Etiquette of using Recruitment Agencies

fedster

How do members think the new agency regulations will effect agencies and how they operate, will they become more user friendly because Agency workers will have more rights?

dawyldthing

no because they will employ people for 11 weeks, lay them off for a few days and then start the cycle all over again. Theres always loopholes, and i'm sure they will be found

balbs

In the past you could have a decent relationship with a recruitment agency - with the rise of the internet they are just parasites who dont give a toss about candidates - often they are staffed by just out of university idiots who know nothing about the world of work. Once lazy HR departments wake up they will go the way of dinasours.

As Martin says of the banks - they are not there as your friends, comforters, to be there in your time of need - they are there to make money pure and simple.

Try everything else first - the effort will be far more worth it.

smileylondongal

Recruitment agencies have their place and if you are in a specialist role you'd be a fool not to use the niche recruitment agencies as companies often don't have the time or resources to recruit directly, especially in this market where one job has over 300 applications, even in specialist areas.

There is a way (or several) to manage them but you have to be prepared to not take things personally, some tips below:
- Don't tell them about where you're interviewing - I would say more generic stuff like 'I applied for a retail bank' not specifying which or what I'd be doing there.
- If one agency has sent your CV to a job and you are approached by another agency re the same job, politely decline as the first agency will be the one that will get the fees if you were to get the role. And the employer won't like it!
- When registering, be clear about what you would like - be flexible but at the same time mention anything that would be a deal breaker, e.g. need flex hours to pick up the kids etc
- If you've applied and not heard anything, there's no harm in calling them to check the progress. You may get the run around and subsequently not hear anything but if not, just move on and don't take it personally. In this market, this is the way a lot of agencies/employers are behaving and no amount of negativity toward this will change it!
- If you have registered and subsequently see something you like, call up the person you registered with and say how keen you are- they may ask you to reapply or even skip this part
- They will more than likely keep your CV on file but no harm in reapplying when you see a job you like

Have you tried Linkedin?

HTH

bevanuk

For those that are saying "Don't bother" - you're all missing a trick.
Many employers use agencies for their recruitment to help find the right people. Firstly it adds another level of screening into the process, the full recruitment process still applies to the employer, therefore whether you do/do not get a job is on your own skill.
An agency would have no reason to send a load of candidates for a job they don't want/doesn't suit them as they wouldn't be viewed as very good by the employer meaning they wouldn't be used again.

Some (especially larger) firms only use agencies for there recruitment, because it sorts the applicants for them.

I would recommend using one, a niche agency will give you better levels of customer service but are likely to be smaller firms and have less roles. A larger agency will forget you over time but by keeping in contact with them it helps. You can't expect them to do all the work for you though - still use your own resources and apply for your own roles.

I'd cover both bases, register with a few, ask for honesty from them - can they help? And also do your own applications.

Evilm

I honestly wouldn't say to anyone not to use agencies. Just don't think they are your best friend because they aren't. Out of my last 5 jobs only one was direct and that was in retail. In Accounts and Administration you could be cutting out a good 50-70% of the potential possibilities if you refuse to use agencies completely.

Deep_Ocean

I agree with Evilm, I am a graduate of Accounting and Finance and am currently seeking employment. I have applied to over 600 vacancies, of the jobs that I have seen advertised only about 10 of these are advertised by the employer themselves, the rest are by agencies. Having said that, I have heard (I have no idea whether it's true or not) that agencies do advertise vacancies that don't exist as a form of advertising their own recruitment company. To add fuel to the fire I am a graduate with a First Class Honours Degree and none of the agencies I have joined (at least ten agencies) have found me any interviews. I have been job seeking for a month and not had any help from the agencies. Two of the ten vacancies advertised directly by the employer resulted in interviews.

ultrarunner

In my sector of work agencies are essential. If I was jobhunting I would sign up with the two national companies which specialise in my sector, and a couple of strong general agencies in my town.

They are a powerful tool if you are a strong and confident candidate.

Wellery82

I worked for agencies for a few years after graduation, before moving to inhouse recruitment and wider HR.

The main focus on an agency is to make profit through placing people in jobs, it isn't to help people or provide a service to them, and it is worthwhile bearing this in mind in dealing with them. They aren't out to get people or deliberately mislead you, they are out to focus on those who they feel they have a good option of making money on.

Anyway a few golden rules from me based on my experience -

• Treat them with respect - you don't pay them so they won't drop everything for you. Recognise they aren't out to offer you good customer service, but you are out to impress them
• Stay in touch but don't harrass. When you get 300+ e-mails a day it becomes an irritant/imossibility having to deal with x y and z asking for an update - if however you send an e-mail every few weeks just reiterating you are on the market and not demanding a response if keeps you live in the memory banks
• Be friendly and courteuos in dealings - people are inclined to work harder for people they get on with. In the current market more than ever if you seem aggressive/moody/irritable/rude then ask yourself why would ah agency spend their time on your above someone who was friendly/enthusiastic/courteuos etc
• Do register with a number of agencies but do it discreetly - Again an agency will spend time on you if it is more likely they can get you a job. If they know you are registered with many agencies they realise someone else may get you a job and may deprioritise you.
• Do not tell agencies which jobs you are going for - they need business, and if they can contact that company and make a few grand then chances are they will
• Generally work with them, not against them. Listen to their feedback, be responsive to their questions, be friendly when you don't feel like being. And recognise as in all professions you will deal with people you just don't like or respect. If however it serves a means to an end to treat them with respect and a smile, then isn't it worth doing that?

MoneySavingUser

If they are interested they will phone you generally - if they don't then they aren't bothered unfortunately

I tend to be asked about other agencies and interviews too - I know I shouldn't but I usually say something - the issue is if you say nothing then they'll think this guy never gets offered anything why should we bother with him - but the advice in this topic about saying you can't disclose names is good

It varies - I tend to repost it when I update it or the consultant leaves/moves to a different role and you end up with a new one (but they never tell you this you just randomly find it out at some point)

Don't trust them is also good advice - if they think they will get a bonus from you they love you, if you say your boss sucks where they placed you they'll get annoyed their bonus is at risk....

And if they say they will ring you back they won't....

one person mentioned not touching agencies - the problem is with the job market as it is you have too quite often

however vyle is right about you applying for one job and then them phoning you up about something else

once a lady phoned and didn't even mention the job I applied for just acted as if she had randomly found my cv...

another talked about it on the phone but when I went for a meeting with her it had mysteriously disappeared....