One situation in which using a recruitment agency is advantageous is in the case of specialist recruitment. In the modern complex working world, people are doing increasingly specialised jobs and the recruitment process has to take this into account. Unless the organisation is a large employer with the resources to devote to recruitment, then it would do better to employ the services of a specialised recruitment agency to handle its needs.

Specialised recruitment agencies exist to handle all kinds of staff from domestic cleaners to nuclear physicists. What they have in common is that they can bring their experience, contacts and knowledge of the labour market to effectively match up job candidates with the employers who are seeking them.

As the employers are looking for applicants with a very specific set of skills, education and training, an agency which specialises in a particular field or profession is likely to be more successful in finding the right employee than in-house personnel department or a general recruitment agency.

An example of this is executive recruitment. One of the key posts in any company or organisation is the executive and very often, their experience or qualities may be unique. For these types of employee, the services of head-hunters may be needed. These are third-party recruiters often hired when normal recruitment efforts have proved fruitless.

Head-hunters provide results as they actively seek candidates rather than just advertise and wait.  They are often well-connected and use networks and cultivated relationships to build relationships with prospective candidates. One some occasions they just cold call and make a pitch or buy lists of potential candidates. For these reasons, head-hunters are well compensated.