Job Order

What a job order includes

A job order is the agency's version of a corporate job requisition, but it also has to capture the commercial terms. A complete order covers:

• Position details: title, number of openings, duties, reporting manager, location, remote or on-site
• Requirements: must-have skills, certifications, licenses, years of experience, physical demands, background check and drug test needs
• Schedule: shift, hours, overtime expectations, start date and expected assignment length
• Money: pay rate range, bill rate or markup, overtime billing, conversion fee or placement fee terms
• Type: temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire or contract
• Process: who reviews submittals, interview steps, how fast feedback comes and who can make the decision
• Selling points: why someone would want this job, which you need for outreach

Many agencies use a standard intake form such as a job order form and confirm the details back to the client in writing with a job order confirmation email.

Taking a job order well

Treat it like a corporate intake meeting: a conversation, not a form-filling exercise. Good account managers ask the hiring manager to describe the best person who ever held the job, what made the last person fail, what a typical day looks like and what would make them say yes to a candidate in the first interview.

They also test the order. If the pay rate is $17 an hour for forklift operators in a market paying $20, say so now and show data, rather than sending weak candidates for two weeks and losing credibility. If the client wants five years of experience for an entry-level role, ask which requirement actually matters.

Qualifying and prioritizing orders

Not every job order deserves equal effort. Recruiters have limited hours, and spreading them across 40 orders means filling few of them. Many desks grade each order, for example A, B or C, on factors such as:

• Pay rate compared with the local market
• Clarity and realism of requirements
• Client responsiveness: how quickly they review submittals and give feedback
• Exclusivity: is the agency the only supplier, or one of eight on a vendor management system?
• Urgency and volume
• Margin and the relationship's long-term value

A-grade orders get immediate sourcing and the best candidates. C-grade orders might get a posting and a polite note to the client about what would make them fillable. Agencies that track fill rate by order grade usually find that a small share of orders produces most placements.

Example

A staffing branch takes an order from a regional distribution center for 12 temp order pickers, second shift, $18.50 an hour, starting in 10 days. The account manager learns that the client's last supplier filled only half the order because candidates quit over mandatory Saturday overtime. She records that, gets the client to agree to rotating Saturdays, confirms a 1.55 markup, agrees to a same-day interview process and grades the order A. The branch sends 16 candidates in five days and fills 11 positions by the start date.

Common mistakes

• Taking orders by email without speaking to the hiring manager
• Accepting every order to look responsive, then filling few of them
• Missing the commercial terms, then arguing about rates after the first placement
• Not recording the reason the role is open, which hides problems like high turnover
• Letting orders go stale; close or re-qualify any order with no client activity for two to three weeks
• Not asking the client how many other agencies are working the same order