Administrative staffing guide for agency owners
A plain administrative staffing guide for agency owners. Learn to take clear job orders and screen admin candidates fast, with a temp pricing example.
8 min read
Key takeaways
- Administrative staffing places office support workers, from receptionists to executive assistants, either as temps who may convert or as direct hires.
- On every job order, pin down the exact software and the tasks the person will do each day, because "proficient in Office" means different things to different clients.
- Screen in a fixed order: knockout questions, a short one-way video screen, a job-related skills test, then references.
- Price temp orders as the pay rate times a markup that covers your employer costs and leaves room for overhead and profit, and put conversion fees in writing before the first placement.
- Keep a bench of pre-screened admin temps so you can say yes to same-day orders.
Administrative staffing is the placement of office support workers, such as receptionists and data entry clerks, with client companies, either as temporary help or as permanent hires, with temp-to-hire sitting between the two. For an agency owner, it is a desk where skills are easy to test and a good temp can often move to the next client when an assignment ends.
What roles fall under administrative staffing?
Most admin orders fall into a few role families. Titles change from client to client, so match on duties, not on the title in the email.
| Role | What the client usually needs | What to verify before you submit |
|---|---|---|
| Receptionist or front desk | Phones, greeting visitors, scheduling, mail | Phone manner, calendar tool used, punctuality |
| Administrative assistant | Documents, scheduling, filing, light data entry | Word and Excel at the level the client means, written communication |
| Data entry clerk | Fast, accurate keying into a system | Typing speed and accuracy on a real sample, focus over long stretches |
| Office manager | Vendors, supplies, petty cash, sometimes light bookkeeping | Prior office ownership, judgment, supervising others |
| Executive assistant | Complex calendars and travel, often with confidential work | Discretion, references from senior people, prioritizing under pressure |
| Medical or legal secretary | Admin work plus industry terms and software | Terminology, experience in the specific system the client uses |
| Customer or office support | Inbound calls and email about orders | Patient phone manner and ticketing or CRM experience |
If your desk is new, start with receptionist, admin assistant, and data entry. The candidate pools overlap, so one strong candidate can fit all three.
Temp, temp-to-hire, or direct hire: which model fits?
Clients often do not know which model they want. Ask why the role is open, then recommend one.
| Model | When clients use it | What it means for your agency |
|---|---|---|
| Temp | Leave coverage, seasonal spikes, short projects, backlog cleanup | You employ the worker and bill the client hourly with a markup |
| Temp-to-hire | Client wants to see the person work before committing | Hourly billing, plus a conversion fee under your contract when the client hires the worker. That fee may shrink as the worker logs more hours |
| Direct hire | Permanent role, client runs payroll from day one | One-time fee, usually tied to first-year pay, with a replacement guarantee |
When a client says "we just need someone Monday," it is temp. A client who says "we have been burned on hires before" is a good fit for temp-to-hire. For senior roles, like an executive assistant to a founder, direct hire often suits both sides better.
How do you take an administrative job order?
Vague job orders lead to bad matches. A client asks for "an admin who knows Office," you send someone who can format a Word document, and the real job turns out to be building pivot tables. Ask these questions on every intake call:
- What will this person do in the first hour of a normal day?
- Which software, specifically? Excel, Google Sheets, a CRM, an accounting tool, an electronic health record system?
- In Excel, is the work basic data entry or building reports with formulas?
- How many calls per day, and is it a single line or a multi-line phone system?
- Who supervises them, and who trains them on day one?
- Hours, start date, expected length, and whether overtime is possible.
- Dress code, parking, and whether the role is fully on site.
- Pay rate, and whether the client has flexibility for a stronger candidate.
- Why is the role open, and what made the last person succeed or struggle?
- Do they want a typing or software test score, and what is the bar?
Read the answers back before you hang up. A two-minute recap catches most misunderstandings.
Where do you find administrative candidates?
Plenty of people apply for admin work. The hard part is finding reliable ones who can start tomorrow, so build your pipeline around speed.
- Redeploy temps whose assignments are ending, and start checking about a week before the end date.
- Ask your current temps for referrals. They often know other reliable office workers.
- Post on job boards with an application that works on a phone, since many candidates apply from one.
- Build ties with local community colleges and workforce centers that run office skills programs.
- Look at people leaving retail and call center jobs. They often have the customer skills front desk roles need and may only need software coaching.
- Re-engage past applicants who were not placed. A candidate who was not right for one order may fit the next one.
The goal is a bench, meaning a short list of pre-screened, skills-tested temps you can call at 7 a.m. when a client's receptionist calls in sick.
How do you screen admin candidates quickly?
Use the same steps in the same order for every candidate on a given order. It is faster, and it is fairer.
Step 1: knockout questions
Put three to five yes or no questions on the application: availability on the required schedule, ability to get to the location, comfort with the pay range, and experience with the named software. You can pick wording from this list of pre-screening interview questions and what each answer tells you.
Step 2: a short one-way video screen
A resume says little about how someone sounds on the phone or writes to a client. Send a one-way video interview with three to five questions and a short time limit per answer. Useful prompts:
- "A visitor arrives for a meeting and the host is running 20 minutes late. Walk us through what you say and do."
- "Tell us about a time you managed several deadlines at once. How did you decide what came first?"
- "Which software have you used every day in your last role, and what did you use it for?"
- "Answer this call as if you were at our front desk: a caller wants to speak to someone who is out today."
The last one works well as an audio-only question, since phone work is the job. In DeepHire you can set audio-only questions with your own time limit and retake count, then share a shortlist with the client by link. The client does not need an account. For the full sequence from intake to submittal, see this staffing video interview workflow.
Step 3: a job-related skills test
Test what the job actually uses. For data entry, that means typing speed and accuracy. An admin assistant might get a short Excel task, and anyone who writes client-facing email can do a proofreading exercise. Give the same test to every candidate for the same role, and keep it tied to the duties on the job order. Rules on testing vary by place, so check with your legal team before you add a new test.
Step 4: check references with past supervisors
For admin work, ask past supervisors whether the person showed up on time and how they handled interruptions. An assistant who is late twice a week can cost you the account, however good the work is.
Step 5: score and submit
Rate each candidate on the same few criteria, such as communication, software skill, reliability, and availability. An hourly candidate scorecard template works well for admin temps. Submit your top two or three with a one-line note on why each one fits.
How should you price administrative placements?
For temp and temp-to-hire, the bill rate is the pay rate times a markup. The markup has to cover your employer costs, such as payroll taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, and any benefits or paid leave required where you operate, plus your overhead and profit. These costs differ by state and city, so build your markup with your accountant and confirm the employment rules with your legal team.
Here is an example with made-up numbers. Say a receptionist is paid $20 an hour and your employer costs run $4 an hour. With a 1.4 markup, the bill rate is $28. That leaves $8 an hour, of which $4 covers employer costs and $4 is left for overhead and profit. With a 1.2 markup, the bill rate is $24, and the $4 left after pay is used up by employer costs, so you earn nothing toward overhead or profit.
A few pricing habits protect admin margins:
- Put conversion fees in writing before the first temp starts, including how the fee changes with hours worked.
- Quote overtime bill rates up front, since admin roles can stretch during month-end or audits.
- Raise pay and bill rates together. Do not absorb pay increases out of your margin.
- For direct hire, define the guarantee period and whether it means a replacement or a refund.
How do you keep admin clients ordering again?
A few small habits keep admin clients coming back:
- Fill the first order fast, even if it is small. It sets the tone.
- Call the temp on day one and the client at the end of week one.
- Have a backup candidate ready for every placement in the first week.
- Replace a no-show the same day if you can, and tell the client before they call you.
- Hold a short quarterly review with steady clients to ask what leave and busy seasons are coming up.
Track a few numbers per client: fill rate, time to submit, time to fill, and how many placements finish their assignment. This recruiting metrics glossary with formulas shows how to calculate each one.
Common mistakes on administrative desks
- Accepting "knows Office" without asking what the person will actually do in it.
- Submitting on resume alone when the job is mostly phone and front desk work.
- Testing some candidates and not others for the same role.
- Letting a good temp sit idle between assignments until they take a job elsewhere.
- Skipping the week-one check-in, then hearing about a problem only when the client cancels.
- Quoting a bill rate on the call before you know the weekly hours and how long the assignment will run.
Frequently asked questions
What does an administrative staffing agency do?
An administrative staffing agency finds office support workers, such as receptionists and data entry clerks, and places them with client companies after screening. On temp assignments the agency usually employs the worker and runs payroll, and on direct hire placements it charges the client a one-time fee.
How do staffing agencies test administrative skills?
Most agencies use short tests tied to the job, such as a typing check for data entry or an Excel task for admin assistants. Give every candidate for the same role the same test. Rules vary by place, so check with your legal team before adding new tests.
Is temp-to-hire a good option for administrative roles?
Yes, especially when a client has had bad hires or is unsure about the role. The client sees the person working before committing, and the agency earns hourly revenue plus a conversion fee set in the contract.
What questions should I ask in an admin candidate phone or video screen?
Ask scenario questions that mirror the job, such as handling a late meeting host or a caller asking for someone who is out. Add one question about daily software use and one about juggling deadlines, and keep the total to three to five questions.
How can a staffing agency fill same-day administrative orders?
Keep a bench of pre-screened, skills-tested temps, and start redeploying people a week before their current assignments end. When an urgent order comes in, you call from that list instead of starting a new search.