What to Expect When Hiring Your First Employee via an Agency

Key Highlights

• Warehouse staffing and senior executive searches work in very different ways
• Fee structures range from hourly markups to a percentage of annual salary
• Warehouse roles typically fill faster than senior leadership searches
• Clarifying fees, timelines and guarantees upfront avoids later surprises
• Treating agency fees as part of the hiring budget prevents unexpected costs

What to Know Before Hiring

Hiring your first employee through an agency feels different from doing it yourself, mostly because you’re paying someone else to do the legwork you’d otherwise handle the first time around badly. Costs, timelines, and what happens behind the scenes are rarely explained upfront, leaving many first-time employers guessing what a fair deal even looks like.

The type of agency matters too. A logistics staffing agency works very differently from an executive recruiting firm, even though both are technically “recruitment.” Knowing which one fits the role you’re hiring for, and what to expect once you sign on, makes the whole process considerably less stressful.

Two Types of Agencies You Might Use

Not every hire needs the same kind of agency. A logistics staffing agency and a firm built for senior search work quite differently, as shown below:

The right choice usually comes down to how specialised the role is and how much runway you have before the position needs to be filled.

What the Hiring Process Usually Involves

Once you’ve picked an agency, the process itself follows a fairly predictable shape. You’ll usually start with a briefing call covering the role, budget and timeline, followed by the agency sourcing candidates from its own network rather than starting from scratch. A warehouse-focused staffing partner will often have people ready to start within days, since much of its work involves filling recurring, similar roles.

An executive recruiting firm moves more deliberately, running structured interviews and reference checks before anyone is presented to you. Expect a shortlist rather than a single name, along with the agency’s assessment of each candidate’s strengths and any concerns worth discussing before you meet them yourself.

Questions Worth Asking First

Before signing an agreement with a logistics staffing agency, or any other recruiting partner, it’s worth getting a few things clarified so there are no surprises later:

• What happens if the placement doesn’t work out within the first few months?
• Whether the fee is a flat rate, a percentage, or tied to hours worked?
• How long the agency will keep searching if the first candidates don’t fit?
• Who handles onboarding paperwork, and whether that’s included in the fee?
• What happens if you decide not to hire anyone from the shortlist?

Getting clear answers to these upfront avoids the awkward conversations that tend to happen later, once money and expectations are already on the table.

What This Means for Your Budget and Timeline

Costs vary considerably depending on which type of agency you’re using, so it helps to ask about pricing before the search even begins. A warehouse or transport staffing partner typically charges either an hourly markup on the worker’s wage or a flat fee per placement, which makes budgeting relatively straightforward for repeat hires.

An executive recruiting firm usually charges a percentage of the role’s first-year salary, often somewhere between 15% and 30%, reflecting the deeper search and vetting involved. Either way, it helps to treat the agency’s fee as part of the hiring budget from the start, rather than a surprise cost added on afterwards once an offer has already gone out.

Next Steps for Your Search

Hiring through an agency for the first time is mostly about knowing what to expect rather than avoiding surprises altogether. The process, the fees and the timeline all vary depending on the role and the type of agency involved, but none of it needs to feel opaque once you’ve asked the right questions upfront, well before any contract is signed.

Most first-time employers only learn these details after a search has already gone sideways, which is exactly what a short conversation beforehand can help you avoid.

Contact Right Recruit before your next hire to talk through which type of search actually fits the role you’re trying to fill.