Not always. It really depends on the sort of position you are looking to fill and how well your people are trained in the process. Some deal with the identification and recruitment of senior or specialist staff. In that case, even with the general increase in unemployment that is predicted, there will be a small pool of suitably qualified and experienced candidates.

But those people may be spread over a wide area or be difficult to readily identify and contact – Aer Lingus had to recruit their current boss from the Middle East. So there is a good argument in favour of getting in a company that knows where and how to source candidates rather than tying up senior people with learning all of this and executing the search.

If you have a less skilled post to fill, where there is likely to be a large group of prospective employees you might assume skipping the recruitment firms would be a good idea. It is, if and only if, you know exactly how to draft an ad that makes people want to work with you and you know how to interview rigorously and effectively. The expense of hiring the wrong person will vastly outweigh the expense of a recruitment company’s commission. If you do go with a recruitment firm, remember that commissions are not writ in stone. Negotiate hard, specify clearly and choose the right firm and you’ll still get value.

Eoghan McDermott is Director of Careers, The Communication Clinic . www.communicationsclinic.ie