Agency lieing about the number of job vacancies

omen666

Only provide referees on offer of a job, thats what I do, soon sort the wheat from the chaff

cavework

Agencies will always ask for referees when someone registers and that is before a job offer.
By registering you are in effect applying to work for them and are being interviewed..
with an agency references are essential..
something to bear in mind is, if you are temping, you are working for the agency NOT the company you are temping for.

CCFC_80

Jomo wrote: »

All they are interested in is filling vacancies, in order to do that they sign up as many people as they can get to put forward for the positions and to do that they have to lie!

Which is why I hate them. I wish they did not exist and employers would not recruit through these S**mbags.

book12

briona wrote: »

Whether they are being truthful or not is beside the point. They may have two vacancies or 200, but if you aren't what they are looking for they won't put you forward for any jobs.

NEVER put all your eggs into one basket. If the one agency isn't coming up with the goods, try some others. At one stage I was registered with around 30 agencies from all over the country (that said I was quite willing to relocate for the right job).

There are also numerous searches you could do online. Have you tried your local council's website? Or newspaper websites? If there's a specific company you'd like to work for, perhaps check out their site. Then there are the job portals such as http://www.fish4.co.uk/jobs/...

Briona

I have tailored my CV to the positions that they are hiring for.

I have already registered with a lot of agencies on the internet, as well as local ones in the area I live in.

cavework wrote: »

Agencies will always ask for referees when someone registers and that is before a job offer.
By registering you are in effect applying to work for them and are being interviewed..
with an agency references are essential..
something to bear in mind is, if you are temping, you are working for the agency NOT the company you are temping for.

Yes, I am temping for the agency. I used to temp for the exact same agency a few years ago, and going back there. I re-registered with them, and have they have a record of me working there before.

I've done interivews and tests at the agency already during registering.

I think I will call the agency again to see if I've been forwarded for a job in January.

cavework

I was once a recruitment consultant for one of these 'orrible' agencies.
Please don't tar everyone with the same brush.
I was an industrial consultant and yes .. before anyone shoots off I had past experience of working in factories.. I was a qualified printer.. also did work in a sausage factory and a jewelry case manufacturers amongst other things.
Every person that came for an interview got treated fairly .. I had over 30 temps working in one factory alone, they weren't invited to the Xmas party for the company. We had our own Xmas party..:beer:
also picked up 3 temps every night for 3 weeks at 7pm because their car had broken down and they couldn't get home from work.
Had one temp on the phone when his wife was giving birth at the hospital (it was a girl ;-)) ..had another that had a drug problem .. took him down to the Doctors and booked him in to get sorted
Monday morning was a nightmare .. calls from clients saying people haven't turned up. One was convinced he had been abducted by aliens on the Saturday night! Turned up on the Wednesday
One was on the dustcarts and swore blind he went missing in the middle of the shift cos some nutter was chasing him with a knife? Slung a black bag over his shoulder and knocked a small child clean out!
One complained when I got him a night shift at Morrisons shelf stacking because he had to stack cases of beer when the 'women' were stacking toilet rolls!
One legged it half way through a shift by climbing a wall at midnight cos she didn't like it? Last job was as a Xmas Fairy in a Grotto..
It was June when she decided to leg it.. sod the H and S regs but she still expected to be paid for the whole shift?
I also met and had some of the most fantastic people on my books.. many went from temp to perm .. I didn't charge a fee just 13 weeks on temp.
Agency didn't like it but it payed off with lots getting perm jobs and word of mouth .. (their friends registered with us) are still friends to this day.
Would I do it again?
Not on your Nelly.. now run my own business;)

wigglebeena

andy46 wrote: »

Which is why I hate them. I wish they did not exist and employers would not recruit through these S**mbags.

I would not call them scumbags. I have dealt with fairly unethical recruiters and had my own problems with them, but even so it is a difficult and stressful job especially at the moment.

unemployedJCP

book12 wrote: »

I have registered with a recruitment agency. The agency has 500 office/admin vacancies, and now there are 400ish vacancies left. I have registered with them in November.

Now in December, they haven't even put me forward for those vacancies, despite contacting them weekly. They keep saying if I've been selected to be put forward for an interview, we will contact you about this. Last few weeks, they have called me, and they need more referee details, as the ones I provided aren't acceptable - fair enough, I provided the correct ones. They also told me, that their monthly quota has been filled up, and the next intake will be in January.

When I past the agency each week to go to the JC, the number of vacancies has changed.

I think they are lieing about the quota being filled up for the month, between the month I registered until this month. Do you think they are lieing? I wanted to go in to query, but didn't think it was a good idea, as it might be rude to query about it, and accuse them of lieing, etc...

Most agencies are scams. A lot of jobs advertised are to get you signed up and their matching techniques are all computerised. It looks great for an employer when their number of clients are so high.

Estate Agents work very similar. In my area anyway, when a property (residential or commercial) is filled they keep advertising it for another 3 months or so..... why? So you as a potential client, contact them, and they can try and flog you some of their other properties regardless of how inadequate they are for your needs. It also gives the impression that the company is more prestigeous and larger then they actually are.

Businesses no longer (not for some time now) work as a single transaction. It has to be all about a "solution". What else can we do for you?

If I want double glazing and only requested that I don't want a conservatory or a kitchen. Even at McD's and other fast food places they ask "Anything else? or Would you like fries or a drink with that?". Shops... Although you have just got groceries... "Hi Sir, Can I interest you in any batteries?" No, "Any mints?" No "Chewing gum?" Nooo...

Although most industries are very competitive, there is rather a lack of consumer choice where you are limited to an solution in most cases. I like to go and find a specialist at something and then for something else find another specialist. Not go to one or the other where they specialise at one thing and the other they have no idea about just trying to sell you more stuff!

What is happening here..... agencies dont want you to see a job advert and apply for it (just like a non-agency job direct to an employer) but through an agency.. they want to try and offer you a service; although most agencies "cherry pick" via automated processes and "park" everyone else to just increase their jobseeker client count.

This means alot (typically 2 in 3 - I read somewhere 68-69%) of agency job adverts are FAKE and solely an advertisement for THEM (not an employer) picking a niche template job to get people registered with them. You might notice a pattern of the different ranks of jobs promoted - you might realise why.

CCFC_80

unemployedJCP wrote: »

Most agencies are scams. A lot of jobs advertised are to get you signed up and their matching techniques are all computerised. It looks great for an employer when their number of clients are so high.

Estate Agents work very similar. In my area anyway, when a property (residential or commercial) is filled they keep advertising it for another 3 months or so..... why? So you as a potential client, contact them, and they can try and flog you some of their other properties regardless of how inadequate they are for your needs. It also gives the impression that the company is more prestigeous and larger then they actually are.

Businesses no longer (not for some time now) work as a single transaction. It has to be all about a "solution". What else can we do for you?

If I want double glazing and only requested that I don't want a conservatory or a kitchen. Even at McD's and other fast food places they ask "Anything else? or Would you like fries or a drink with that?". Shops... Although you have just got groceries... "Hi Sir, Can I interest you in any batteries?" No, "Any mints?" No "Chewing gum?" Nooo...

Although most industries are very competitive, there is rather a lack of consumer choice where you are limited to an solution in most cases. I like to go and find a specialist at something and then for something else find another specialist. Not go to one or the other where they specialise at one thing and the other they have no idea about just trying to sell you more stuff!

What is happening here..... agencies dont want you to see a job advert and apply for it (just like a non-agency job direct to an employer) but through an agency.. they want to try and offer you a service; although most agencies "cherry pick" via automated processes and "park" everyone else to just increase their jobseeker client count.

This means alot (typically 2 in 3 - I read somewhere 68-69%) of agency job adverts are FAKE and solely an advertisement for THEM (not an employer) picking a niche template job to get people registered with them. You might notice a pattern of the different ranks of jobs promoted - you might realise why.

Great post Unemployed JCP -you are bang on !!!

Agencies just want to use the unemployed that register with them to suit their own needs and not help the candidate find a job. Every single candidate that registers with them after applying for a fake job,they see it as potential job lead for them. Asking you all sorts of questions like where have you worked,what jobs have you been applying for recently and what other agencies you are registered with. It is best if these awful people are avoided but can appreciate that some may not have much choice.

briona

andy46 wrote: »

Agencies just want to use the unemployed that register with them to suit their own needs and not help the candidate find a job. Every single candidate that registers with them after applying for a fake job,they see it as potential job lead for them. Asking you all sorts of questions like where have you worked,what jobs have you been applying for recently and what other agencies you are registered with. It is best if these awful people are avoided but can appreciate that some may not have much choice.

You can't tar all agencies with the same brush! Admittedly I have registered with some awful agencies – ones who won't acknowledge receipt of your CV (despite their website promising to contact you within 48hrs), ones who steadfastly refuse to put you forward for a single job, ones who tell you they have nothing available even when their website shows plenty of jobs – but I have also registered with some brilliant agencies. I have registered with agencies where the agents were straight on the phone to organise an interview, where they gave CV advice, where they listened to what I wanted and successfully placed me in a really great job.

Unfortunately no matter how great YOU think it is, if your CV does not grab the agent who receives it, you will not be put forward for that job or any other. In which case I would phone the agent and say something like "I notice I have not been put forward for any jobs recently (ever!) and wondered whether you could give me any advice about improving my CV?". You may find that they are quite willing to advise you (and before you ask, I'm NOT a recruitment consultant).

axomoxia

One thing to be wary of is agencies asking where you have already applied to, ostensibly to prevent your CV being put forward twice. However, now they have a list of vacencies, which they can then contact putting forward _thier_ candidates. Sneaky stuff!

I've used recruitment agencies, both as an employee and an employer. From an employers point of view, they form an effictive means of filtering potential candidates, and a good agency will provide a regular stream of hi-quality staff if they want to keep your business.