Staffing agency intake
A staffing agency intake is the first meeting between a consultant and a candidate who wants to work through the agency. The consultant checks the candidate's skills, availability and documents, explains how the agency works and registers the candidate for suitable jobs. It usually follows a short screening.
For a staffing agency the intake is where a candidate becomes someone the agency can place. Before it, the candidate is a name on an application. After it, the consultant knows what the candidate can do, when they can work and which client might fit.
How does an intake differ from a screening?
| Screening | Intake | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Check the basic requirements for a role | Get to know the candidate and register them |
| Length | A few minutes | A full conversation |
| Who runs it | A recruiter or an AI assistant | A consultant |
| Format | Call or chat | Office visit, video call or phone |
| Result | Fits or does not fit the role | A complete profile, ready for placement |
A screening decides who gets an intake. The intake then decides where the candidate can work. Read more about the first step under candidate screening.
What happens in an intake?
Most agencies cover the same points:
- Identity and the right to work. The consultant checks the ID and, where needed, the work permit.
- Experience and skills. What the candidate has done, which machines or tools they can use, which certificates they hold.
- Availability. Start date, shifts, hours per week and how far the candidate can travel.
- Preferences. The kind of work, the sector and the pay the candidate expects.
- The agency's terms. How contracts, pay and planning work at the agency.
- Next step. Which roles the consultant will propose and when the candidate will hear back.
The consultant records everything in the applicant tracking system (ATS), so colleagues can place the candidate too.
Why do intakes get lost?
The intake is often the step with the most waiting. A candidate passes a screening. Then a consultant has to call back to plan a meeting. If that call goes to voicemail, the candidate waits another day. Frontline candidates often register with several agencies at once, so the first agency to offer an intake time usually gets the candidate.
Booked intakes can also be missed. A short time between the screening and the intake helps candidates show up. So does a clear confirmation. Frontline worker covers how common no-shows are.
How do you get more candidates to an intake?
- Book the intake in the same conversation as the screening. The candidate leaves with a time. See interview scheduling.
- Offer slots close to the screening. The same day or the next day keeps the candidate warm.
- Let candidates book with the right consultant. The consultant who owns the vacancy or the office closest to the candidate.
- Confirm in the channel the candidate uses. A WhatsApp or SMS message gets read sooner than an email.
How does Ringtime book intakes?
Ringtime's AI agents screen the candidate by phone or WhatsApp and book the intake at the end of the conversation.
- The assistant screens the candidate on your questions.
- A candidate who qualifies picks an intake time in the same conversation.
- With Microsoft Bookings, the candidate books with the consultant who owns the application in your ATS. When that consultant has no free slot, a colleague on the same service gets it.
- Each office can book into its own Bookings page.
- Consultants who use Google or Outlook link their own calendar once. The assistant then books into it.
- The intake and the screening answers land in your ATS.
To fill your agenda with screened candidates, see how Ringtime works for staffing agencies.
