Stick with the REAL Specialists: Many recruitment agencies cover a range of different industry domains and claim to have specialists within each of these. However, it is important to find an agency that is a true specialist where they are proven ‘Masters’ within their field as opposed to a ‘jack of all trades’. These specialist agencies will have an in-depth understanding to their market, they will know the intricacies of marketing departments in a range of organisations and they will have the knowledge and insight into the continuously changing scientific elements required for a successful marketing career.

Always be sure to choose an agency that is accredited by a local governing body.

Candidate reach – current base: Your specialist recruitment agency should clearly demonstrate the depth of their skills, knowledge and reach.

• Local, National and International candidate reach where they can clearly demonstrate their expertise in their search technology and techniques.

• Case studies across a range of success stories with a client base of big brands and large marketing teams.

•  Executive Search, Permanent, Contract and Day-Rate candidates. A specialist agency should be able to provide you with flexible solutions to your Marketing resourcing needs.

• Your agency should be clearly able to provide you with a range of candidates from various levels of experience from C-Suite to Assistant.

Candidate Attraction: The right agency will be well connected and have a very strong presence within the marketing community with a positive word of mouth.

•  How do they market themselves?

• What channels do they use for advertising their roles?

•  How relevant are they – what added value do they provide to you?

  A well-established specialist marketing agency should view your relationship as a partnership. They should:

• Keep you informed of marketing activity relevant to your sector

• Provide bi-annual marketing salary surveys

• Be informed of the market through Marketing Employee Sentiment Surveys

• Invite you to peer-to-peer networking events / marketing seminars that will help you stay connected and informed with industry colleagues.

Recruiters Background: The experience of your account manager and the agency you are working with, will always be testament to their working knowledge of Marketing. You want your recruitment partners to be:

• Well established within the market.

• Renowned for their reputation of knowledge, customer experience and success.

• An account manager who has worked in a marketing role previously and understands the various intricacies required in a range of marketing positions e.g. Marketers for Marketers.

•  Providers of insight to you where they are able to give you an understanding of the calibre of marketers within various sectors, advice on marketing talent and consultants on career progression.

Screening Process: A successful Marketing recruitment agency should not be providing you with an array of CV’s for one role. When you take into account all the factors required for a position i.e. technical skill stat, cultural fit, sector background, number of years’ experience, salary range, availability and overall fit for the role, from a thorough screening process, no more than five candidates should be relevant to your position. An experienced agency should be able to demonstrate a thorough screening process with you where they will have personally interviewed the proposed candidate(s) and carried out a competency-based interview and selection process. They should then provide you with a brief, concise and accurate summary of the candidates experience and relevance for the marketing position along with the CV application.

Partners, Partners, Partners: Through an established partnership, your Marketing Recruitment Agency will always be providers of the winning solution to your marketing resourcing needs.