Candidates - Things To Be Aware Of When Using A Recruitment Agency

Bunnie1982

sujman - I had a very similar experience with Hays.

Hays and another agency wanted to put me forward for a role, as I had been messed about with Hays (they were only giving me very short term assignments and not paying me properly for them) I declined and went with the other agency, with whom I had a brilliant experience with.

I got the job and a few weeks in Hays had phoned up my manager enquiring whether the position had been filled, when they found out it was me they bad mouthed to my manager about me, saying I was incapable of doing that role and I had let them down on numerous occasions (not true)

I complained too but never had a response, not that I am bothered now as I've been there for a year in a permanent role and the company now refuses to deal with Hays for any of their recruitment as a result.

dickydonkin

My hate for agencies is well documented on these forums ,but talk about sinking lower than a snakes belly! Good luck LillyDeTilly by the way, and well done for posting the warning on here.

My Mrs. used to work for a recruitment agency and she would tell me some stories about how they operate. The reality is that many consultants are under immense pressure to achieve targets and they will do anything to realise their goals - usually at the expense of the people seeking work - but that is no excuse.

Unfortunately, as someone has suggested already, they are a necessary evil as many companies use them for their staffing needs and I have heard some awful experiences from the guys I used to induct - basically, they were treat like crap - which was a shame as there was some great lads and very conscientious workers. Thankfully, our company recognised this and many obtained full time work so at least they only had to endure being treat with contempt for a relatively short period.

Sadly, many are not as lucky.

CCFC_80

It looks as if my original post on this thread was deleted by the Mods over my choice of words which I consider not offensive in describing the majority of recruitment agency staff...so here goes again and hope mods are now happy.

The Majority of recruitment agency staff are not really the nicest of people.They use people who register with them for their own needs .when they have given up on them and can't really offer them any hope in trying to get them work, they will cold call you and ask who have you had interviews with,contact names and all job applications etc. Infact you end up helping them get their commission by giving them job leads but they don't want to help you.

I have totally given up on these people and try and get interviews through a direct speculative approach.

Mr_Oink

andy46 wrote: »

It looks as if my original post on this thread wad deleted by the Mods over my choice of words

Perhaps. A lot of 'funny' stuff goes on here in terms of moderation. Some plain 'offensive' stuff gets rightfully removed, but often there appears to be a trend for comments about anyone with sufficient means and motivation to take legal action against Martin Lewis, to just 'vanish'.

I find Mr Lewis a remarkable man. That is, there are lots of remarks about his interest in promoting certain financial products, suppliers and credit cards in the interest of 'money saving'. Do you think a man so obsessed with money does all this for free? Of course not! He has a very good life style (I know, I've spent the last month looking into him and his interests after he refused to allow a small business the right to reply).

You know what I've found in all of this? Well look at it like this; if a random guy knocks on your door and offers to save you money on your energy bill you may assume there to be some partial truths in what he says, but there is usually a catch of some kind. Ultimately the sensible people of the land would probably assume him to be a shyster only interested in making himself a quick buck. Well, just imagine Martin Lewis is that man knocking on your door to 'save you money' and you won't be far wrong from the truth.

Merry Christmas Martin Lewis & his team of moderators - it's going to be a really interesting year to see what hits the fan about MSE in 2011 :-)

pineapple

It was a recruitment agency which gave me my lucky break - a 3 month contract which lasted for 3 years which lead to a permanent job elsewhere. So I can't dis them too much.
They used to 'cold call' me too - though just to check on my job status and whether I was still looking. I never got asked about job applications and I learnt not to mention other agencies. There is a lot of competition and professional jealousy between agencies. Often they are marketing the same job.
One just has to be aware that recruitment agencies exist to earn commission on workers placed in employment. They are not good fairies looking to find you work. They play a three way game and if there is a dispute between you and your employer, you the worker will usually come last. Plus in my experience, they are not beyond embellishing the job somewhat - like telling the candidate there is a big chance the job will be long term when they know very well it's only for a few days.

pineapple

As said, agencies are a necessary evil sometimes. You would think that in this economic climate there would be less employers willing to pay agency commission, but this is offset by employers choosing agencies rather than offer a staff job which they may not be able to sustain.

omen666

I think you were pretty silly in revealing the details of the second company IMHO. You could have seriously damaged your own chances. I never let one agency or the other know about anything I have got going on. They will do this all the time.

I also never provided them with references until I have been with the prospective employer for an interview either verbal or in person. If they are requested then and I have a copy of the contract then I shall divulge the references. Agencies understand that and know how many times people have been burnt by giving their references to other agents so if the job offer is true they wont mind waiting.

RedSoleShoes

pineapple wrote: »

Plus in my experience, they are not beyond embellishing the job somewhat - like telling the candidate there is a big chance the job will be long term when they know very well it's only for a few days.

This also happened to me with a temp assignment that was apparently "ongoing".

On my first day, the company told me that it was for 5 weeks as I was covering someone who was on a secondment so she was definitely coming back to 'my' role 5 weeks later. Absolutely no chance of the job ever being "ongoing" but the agency (HAYS!) knew I would turn it down if they had told me the truth.

RedSoleShoes

omen666 wrote: »

I think you were pretty silly in revealing the details of the second company IMHO. You could have seriously damaged your own chances. I never let one agency or the other know about anything I have got going on. They will do this all the time.

I also never provided them with references until I have been with the prospective employer for an interview either verbal or in person. If they are requested then and I have a copy of the contract then I shall divulge the references. Agencies understand that and know how many times people have been burnt by giving their references to other agents so if the job offer is true they wont mind waiting.

Well done :T....... you are obviously not as "silly" as me then.

david69_2

They lie through their teeth just to get you and many others on their books so when they go to companies they can say I've got all these mugs waiting to start work
I'd say along with estate agents and financial advisors probably some of the most disliked proffesions around