed in positions
suitable for their qualifications.
"We put (the candidates) in the type of job we know they can do," said
Malik.
Although most of the placements are temporary, more than 60 percent turn
into permanent positions, according to Malik. "We call it a `try before you
hire' program," she said.
Manpower Inc., one of the largest private sector staffing firms in the
world, operates differently than the typical employment agency, but
maintains
a similar outlook.
"It takes about three to six months to find out if someone is going to
work out in the firm -- for both the company and the employee," said Jim
Challen, mid-Hudson district manager for Manpower. "Before either (party)
makes a commitment to a permanent position, we like to make sure it's a good
match."
The primary difference between staffing services like Manpower and
employment agencies like Career Network is that in the case of the former,
the
employee is on the Manpower payroll for the duration of temporary
placements.
The latter finds for the potential employee a position paid by the company
itself, not by the agency.
"(Another) major difference between our services and that of a
traditional
placement service is that we also provide free technical training to our
employees," said Ethelyn Newsome, technical services manager of the
Fishkill
Manpower Technical, the division of Manpower Inc. that deals with
technology-related positions.
What the two types of matchmakers have in common is that the companies
for
whom they're seeking employees, not the candidates for employment, are the
customers. All fees are covered by the companies and there is no charge to
the
job-seekers.
This is also the case with the third and most specialized type of job
placement service, the executive search firm.
"We work exclusively in human resources searches," said Sara
McWilliams,
vice president of Millbrook-based Abbott Smith, an executive search firm
headquartered in Chicago. "If you're a person looking for a job, you're
going
to find that we don't market candidates. We identify the people who have the
skills (necessary) to fill the job."
And unless your skills and experience command a hefty salary, you might
be
better off sticking with an employment agency or staffing service.
"For the most part, we don't accept a search for a company that's
(offering) a salary under $80,000," said McWilliams.
