View Full Version : Recruitment agencies
Why are they soooo bad?
I deal with them on both sides of the coin and as far as i can tell they are pretty useless at pretty near everything.
So from the point of view as a user looking for work, they never contact you when they say they will, you call them and they are never there, they never call you when anything new comes in, they send you to positions that they know you have no chance of getting, they want you to do all the running, they never reply to emails, i think they are just plain rude!
From the other side of it as getting temporary staff from them. They never realy the correct start times to thier members, they never let them know what is required, they dont seem to have any screening procedures to see if the staff can actully do what they say, they seem to employ anyone and let them get on with it, they NEVER answer thir phone of emails and they always try to blame us when they send the worng staff or when we complain!
So why/how do these comapnies exist? Im talking about the large ones, like reed/manpower etc down to the little one man band companies. They charge an absolute fortune for their services, but i dont know how they funtion in the 1st place.
I remember the old days when adverts where placed in papers for jobs and have a direct contact with the company recruiting. Nowadays its from an agency and 9/10 times the job does not actually exist and all they want is for you to register with them, again, dont know why. Lets get back to the old days. Direct recruitment by the company wanting to hire and cut out the agency middle man and save a fortune.
Right rant over
Yep, all a bunch of shisters, the agency also makes a shed load of money per recruitment, 10%+ of the persons salary for the first year. :smt066
Wanna go into business and start a proper one then Viney.
50/50 either way, but you got to get Sir Alan to chip in too?
timwilky
10-08-09, 10:08 AM
My company was doing things slightly differently, they advertised all vacancies and would state that there was a finders fee for any member of staff that introduced a successful applicant. Unfortunately as of July they have withdrawn the finders fee.
custard
10-08-09, 10:50 AM
yup, used to work as a recruitment consultant. the reason i did was because they couldnt find me a job and were downright rubbish and i thought i could do a better job. which i did :)
am now on the other side of the coin... karma me thinks.
still, wish me luck i have an interview today through one of them.
Spiderman
10-08-09, 11:05 AM
good luck mr Custard.
So, i'm looking for work and its getting ptretty desperate now. Which agencies would you reccomend fellas.
custard
10-08-09, 11:09 AM
cheers ears.
would steer clear of high street ones for a start, reed, brook st etc unless you want entry level stuff eg customer service or whatever.
what is it that you do?
Spiderman
10-08-09, 11:22 AM
sales mainly. Did property sales for nearly 15yr on and off, here and abroad, then went into design and sales (bathrooms and kitchens). High value goods basically is my thing, btu sales is sales and rimes are tought.
Even tho i'm happy to lok at very diverese things too, hence that application i made to the Herts Constabulary (not as a cop).
I have used a lot of agencies in my time. As a student the beginning of summer would only start when I had a hundred copies of my cv ready and my feet hurt from walking from one agency to another.
I never had a problem in those days getting a job. When I then used selective agencies working in Insurance I found that I really had to push them to put me forward for the jobs I wanted as they were happier to put me forward for lower salary jobs, knowing that I would definately get those. I had a lot of arguments with them to stop putting me for interviews that i had no interest in and get me the ones i wanted.
As for not contacting you, yup they never do that, you have to phone them every single week.
I actually got on with Manpower, ranstad and the like for temp work, but then the climate has changed somewhat from those days and, jobs are not so easy to get.
Zig, Monster.co.uk is a good place to start put your CV online with agencies like this and see what you get back, or see this page which has a list of sales employment agencies in and around london.-
http://www.agencycentral.co.uk/agencysearch/sales/countysearch/england/london.htm
custard
10-08-09, 11:41 AM
sales mainly. Did property sales for nearly 15yr on and off, here and abroad, then went into design and sales (bathrooms and kitchens). High value goods basically is my thing, btu sales is sales and rimes are tought.
Even tho i'm happy to lok at very diverese things too, hence that application i made to the Herts Constabulary (not as a cop).
if you take a job with herts i will personally knee cap you! its for your own good.
have a go with jobsite as well.
Anna, phing them every wekk is fine when you actully get through to the person you are meant to be calliing!!!
Daimo. Not a bad idea at all, however, no capital :(
454697819
10-08-09, 11:53 AM
Used 3 or 4 now.. I don't like them but they serve a purpose.
Iansv II
10-08-09, 11:55 AM
I still get occasional emails from recruitment agencies asking if i'm interested in roles I would not be at all qualified for.... and i've not sent my cv out for about 6 years...
god help me when I need to look for work again next year
Used 3 or 4 now.. I don't like them but they serve a purpose.This is my point, they dont. Great if you actually get one that finds you a job, but most of them are utter rubbish. I hate the ignorance of them all. I have yet to successfully get a job through an agency.
They all suck. Get used to it.
Put your CV on Monster.
Apply for jobs through monster and jobserve.
Follow up with a phone call an hour so after you sent the email to check they got it.
Use that conversation to find out if its what you want.
Keep calling them for an update every 2-3 days, and when you have interviews get stright back onto the phone to them, and call them the next day for "feedback", if they dont have them, call them in the afternoon, and then next day until they give you some.
You don't have to be their stalker, just make a note when you get a response back from them to call them the next day for a follow up, etc.
Dan
gruntygiggles
10-08-09, 01:19 PM
sales mainly. Did property sales for nearly 15yr on and off, here and abroad, then went into design and sales (bathrooms and kitchens). High value goods basically is my thing, btu sales is sales and rimes are tought.
Even tho i'm happy to lok at very diverese things too, hence that application i made to the Herts Constabulary (not as a cop).
Spidey......register on these....
http://www.simplysalesjobs.co.uk/
http://www.executivesontheweb.com/
(if you want management)
http://jobs.telegraph.co.uk/
As a start, look around these and Monster and search your area for sales specific recruitment agencies.
Good luck bud!
Spiderman
10-08-09, 02:22 PM
thanks GG, you're a star :)
wyrdness
10-08-09, 02:26 PM
good luck mr Custard.
So, i'm looking for work and its getting ptretty desperate now. Which agencies would you reccomend fellas.
Off topic, but have you thought of starting your own business?
Spiderman
10-08-09, 02:32 PM
who me? Doing what?
CoolGirl
10-08-09, 02:34 PM
Why are they soooo bad?
From the other side of it as getting temporary staff from them. They never realy the correct start times to thier members, they never let them know what is required, they dont seem to have any screening procedures to see if the staff can actully do what they say, they seem to employ anyone and let them get on with it, they NEVER answer thir phone of emails and they always try to blame us when they send the worng staff or when we complain!
So why/how do these comapnies exist?
We used one for a while and they kept sneding us duds, so they kept getting sent back and we refused to pay any fees. The best way to do it is through the local JobCentre - you can place your own ad, you get to recruit directly yourself from a pool of people, and you can taken them for as long (or as little) as you want. And, best of all, it's free. SOmeopne I recruited through this path a few yesrs ago is now a permanent member of staff and doing very well.
Yup, jobserver, jobsite & monster are good ones (at least for me - IT-related etc).
I've updated my profile on LinkedIn - basically facebook for working profs and I've had a couple of people ask me if I'm interested in applying for positions at their respective companies - bypassing the recruitment agent process altogether.
http://www.linkedin.com/
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