Catering Recruitment Agencies, unless you tell them otherwise, assume that when you give them a hiring assignment, to find them a chef for a job vacancy you need to fill, that you’re also probably dealing with another agency too, maybe several. The reasons why we assume this are straightforward: we see remarkably similar chef job specs on the Job-boards of websites of other agencies, the chefs we approach, at least some of them, tell us that they’ve been contacted by other agencies about the job or someone else slips us “the word.”

Catering Recruitment Agencies and Strategizing For Success

So, as an employer should you do this? It’s not that easy a question to answer because it depends on what your expectations are, of any given Catering Recruitment Agency, and how you expect them to perform for you. The argument in favour goes something like this: throw the job spec at a few agencies and let them scramble to fill it. Competition will bring out the best in them and the best will win the battle and bring you your Chef. And, to an extent, at least in the case of some agencies this is true. You should factor in the law of unintended consequences first though and think through how this would affect your thinking, about a client, if you were a recruitment agent yourself. You’ll find, if you do, that it isn’t all upside and I’ll tell you at least some of the reasons why. Disclosure: there’s more detail on the downstream consequences of going heavy when it comes to engaging catering recruitment agencies over here. Something to consider perhaps when you’re wondering as to the “saminess” of the chef’s CVs on offer from so many different agencies.

To begin with the knowledge that they’re now competing with other agencies, to find you your new chef, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll enjoy the increased benefits of raw in tooth and claw competition. On the contrary you may suffer as a result of some of unexpected downsides to the free market because there’s no ties between the agency and you. Think about it this way, knowing that you’ve shopped the job to several recruitment agencies do you think there’s a single one of those agencies who won’t divert the best talent they’ve found to another more favored client, a client who hasn’t shopped their chef jobs to every agency they had the time to call. Or is it more likely that a client who’s made it clear that she’s dealing with that agency exclusively will get first refusal? True you could still come up trumps if the agency doesn’t get a call from such a client while they’re working on your assignment, however the better the agency the more likely they are to get called by such clients.

The Free Market in Chefs & Jobs Bites Without Discriminating

I realize that such behavior has the whiff of bad faith about it but if you flip that equation around the same could be said of clients who carpet bomb recruitment agencies with job assignments knowing that these agencies work on a no win, no fee basis. The brutal and raw fact is that neither side has done much, if anything, to earn the other’s loyalty but in this type of relationship the client has more control to exercise than the recruitment agent. If you’re dealing with an agency which enjoys a good reputation then giving them solid reasons to be loyal, to you, can work to your advantage. So if you want an agency to get very serious about helping you find a chef then tell them you want to work with them exclusively. That’s gets an agents attention really fast. So now who’s job will get the most serious work and resources focussed upon it? Yours, or the hotelier or restauranteur who’s decided to “play the market” by dropping his vacancy all over town? It’s a no brainer and there are other upsides too but we’ll probably give those some attention another time.

Remember it is a free market and as an employer you’re entitled to adopt whatever strategy, for finding chefs, gets you the best results, however bear in mind that’s there’s several ways to play the market; choose the one best suited to you.

Photo by LadyDragonflyCC – >;<