Recruitment Consultants! Aaargh!!!!!

Potential_Advisor

Poppy9, you are obviously lovely! People buy people after all.. I do think you are right, you are dealing with high end positions/people and therefore you will get more professionalism without a doubt. My rant was/is predominantly aimed at the mainstream Agencies who are massively and perhaps neccessarily immersed in a commission/bonus/results culture which lends itself to 'sharp' practice shall I say? Still no need for it though..

liney

Potential_Advisor wrote: »

Poppy9, you are obviously lovely! People buy people after all.. I do think you are right, you are dealing with high end positions/people and therefore you will get more professionalism without a doubt. My rant was/is predominantly aimed at the mainstream Agencies who are massively and perhaps neccessarily immersed in a commission/bonus/results culture which lends itself to 'sharp' practice shall I say? Still no need for it though..

I expect you would find dealing with an Independant completely different that dealing with a "chain", some of which are franchises.

Potential_Advisor

liney wrote: »

Potential Advisor - I do hope you read advertisments more carefully then postings, because if you did you would note that Lufcgirl is not a Recruitment Consultant.

Also, it might have escaped your attention but as we are in the middle of an "economic down turn", recession, or whatever you like to call it, the increased direct advertising and no agencies message is likely due to cost cutting, and the powers that be expecting their HR Departments to do what they are paid for instead of passing the work to the Agency and incurring extra costs.

Considering the amount of Employment Businesses around one would assume that a) They are turning a profit, and b) This is made from securing people jobs. Not quite the picture you are trying to paint.

Liney

1) Having re-read that post, I made an assumption, however it also does NOT say that she herself isn't an RC specifically, just that her sister is and that LUFCGIRL has used them before in the past.So, she could be.

2) Do you not think, that if the Agencies were 'adding value' for their clients in 'normal' economic times, as all intermediaries in all sectors of business have to do, then they would be retained in times like these?

3) A lot of the mainstream Agencies make their money from temp placements, whilst invariably this has been reduced lately, it is more cost effective to hire a temp than it is to hire a full time employee. So I think if they are making a profit, and that is a big assumption, then it is from ongoing temp or contract placements as opposed to full time permanent placements.

I have never intimated in any of my threads that they are ALL cretins, simply that, per head if you like, there are a startling amount who are, and the accounts/experiences on this forum tend to support that.

liney

Potential_Advisor wrote: »

Liney

1) Having re-read that post, I made an assumption, however it also does NOT say that she herself isn't an RC specifically, just that her sister is and that LUFCGIRL has used them before in the past.So, she could be.
So could anyone reading or posting - just because they haven't said they are not you haven't specifically targeted them for a slating. Poor excuse.

2) Do you not think, that if the Agencies were 'adding value' for their clients in 'normal' economic times, as all intermediaries in all sectors of business have to do, then they would be retained in times like these?
If you are making redundancies, yet keeping a HR department on the payroll they should be able to recruit in a more cost effective way unless the role is specialist, whereby advertising in a Trade Journal may actually cost more then paying a fee. An Agency provides a service which Businesses choose to pay for, but if you are on hard times it's a luxury. Kind of like eating out, versus cooking at home.

3) A lot of the mainstream Agencies make their money from temp placements, whilst invariably this has been reduced lately, it is more cost effective to hire a temp than it is to hire a full time employee. So I think if they are making a profit, and that is a big assumption, then it is from ongoing temp or contract placements as opposed to full time permanent placements. Contract and temp posts are still jobs which people are being paid to do. I think i may have missed your point here. They are still placing people in employment, all be it temporary.

I have never intimated in any of my threads that they are ALL cretins, simply that, per head if you like, there are a startling amount who are, and the accounts on this forum tend to support that. I can't be bothered to search, but i bet they are the same people who post on every thread regarding Employment Agencies. They seem to have the permanent hump that they have not been selected for a job, and that the Agency dare charge a fee or make a profit. They are a businesses after all, and you don't have to engage their services if you don't want to, in the same way you aren't forced to shop at T esco.

It's abit like slagging off Check-Out Operators because one was rude to you on Sunday. You would attract more posts (probably!), but it wouldn't mean that most of them are rude, or deserve the insults, or the demeaning remarks you and others have insist on making.

Perhaps you should change your title to "Some" Recruitment Consultants, if you didn't intend to generalise.

Potential_Advisor

You STILL don't get it do you? Ever thought of being a politician? Read & listen..I think the people who have posted here so far might take offence at your penultimate paragraph, hence read and listen.

Raquela

lufcgirl wrote: »

I've not once yet encountered a rude consultant in six years of using them. Maybe if people don't go in with the attitude they appear to have on the forum you might get a lot further with them.

I don't. I have gained that attitude through my experience of dealing with recruitment agencies. But I wouldn't dream of going in with that attitude, I go in with the attitude that it is a job interview - polite, well presented, personable, after all if I don't do this, why would they recommend me to someone else for a job?

The one recruitment agency I would hand on heart recommend in Nottingham that I mentioned earlier, is Harper Resourcing. I won't mention the name of my consultant as she may not appreciate me outing her, but she is the best recruiter I have ever met.

My main issue with Recruitment Agencies is that they never follow through what they promise they are going to do for you. Two agencies in Nottingham I spent a lot of time signing up with (Two hours in one case!) only to never hear from them again. A specialist Legal Recruitment agency contacted me about a job, how they got my details I don't know, but after I had sent them my CV, I never heard from them again, and they never ever respond to emails that I've sent. At least some are honest and ask you to be proactive and contact them to keep you on their radar, but the ones that promise you the earth and you never hear from again, they really annoy me!

The first agency I was with down here didn't even bother to get references for me, nor did he ever ask me to see my Passport to ensure I had the right to work in this country. the only reason I got a job with them was because they had a request for a job 10 seconds before I sent my CV electronically. Needless to say I haven't heard from them since I got the phone call taking away that job from me, and when I signed up with another agency, and put that particular RC down as a reference, she told me he used to work for them, and insinuated that he had been fired (the same other agency I am currently unimpressed by!).

oh - forgot to say, the job I never got referenced for or right to work checked? I was reading peoples medical notes and criminal records. Not ideal if I was a less than scrupulous person, no?!

Louise22

Exactly - they never follow through. No-one will ever change my mind on recruitment agencies. Any jobs I have had in the past and indeed my new job I have got because of me, nothing these people have done.

liney

Potential_Advisor wrote: »

You STILL don't get it do you? Ever thought of being a politician? Read & listen..I think the people who have posted here so far might take offence at your penultimate paragraph, hence read and listen.

I suggest you do a search and check whether you indeed find the same posters that I suggested you would, then decide whether they are the same ones, and have any cause to take offense.

I have read, I have listened and I have answered your points. It is you that seems set on generalising without taking into account reasonable argument.

Louise22

It is hard to NOT generalise though, when every single rc you have dealt with has been a kn0b. I appreciate that there must be some half decent ones out these, but until I have met one, I reserve the right to generalise.

In fact, I will never go to an agency again. Wont waste my time

liney

Raquela wrote: »

oh - forgot to say, the job I never got referenced for or right to work checked? I was reading peoples medical notes and criminal records. Not ideal if I was a less than scrupulous person, no?!

I suppose you reported them to the Border Agency, BERR and the REC if they were members? It is wrong that they failed to do that, and should be investigated.

How do you know you weren't referenced though? They could have offered you the job immediately knowing they could withdraw it if the references weren't satisfactory before you started.