Engineering recruitment agencies UK

Who are the best engineering recruitment agencies in the UK – 1000’s available, who should you select?

A customer recently asked us, were we aware that there are more than 1000 engineering recruitment agencies in the UK and that it was very hard to separate the best engineering recruitment agencies from the bad. With this in mind Sigma’s Founder – Rhys Williams provides a quick guide to engineering recruitment in the UK.

The engineering recruitment agency market

The UK market for engineering recruiters is fragmented. They include large international firms, solo recruiters working from home and everything in-between. Also, company size does not normally determine the quality of engineering recruitment agencies. A lot of the time the smaller recruitment companies will have more experienced staff. In some cases, you will deal directly with owner-managers who have many years of experience in engineering recruitment.

What to consider when hiring an engineering recruitment agency in the UK.

Quality of job advertisements – review job advert copy online, look at the agency website and the websites of the leading job boards. How are the adverts written? How are they formatted? Spelling, grammar, does the advert sell the brand and the job or has the agency just cut and pasted the client’s job specification! Note you can review our adverts here.
What questions do they ask? – when you speak to an engineering recruiter they should want to have an in-depth discussion about the position, to learn about the hiring company and the job. Watch out for recruiters who are happy to work on the job, without a detailed discussion! At Sigma Recruitment our process is also to qualify the vacancy before starting to select candidates. After all, how can an agency establish the correct candidate fit without knowing the exact details of what you require?
Experience in the sector – How long has the agency you are looking to work with been trading? But also how much engineering recruitment experience do they have? At Sigma Recruitment we have been trading for 15 years and focus on engineering, manufacturing and technical recruitment.
Professional membership – always check that the recruitment company is a member of one of the industries professional bodies either the IOR (Institute of recruiters) or the REC (Recruitment Employment Confederation). Sigma Recruitment is proud to be a member of the IOR.
Talent attraction tools – Always ask the engineering recruiter how they will identify and attract talent for your position. They should be using a variety of job boards that have their own internal database. Sigma Recruitment has an extensive candidate database with access to TotalJobs, Jobsite, Reed, Jobsite, CV-Library, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our own successful market-leading website.
Candidate filtering – Ask the recruiter how they plan to screen candidates to assess suitability. In my opinion, there are too many engineering recruitment agencies that do not speak to the candidate before sending their CV to clients. This often leads to dissatisfaction both for clients and candidates. At Sigma Recruitment we insist that our consultants conduct a detailed screening process with every candidate before sending out their CV.

I hope that the above will help you select the best engineering recruitment agencies to work with!

What to expect when working with an Engineering Recruitment Agency

A consultative process – recruitment companies are often criticised for their aggressive approach to fill the role. You should experience that a recruitment agency is taking the time to understand your role and candidate requirements. However, they should also be providing input into the process. Through providing their experience and expertise to make sure that you are targeting the most suitable candidates for the job. They can also help with delivering an engaging recruitment process for the candidates. This in turn will elevate your brand and company reputation.
A talent pool to tap into – attracting talent and CV’s can be a challenge. Recruitment agencies can bridge the gap, shorten the timeframe by putting your job role in front of a candidate network and talent pool. Generating interest and CV’s should be bread and butter to a top level engineering recruitment agency.
An extension of your recruitment team – you should feel that the recruitment agency is an extension of your team. They should be working alongside you, be flexible and easy to contact and communicate with. The recruitment agency should be aligned with your goals, talking your company’s language and being able to communicate your company’s brand values.
Supporting the onboarding process – a good recruitment agency will want to make sure the candidate will integrate smoothly into the new role. They will play an active part in providing a positive recruitment experience and ensure the candidate is excited and prepared for the new role.

Recruitment agencies that go above and beyond

High-quality engineering recruitment agencies should be as invested in the success of the candidate as you are. The market for talented engineers is competitive. So to attract in-demand candidates before your competitors, working with a recruitment agency that can provide an engaging and positive recruitment process is essential.

About Sigma Recruitment

Since Sigma Recruitment opened for business back in 2005, we’ve developed an enviable reputation as one of the leading independent engineering recruitment agencies in the UK. We’ve recruited for a wide variety of companies. From Fortune 500 firms with sales in the hundreds of billions. To niche high-tech start-ups and everything in between, both locally and across the United Kingdom (UK).

Talk to one of our experienced recruitment consultants. You’ll soon discover that they have a wealth of engineering talent attraction experience. If you’re looking to recruit candidates with engineering experience including maintenance, quality, design, validation, continuous improvement, software, process or manufacturing across sectors including automotive manufacturing, life science, aerospace manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, packaging, pharmaceutical, medical devices, steel, plastics or semiconductors. Then Sigma Recruitment is ideally placed to help you find the elusive high calibre talent you’re business needs.

Locations Sigma Recruitment covers

Looking for an engineering recruiter? Please book a call with our founding director today!