Are agency's destroying this country ?

jay_1978

I personally had no option but to register with every single agency in my town, The vacancy's I was applying for was with agency's so they all have my details on the books, Something odd happened to me while I was working with a agency, The first place I was asked to work at was a building site, Now considering I was looking for FLT which they knew. I went anyway's as I thought it will make a good impression. Little did I know that it was actually illegal to even ask me to work on a site due to me not having a cscs card, Anyways I did a full day of labouring from 8 am til 5 pm. I got home and within 30 minutes of being home the agency called and asked if I would do them a big favour and go work at a factory for them as one of the agency staff hadn't turned up. I was totally knackered but again thought it would look good for me plus the extra money was a bonus, During my shift the foreman pulled me into his office and said I looked completely tired which I told him that I had just done a full shift on a site before coming here, He then said ok go home and I'll get paid the full day due to it not really being my fault, On the way home which was like 3 am, A agency staff member called me and said they had a complaint about me from the factory I had just been at and that I looked too tired. I told them that of course I was knackered I had been working all day without sleep and that you should know that as you asked me to do you a favour and come down here, Anyway's long story short, due to that one complaint I never received full time work from them. I got 2 or 3 days work at about 4 hours a shift which wasn't enough to live in and that's why I ended up unemployed, Ok rant over lol

hartcjhart

thats why I keep saying they must be a crap agency,and yes I agree there are some,but there are also some very good ones about,

when I first came back from Spain to work and agency got me placed,I did 8 weeks (day shift) and that job ended,they then said I could go to another site for the same company but on nights,I said 'no I do not do nights' well the guy started ranting and raving 'saying I would never work for their agency again'

told him to shove the agency where the sun dont shine and hung up,5 mins later his boss was on the phone and apologising and would I still do the job but on days,of course I did,

My point is that you have to let the agency know where they stand,

In my experience the 'client' always asks the agency for the 'good' workers not the cheapest

hartcjhart

OP re CSCS maybe this can help

http://freecscscard.com/

cavework

jbreckmckye wrote: »

Firstly, and half-decent agency would never do anything as downright dodgy (and legally shakey) as offer a non-existent post. They might post an ad about 'opportunities', but wouldn't actually lie to the public. However, you should expect employment agencies, and recruiters in general, to work for their clients - not you. You need to realize this.

When I worked in recruitment, we took the simple view that candidates weren't worth spending time on. They didn't pay the bills (the employer does), they wouldn't make repeat business (large companies can) and they were, for good or ill, ten a penny. A recruiter's job is to fill posts and get that perm fee. That commission makes most of their income. They are not, however, paid to land candidates their ideal position, act as careers advisors or deal with some random jobseeker's existential angst.

This sounds harsh, but once you understand this, you can work effectively with these people. They want to know you're easy money for certain roles. They want to hear how they can fight your case. They want to know how swift and flexible you are. If they can call you at 2am, have you interviewed in 48 hours and pocket ~10% of a decent perm salary before Radio 4's Thought for the Day, they'll love you, and keep you in mind. Play to that and you'll get a lot from them. Expect something else and you won't.

I hope that explains a bit more about recruitment.

Well that is your impression of Recruitment.
I really don't like it and I used to be a recruitment consultant.
My Temps worked for me and my agency, they were treated as employee,s and when they had problems they were dealt with. No one was asked to pay for PPE boots etc I found them and supplied them.
My temps (long term) where not asked to attend the company Xmas party for the company they were temping for .. I gave them an agency Xmas party and a lot of the other staff from the companies they worked for also attended.
I had teams of temps working in a lot of companies who would take any new comer from our agency under their wing and look after them.
It was team work and I had a lot of fantastic people who went on to permanent placements where I waived the temp to perm fee.

cavework

jbreckmckye
re reading .. you were a perm consultant?...;)
say no more
:beer:

isplumm

andy46 wrote: »

I would love to see agencies outlawed and then Companies HR departments might get off their backsides and start recruiting themselves instead of throught these scumbags who just want to pay you a pittance. Agencies are not there to help the unemployed find jobs as their priorty is to service their clients needs.

Hi

Little bit harsh .... I work for myself ... as a project manager - nearly all my work over the last four years has been recruitment agencies - some are better than others .... but in my line of work, some agencies get 200+ CVs within 1 hour of putting the job up online.... which makes it very difficult to deal with.

Mark

anamenottaken

dpassmore wrote: »

So you are a 'Temp' who can be dumped when it suits with a contract of service as opposed to a contract of employment - I know which I would rather have.

Contract of service = contract of employment.
Contract for services = temporary worker contract.

CCFC_80

isplumm wrote: »

Hi

Little bit harsh .... I work for myself ... as a project manager - nearly all my work over the last four years has been recruitment agencies - some are better than others .... but in my line of work, some agencies get 200+ CVs within 1 hour of putting the job up online.... which makes it very difficult to deal with.

Mark

And then it will probably be for a job that does not exist in an attempt to get more people to register with them.(repeat again my point they are there to service their clients needs !). I expect someone will now respond saying it is illegal to advertise false jobs Blah,Blah,Blah, but they still do !!!!

hartcjhart

andy46 wrote: »

I would love to see agencies outlawed and then Companies HR departments might get off their backsides and start recruiting themselves instead of throught these scumbags who just want to pay you a pittance. Agencies are not there to help the unemployed find jobs as their priorty is to service their clients needs.

so you would want to throw MORE people on the dole because YOU have had a bad experience?grow up.
plent of people make a decent living via agencies,I personally make a fantastic living,BUT there would be NO chance of working direct for the company.

1 company that I worked for years ago used to take the 'temps' direct on to their books BUt again it was on a short term contract which meant they only had to give 1 weeks notice

cavework

hartcjhart wrote: »

so you would want to throw MORE people on the dole because YOU have had a bad experience?grow up.
plent of people make a decent living via agencies,I personally make a fantastic living,BUT there would be NO chance of working direct for the company.

1 company that I worked for years ago used to take the 'temps' direct on to their books BUt again it was on a short term contract which meant they only had to give 1 weeks notice

There are good and bad agencies. I was lucky to work and be trained by a very good agency.
I was an Industrial temp consultant and the Company who employed me wanted someone with prior work experience who had actually worked in the Industrial sector for a living. Hands on and no misconceptions as to what these jobs involved.
This attitude based on personal experiences with one or two agencies does not help the people who are looking for work.
As someone searching for employment you are free to register with any and all agencies in your area and I would advise that if you are looking for work you do that and let the agencies then fight to get you work placements that fit your needs.
As for the assumption that agencys are only interested in the client? They would not last long without people registered on their books who could fullfill the clients requirements