Recruitment Agencies Are Useless!!

MissD

I'll give my experience as a legal secretary with some agencies.

I've been called time and time again for legal sec roles - purely a million wpm typing and not much else. this is despite me saying on my personal statement that I was looking to work in other industries where I've worked before as well as legal. Then they get you in, register, tests and you don't hear anything. I never know if there are/aren't jobs or not.

I wouldn't mind but a few agencies are a good hour from where I work (SW London) so its time and effort (as I have to put extra on my Oyster card).

Not so bad now as I start a new job in 3 weeks though...

Also if an agency consultant doesn't read your CV but you know there are points there they're missing (eg you have X experience) does that annoy you? Happened last week but just before I accepted the new job so wasn't too bothered.

Final Q for a friend. she works as a bi-lingual sec - an evenings/weekends on blackberry sort of thing for investment company. She's got an interview for a new boutique company, no languages (she's French, has used it in past jobs) they haven't had a PA before and they want her to do a Powerpoint presentation but she doesn't know the package...

would you do it? is it agency's fault not checking?!

MissD

jimmy2times wrote: »

It would be great if we could go back to the time where companies advertised jobs directly.

I hate agencies. I have had one good experience with them, I must admit (they got me a job within about 2 days which was within walking distance of my home) but I think that was blind luck. They're usually terrible.

They lie and lie. They all advertise jobs that sound ideal that don't exist.
The job has magically disappeared in the time between your phonecall with the and your registering with them a day later. (And yet is still advertised for weeks and weeks after)

They send you on jobs that you say you don't want to do by lying to you about what the role involves.

Like someone else mentioned, they are your best friend when you are registering with them, but as soon as you're on their books it all changes!

If you miss a phonecall 'cos you're in the shower, you're in the bad books! (but it's fine for them to ignore you all they want, lol)

I agree with all you say jimmy. the vast majority of agencies (bar a few) are like this. I prefer smaller agencies as i do find you get a better service.

One agency I registered with in the City I was appalled at someone meeting with me (a consultant) in a mini skirt, then dismissing my CV out of hand and saying something about a contract role when I only wanted (and had stated on phone, email etc) perm work. They then had a colleague ring me out of the blue the next week to ask me about new work (didn't know me!), where's their database knowledge that I've registered?! and i'd been sent an email by their MD on linkedin. On that occasion I sent an email to the MD expressing my annoyance, wouldn't normally do that but wasted an afternoon (did see another agency who did help me).

missg2210

I was told after a week in my new job they no longer needed the role after all. I signed up to 6 agencies and 2 have been fab. I do have a job offer although that came from my own direct application but they have been really good for me tbh, the other 4 thought never got back to me and if they cant be bothered then I just left it and concentrated on the 2 who really helped.

chufster

A bunch of swindlers. If you are applying for jobs with these lot in Cardiff social care , in particular a leanne butler , with a conviction on your CRB make sure you declare it via email/writing to them as they made out to my employer that I never declared it to them. They made sure they got their commision and then I lost my job as they did not inform my employer of my conviction.

lufcgirl

I'm a Recruitment Consultant, so I thought I'd give my opinion from the others on here bashing agencies.

What I do is slightly different, I only recruit for full time, permanent members of staff so have nothing to do with temp work. Now, I have colleagues who are exactly as you guys have described...never calls people back, groans when someone calls up, shouts abuse about candidates and the like.

However, with me being rather new to recruitment and working in Business Development prior to this I've brought my own approach. For example, I do a lot of recruitment in a specific sector and advertise as such. When posting my job advertisement I make it 100% clear that candidates will not be considered without the appropriate qualification/level of working. What I then get is about 60 CV's of candidates just box ticking and sending their CV to satisfy the Job Centre wasting both my time and theirs. I don't have time to be sitting reading 60 CV's that don't meet the qualifying criteria and yes it does get extremely frustrating. I may get one or two good candidates who are put forward and then maybe another five or so who aren't any good chasing the application when they knew they weren't suitable.

I do currently recruit for sales staff, and they must have a year of outbound experience. So what do I get, applicants who have had three months and failed probation looking for another job! Again, a waste of time. Another company I've recruited for are very specific about the type of person they want, so I could see a CV that ticks every box and after speaking to them just know they wouldn't fit within the organisation, so the application is then not progressed. That's my call to make, the company pay us to make those decisions...I'm not a CV forwarding service.

Another thing that is highly annoying is CV's. If people can't be bothered to spell check and have a grammatically correct CV then they really should be sorting that out before applying to any position. The amount that come through are ridiculous.

I speak to candidates from beginning to end, I have an out of hours mobile number everyone has. They're regularly updated on the progress and the company and I've had quite a lot of success from being kind and considerate to people I put forward for roles.

We're not all bad! And I can honestly say I've never advertised a job that doesn't exist either, that's futile.

CCFC_80

lufcgirl wrote: »

We're not all bad! And I can honestly say I've never advertised a job that doesn't exist either, that's futile.

Good to hear, just one or two points on your post


1) Unfortunately people on JSA are forced to apply for vacancies that they might not be qualified for or they will face a sanction. Very frustrating for both claimants and employers and the fault lies with the government in particularly Iain Duncan Smith.


2) It amazes me that Recruitment agencies often come on hear stating spelling errors on CV's by candidates not spellchecking. Don't doubt you but as I say quite amazing and hard to believe.


3) Do you always return calls or respond to emails from people registered with you who just want to stay in touch over vacancies


4) If a candidate when registers with you tells you that they have interviews lined up at companies X,Y,Z as they always want to know what interviews & applications you have pending. Would you then get on the phone to those companies and ask if you can send other candidates registered with you for those roles?

5) If a candidate is unsuccessful for a role that you have advertised. Do you tell them ASAP or never get around to it as Most RC's in my experience have done?

lufcgirl

CCFC_80 wrote: »

Good to hear, just one or two points on your post


1) Unfortunately people on JSA are forced to apply for vacancies that they might not be qualified for or they will face a sanction. Very frustrating for both claimants and employers and the fault lies with the government in particularly Iain Duncan Smith.
I'm well aware of this. Makes our job so much harder unfortunately, and when you're dealing with CV after CV of rubbish and one who actually stands out comes up on the screen, you honestly feel on top of the world!


2) It amazes me that Recruitment agencies often come on hear stating spelling errors on CV's by candidates not spellchecking. Don't doubt you but as I say quite amazing and hard to believe.
Again, I find it extremely hard to believe too. Recently I had a guy who mailed an almost perfect CV over in application for a position. Spoke to the guy, he sounded intelligent and well matched for the job so didn't think twice about forwarding his CV over. Stupid me didn't read it properly and it was full of errors, grammatical, and the employer rejected it. Yes it was my fault for not reading it but the candidate should've done this prior


3) Do you always return calls or respond to emails from people registered with you who just want to stay in touch over vacancies
I don't register people, I'm not a temp consultant. Because I work for a small agency I deal with candidates from all over the country, so it's very rare I'd put them forward for two jobs unless they were willing to relocate. I'll always answer a call if I'm at my desk, and I'll always reply to an e-mail. And if anything came up I felt a candidate would be suitable for, I'd be straight in touch.


4) If a candidate when registers with you tells you that they have interviews lined up at companies X,Y,Z as they always want to know what interviews & applications you have pending. Would you then get on the phone to those companies and ask if you can send other candidates registered with you for those roles?
Very rare I deal with anyone like that to be honest. Most people I deal with are already in employment and I headhunt for a new job. If that did happen and it was a client I'd be happy to deal with I'd probably make a speculative call. I wouldn't ever say I had candidates waiting as I most likely wouldn't until I had a full job specification and had checked candidates availability.

5) If a candidate is unsuccessful for a role that you have advertised. Do you tell them ASAP or never get around to it as Most RC's in my experience have done?
Tell them ASAP of course. Why prolong the waiting?

I think I've addressed everything I can!

lufcgirl

If you want an example of keeping a candidate in mind. I specifically deal with hospitality recruitment across the UK. I had a guy based in an area of the UK where there weren't any vacancies, but he was happy to relocate - he just wanted a job.

So I kept in touch and was calling him once or twice a day with new positions I had, sent his CV to one place who were extremely interested and wanted to see him ASAP - good role paying around £25k per year. So I arranged the interview, day before the interview at 5pm the guy texts me and says he's took a job working in the local Tesco and now isn't looking!

I had that guy forward for about eight different roles and then he let me down when he had a fantastic opportunity. I'd done all I possibly could as a consultant for that to happen.

RMS2

Ah yes, the quality of recruitment agencies and the fact that they never advertise jobs that they don't have.


This is taken from Reed - Leamington Spa website just now.


8 x Evening Work to start before Christmas Shortlist Draft application

• £7.17 per hour
• Kenilworth
• 2 days ago
• 29 applications

Due to continued growth our largely successful client based in Kenilworth is looking to recruit 4 x Part Time Call Agents. Evening Hours 4:00pm-8:00pm perfect for Students or somebody looking for evening work and to earn extra money for Xmas Part Time :16 - 20 hours This role will include speaking...


Anyone spot a small problem with that current advert?


Quite frankly, that is the norm, and it is appalling. Stop wondering about grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes and get the basics right - proof read your adverts first.

patman99

I must admit that all the jobs I have had since 2010 have been via Agencies.

Some are good, others are terrible.

I finished my last Agency placement 3 weeks ago and the company told me the only reason they did not take me on directly was down to the Agency release fee. When I left, I gave the manager my direct contact details so that when work picks-up in the new year and they need me back, they can by-pass the Agency and take me on directly.

In fact, this is appears to be the way that company works anyway as there were a few people there for their 2ndtime, all of whom had been there as Agency workers 1st time out.