Looking for the best PA recruitment agency in London? Here’s what to look out for.

If you’re looking for the best PA recruitment agency in London, it can be difficult to know where to start! We’ve put together a few things to check with your agency if you’re looking for a PA or hiring an executive assistant.

Service-driven recruitment

It’s important that the recruitment company you choose is driven by service, rather than seeing their candidates and clients as numbers on a board. The initial meeting is the best time to ask questions that will reveal if they will go the extra mile for you. For example, ask for their referral rates of candidates and/or repeat business rates from other clients. As candidate care is often a strong indicator of service, it might also be worthwhile asking how often they keep in contact with their candidates through candidate care days or similar initiatives. Feel free to also ask your consultant if you can obtain a verbal or written reference from a current client.

In addition, the best PA recruitment agency in London should provide you with additional resources that support you throughout the hiring process. These might include job description templates, interview technique workshops or written material, and examples of behavioural and situational questions. Finally, an excellent recruitment agent should be abreast of market trends, communicating these to you in the form of salary reviews, thought leadership publications and a regular schedule of events with expert speakers.

Specialist experience

When you are introduced to your consultant, complete your research to find out how experienced they are. Start with their LinkedIn profile, going on to ask how they source their candidates and their industry experience. Another mark of a specialist recruitment consultancy is the agency turnover (again, look to LinkedIn for this). This is important, as your recruiter should be a long-term partner in developing a well-rounded talent strategy for you.

No candidate ownership

Candidate ownership means that consultants essentially share the fee of a placed candidate. If one consultant registers a great candidate but another consultant places them in a role, the fee is split. This can be problematic as it may mean that you don’t necessarily receive the best shortlist of candidates for the job. Internally, there might be some jostling among consultants, where your consultant is holding bias towards their own candidates over and above others – who might be better suited to your role. It may also be the case that another consultant encourages the use of their below-par candidate for your role.

An agency that doesn’t have candidate ownership means that candidates are shared freely between all consultants, and will only be recommended if they are right for the role. For this reason, it’s more likely you’ll be sent fantastic candidates based on their merit and your consultant’s true belief that they will be the perfect fit.

Tech and AI developments

The best secretarial agency in London will stay up to date with technology to ensure they deliver to you the best possible service. For example, they may have an app for candidates to update their availability in real time, meaning that the candidate database is up-to-date. Another way an agency can embrace trends is through implementing AI in candidate testing. This is beneficial for clients as improved practical and behavioural testing will give you a more holistic overview of the candidate’s on-the-job practical skills.

If you’re looking to hire a personal assistant in London, get in touch with us today!

Author Rebecca Siciliano Tiger Recruitment Team