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

sexki11en

jay_1978 wrote: »

Sadly mate this is how they work. I have applied for loads of jobs again through this agency and not once have I had a reply either by phone or email and when I do phone them they just say that they have my application and thanks for applying, I can honestly say that my chances of getting another job with any company through this agency are non existent and may I add that a lot of company's use this agency in the Manchester area so you could be talking 40 / 50 company's that I will be blacklisted from, If that's not discrimination then I don't know what is lol

dis·crim·i·na·tion

treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:

You clearly don't know what discrimination is. You are not being discriminated against.

You said earlier you couldn't do the job they offered you and because of that they refuse to use you again. I doubt an agency would never offer you work again based on the fact you couldn't do one job for them. If i'm wrong, I apologise and you should never use that agency again. But that is not all agencies

Did you offer a valid reason you couldn't do it? Did you accept it then decide you couldn't do it at the last minute, leaving them up the creek. Did you give them no notice at all and just not show up? All very common occurrances with temporary workers, and reasons for which I certainly wouldn't give a temp second chance to let me down again. One strike and you're out with me, unless you have a very good reason.

If a candidate repeatedly refuses work from me, without saying why (i.e, that's not the work i'm looking for) then I will stop calling them and probably put their file out the back. I don't have time to waste calling 10 people who have refused work recently if there is someone I know will accept it.

There are 2 sides to every story and usually a reason behind the "unscrupulous" behaviour of some RC's

SK x

jay_1978

sexki11en wrote: »

dis·crim·i·na·tion

treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit:

You clearly don't know what discrimination is. You are not being discriminated against.

You said earlier you couldn't do the job they offered you and because of that they refuse to use you again. I doubt an agency would never offer you work again based on the fact you couldn't do one job for them. If i'm wrong, I apologise and you should never use that agency again. But that is not all agencies

Did you offer a valid reason you couldn't do it? Did you accept it then decide you couldn't do it at the last minute, leaving them up the creek. Did you give them no notice at all and just not show up? All very common occurrances with temporary workers, and reasons for which I certainly wouldn't give a temp second chance to let me down again. One strike and you're out with me, unless you have a very good reason.

If a candidate repeatedly refuses work from me, without saying why (i.e, that's not the work i'm looking for) then I will stop calling them and probably put their file out the back. I don't have time to waste calling 10 people who have refused work recently if there is someone I know will accept it.

There are 2 sides to every story and usually a reason behind the "unscrupulous" behaviour of some RC's

SK x

I am not being discriminated against ? ok lol .... The reason I turned the work down was because I was sick of being lied to, Constantly promised full time work which may I add is the job I originally applied for but was only given 2 hours work maybe 2-3 days a week, If you can live on about 10 hours a week then good for you but I won't do that, Agency's spout the same BS about just making sure you are a good employer and after you have done a few days for us and you can be relied on then we'll give you more hours. I did my share of a 10 hour weeks and I even did them favours when other agency members didn't turn up yet they never stuck to they're word, Oh and may I just remind you of a earlier comment up on my post that I originally applied for FULL TIME WORK and not part time. I hope your agency are not underhanded like the one I had to deal with.

alanshave

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

I am not disputing that it would be reasonable to ask if a candidate has had any interviews. Although if you thought that a candidate was about to get offered a role elsewhere, I imagine that you would be less inclined to put them forward for other roles as it would be a waste of your time? (that is my speculation not an accusation)

I would do what is best under consultation with you, ie. if you are about to be offered a suitable position tomorrow, then would I not be wasting your time rather than my own?

Unfortunately a recruitment consultancy is a commercial organisation and not a social one, able to work with/on behalf of anyone they choose, so long as they don't break any laws/regulations (true discrimination is indefensible). Herein lie some of the issues.

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

In comment to your last paragraph, I would think this only applies in specialist recruitment and not things like general admin roles.
(Again this is my speculation. I have to almost write a disclaimer on here now as certain people are twisting everything I say! :rotfl:)

This point is a valid one and I think you are probably right. My point being that a blanket approach not to tell anyone anything, isn't always the most successful one.

sexki11en

jay_1978 wrote: »

I am not being discriminated against ? ok lol .... The reason I turned the work down was because I was sick of being lied to, Constantly promised full time work which may I add is the job I originally applied for but was only given 2 hours work maybe 2-3 days a week, If you can live on about 10 hours a week then good for you but I won't do that, Agency's spout the same BS about just making sure you are a good employer and after you have done a few days for us and you can be relied on then we'll give you more hours. I did my share of a 10 hour weeks and I even did them favours when other agency members didn't turn up yet they never stuck to they're word, Oh and may I just remind you of a earlier comment up on my post that I originally applied for FULL TIME WORK and not part time. I hope your agency are not underhanded like the one I had to deal with.

For all your ranting, you didn't actually answer my question.

Did you explain to them why you were turning the work down (i.e. you only wanted full time work) or did you just say no? Communication is the key here. If I have someone looking for full time work and they accepted part time work, I may assume they are now happy to do this or else why would they accept it? Unless they actually (gasp) talk to me about it.

The reason I offer part time work when candidates have said they ideally want full time? Because I have been unemployed and on my !!! before and didn't like the way i'd call the agency and get the response "we had something but didn't think you'd be interested" I allow my candidates to make their own mind up. If they accept part time, i'll assume they're happy with that as well as full time unless they tell me otherwise. If that's all I have, that's what i'll offer them. I'd rather that than find out afterwards that they would have done it if i'd offered.

You say they didn't stick to their word - how do you know it was just that they didn't have suitable full time work for you? There's a recession on you know. One of my best temps at the moment, is looking for full time work, not signing on, and all I can offer her right now is odd hours here and there. I know for a fact she'd rather have that than sweet FA. As soon as a suitable full time position comes in, it's hers.

I suspect if you've taken the same attitude as you have in this thread, that's why you were only offered odd shifts here & there - when they were absolutely desperate!

And no, I repeat again. You are not being discriminated against.

SK x

pineapple

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

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.

Best thing, I found, is to try to talk to the employer direct before the interview. Or better still, if you can swing it, go have an 'informal ' look round. You find out all sorts..
I don't think the benefits system makes it easy to take on really short term contracts. Which also takes away from the time you could be spending chasing up something longer term.

Sammyantha

jay_1978 wrote: »

Sadly mate this is how they work. I have applied for loads of jobs again through this agency and not once have I had a reply either by phone or email and when I do phone them they just say that they have my application and thanks for applying, I can honestly say that my chances of getting another job with any company through this agency are non existent and may I add that a lot of company's use this agency in the Manchester area so you could be talking 40 / 50 company's that I will be blacklisted from, If that's not discrimination then I don't know what is lol

How are you *blacklisted* exactly? All that's happened is the agency has not called you back. You could always approach companies direct yourself and bypass the agencies. Of course some will prefer to receive applications via agencies and will not deal direct, but others prefer or are happy to work the other way around.

And in regards to comments by some posters stating that agencies will be less likely to put you forward for roles if they know you have something else in the pipeline.. that is not always the case. It may be hard for you to believe, but some agencies actually ask this to ascertain how much urgency they need to instill in their client about your application. Knowing that you have other offers on the table may help the client decide more quickly.

RedSoleShoes

Sammyantha wrote: »

And in regards to comments by some posters stating that agencies will be less likely to put you forward for roles if they know you have something else in the pipeline.. that is not always the case. It may be hard for you to believe, but some agencies actually ask this to ascertain how much urgency they need to instill in their client about your application. Knowing that you have other offers on the table may help the client decide more quickly.

First point - you will notice that I put that as speculation and a question to another poster. It was not a statement.

Second point - That's interesting. This is exactly the situation I had but, according to Ms Cavework, I "stamped my foot and demanded an answer whilst playing both companies off against each other". So apparently a candidate is not allowed to put any urgency on an application.

liney

I heard this phrase once..... agree to disagree.

jay_1978

Sammyantha wrote: »

How are you *blacklisted* exactly? All that's happened is the agency has not called you back. You could always approach companies direct yourself and bypass the agencies. Of course some will prefer to receive applications via agencies and will not deal direct, but others prefer or are happy to work the other way around.

And in regards to comments by some posters stating that agencies will be less likely to put you forward for roles if they know you have something else in the pipeline.. that is not always the case. It may be hard for you to believe, but some agencies actually ask this to ascertain how much urgency they need to instill in their client about your application. Knowing that you have other offers on the table may help the client decide more quickly.

I have called loads of company's and they say call a certain agency. I don't quite know where your coming from regarding me having a so called attitude, Being lied to will kind of do that to anyone and has for did I tell them I wanted full time work, When I first signed up and had the interview they asked me what hours I would like and I stipulated that I want full time hours and part time would be no good, You seem to keep avoiding the fact that the job I originally applied for was full time and had I wanted part time work then I wouldn't be applying for full hours would I ? No offence but I can tell you work for a agency, you adopt the same kind of attitude that most agency staff do, If you break it all down the fact remains that I applied for a job that was advertised and It didn't actually exist which they only pointed out after signing all the paperwork and they only admitted this because I just happened to mention about where was this job and when did it start. I still knuckled down and did a few week of proving myself to them to show my reliability which I did with no real moaning and I did exactly what was asked of me plus more.

RedSoleShoes

jay_1978 wrote: »

I have called loads of company's and they say call a certain agency. I don't quite know where your coming from regarding me having a so called attitude, Being lied to will kind of do that to anyone and has for did I tell them I wanted full time work, When I first signed up and had the interview they asked me what hours I would like and I stipulated that I want full time hours and part time would be no good, You seem to keep avoiding the fact that the job I originally applied for was full time and had I wanted part time work then I wouldn't be applying for full hours would I ? No offence but I can tell you work for a agency, you adopt the same kind of attitude that most agency staff do, If you break it all down the fact remains that I applied for a job that was advertised and It didn't actually exist which they only pointed out after signing all the paperwork and they only admitted this because I just happened to mention about where was this job and when did it start. I still knuckled down and did a few week of proving myself to them to show my reliability which I did with no real moaning and I did exactly what was asked of me plus more.

Unfortunately Jay, the majority of RCs who have responded here have accused us candidates of having 'attitude'. Apparently we all have an axe to grind because one agency or another did not get us a job. They overlook the fact that many people have provided evidence of how they have been screwed over by one or more agencies.

Hence the reason I highligted the second bit on your post. Some people have overlooked what we have written because they simply do not know what to say when the truth (based on our evidence and experience) is put to them.