Recruitment Agencies Are Useless!!

Andrew555

Yep, Recruitment Agencies are awful to deal with and there is now a lack of companies themselves advertising on job boards.

What annoys me about them is how they phone you up (after seeing your CV online) and then ask you questions that are already on your CV, Where are you working?, how long for?, what is your experience? etc followed by the classic lead chasing question "Have you applied to anything else?" to which I always reply "No" - and I still get interviews.
Also, as there are now so many of them, you get several trying to recruit for the same job.
One job came up in my area and when I switched my phone on at lunch, I had 10 voice mails from 10 different agencies all recruiting for the same role!

Then on the day of the interview, they phone you up to make sure you are prepared or more rather, making sure they get their fee from the client and then ask you to phone them after the interview!
Nope, you phone me, I am not wasting my phone credit.

The biggest annoyance is with customer service.
You e-mail them to ask for an update on your application, feedback on interview etc and they don't reply.
You then phone them and the person you want to speak to is always "On the other line","In a meeting","Out to lunch" etc and say they will get back to you and then never do.

Several of them now seem to be using online tests from the same traning company.
These are practical tests which test your beginner, intermediate and advanced knowledge on MS Office products.
But despite getting 100% on the tests that have been selcted by the agency for you, you still don't get job offers!

AP007

Manchee wrote: »

Ah well, that's the way it was for our consultancy (maybe that's the difference between a standard high street recruitment agency and a recruitment consultancy?) - we mainly head hunted for the clients that were on our books, it was seen as if you weren't employed already or had been out of work for a while, there was usually a reason why.

Yeah there is you have lost a job and can't get one as either you have too much experience or you are out of work.

The reasons for not being in work are not always bad ones.

If you have a good CV but not working you are stuck in a catch 22 situation.

Manchee

AP007 wrote: »

Yeah the is you have lost a job and can't get one as either you have too much experience or you are out of work.

The reasons for not being in work are not always bad ones.

If you have a good CV but not working you are stuck in a catch 22 situation.

I know, it totally sucks. I've been unemployed for a while after being made redundant in the past, its never an easy situation

hardboiled

Manchee wrote: »

In general what people have to remember is that you are not the person paying their wages, you are not their priority. The client who is hiring is.

Think about this: What are you selling?????? You're selling a person and their skills. If those people don't exist you're notgoing to selling anything other than fruit and veg.
Your only asset is the VERY people you're selling to exist.

hardboiled

Manchee wrote: »

Ah well, that's the way it was for our consultancy (maybe that's the difference between a standard high street recruitment agency and a recruitment consultancy?) - we mainly head hunted for the clients that were on our books, it was seen as if you weren't employed already or had been out of work for a while, there was usually a reason why.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

You didn't think that one through. I've got 10yrs Project management experience and still find it hard to get work reason , told too much experience, wrong industry, and a whole host of other things. Colour and race can sometimes play a part too. If you've worked for small companies big one rarely want you, and if you've worked for large one ones small one don't want you. There can be millions of reasons. and in the IT sector changing technologies can make a massive difference t whether you'll ever be employed again doing what you did last time round if it's not flavour of the month. Same applies to all industries:mad:

The fact that someone's got this far in life says they can't be that bad!
and "head hunter" is just another name for recruitment agencies. the bottom line is you're still working on behalf of a client to get someone to fill a hole. It DOESN'T make you any better or worse than the next person.:mad:

Manchee

hardboiled wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

You didn't think that one through. I've got 10yrs Project management experience and still find it hard to get work reason , told too much experience, wrong industry, and a whole host of other things. Colour and race can sometimes play a part too. If you've worked for small companies big one rarely want you, and if you've worked for large one ones small one don't want you. There can be millions of reasons. and in the IT sector changing technologies can make a massive difference t whether you'll ever be employed again doing what you did last time round if it's not flavour of the month. Same applies to all industries:mad:

The fact that someone's got this far in life says they can't be that bad!
and "head hunter" is just another name for recruitment agencies. the bottom line is you're still working on behalf of a client to get someone to fill a hole. It DOESN'T make you any better or worse than the next person.:mad:

What's with all the angry smilies? Yes, I didn't say I was anything other than a recruitment consultant, as far as I am concerned, headhunting is a tool not a separate job title (btw I don't work in this field any more), where did I say it makes me different to/better than other people??

I didn't think that one through? What are you on about? Just trying to pass on my knowledge of the other side of the recruitment process, thought it might help people realize why they aren't being treated as a priority.

chablet

I'm glad I found this post. I have been having really bad luck with recruitment agencies the last year. I will apply for jobs and always call or email the person I sent the application/CV to for follow up and either never get a reply (even after several emails), an email beating around the bush basically thanking me for my CV and they'll let me know if they have anything that fits my skills instead of saying no thank you. (A reply on a six reply email so they are able to look back and see I have applied for X job and have been inquiring about it rather than just sending in my CV for any old job)

If I call no one ever wants to take my phone calls and never calls me back. This has been going on for the last year. Yesterday I got a voice mail and a text message about a minute apart from an agency I applied for a job with the other day. I missed the call and called them 15 minutes later. The secretary always says they are busy so they take my number and will call me back. Nothing. My husband keeps saying to call them. I called 4 times the other day spread out over the day. One time the actual lady answered and told me she didn't have my CV in front of her so she'd call me back. Nothing. Today I called again and explained to the secretary I was confused that I've not gotten a call back. The secretary said he'd have her call me right away and hung up on me as I was giving my number.

Another time I had not heard anything so I called a recruitment place and explained I had dropped off my application/cv and asked if they had filled the position. I got hung up on. I thought maybe it was a phone glitch so I called again. I started asking the same thing again and got hung up on!

I'm about ready to give up. In the past year I have gotten two jobs. One is for an hour a day and another for two hours a day. Thankfully my partner has a job, but even then we are barely getting by. I couldn't afford to take the bus to the jobs so I've walked between the two in total 7 miles a day. So I'm dedicated... we are moving so I have quit both and trying agencies again in our new town... same issues. I'm clueless, how does one actually find a job?...

mattcanary

chablet wrote: »

I'm glad I found this post. I have been having really bad luck with recruitment agencies the last year. I will apply for jobs and always call or email the person I sent the application/CV to for follow up and either never get a reply (even after several emails), an email beating around the bush basically thanking me for my CV and they'll let me know if they have anything that fits my skills instead of saying no thank you. (A reply on a six reply email so they are able to look back and see I have applied for X job and have been inquiring about it rather than just sending in my CV for any old job)

If I call no one ever wants to take my phone calls and never calls me back. This has been going on for the last year. Yesterday I got a voice mail and a text message about a minute apart from an agency I applied for a job with the other day. I missed the call and called them 15 minutes later. The secretary always says they are busy so they take my number and will call me back. Nothing. My husband keeps saying to call them. I called 4 times the other day spread out over the day. One time the actual lady answered and told me she didn't have my CV in front of her so she'd call me back. Nothing. Today I called again and explained to the secretary I was confused that I've not gotten a call back. The secretary said he'd have her call me right away and hung up on me as I was giving my number.

Another time I had not heard anything so I called a recruitment place and explained I had dropped off my application/cv and asked if they had filled the position. I got hung up on. I thought maybe it was a phone glitch so I called again. I started asking the same thing again and got hung up on!

I'm about ready to give up. In the past year I have gotten two jobs. One is for an hour a day and another for two hours a day. Thankfully my partner has a job, but even then we are barely getting by. I couldn't afford to take the bus to the jobs so I've walked between the two in total 7 miles a day. So I'm dedicated... we are moving so I have quit both and trying agencies again in our new town... same issues. I'm clueless, how does one actually find a job?...

I sympathise with you.

I have registered with around 6 employment agencies to help in my search for work. Part of my agreement for claiming JSA was to keep in contact with the agencies I had registered with. So I sent emails to each company on a weekly basis. After I had done this, I think, 3 times, two of the agencies put my email address onto their spam filter.

I was only sending them emails to tell them I was still looking for work! (and sending thwm my new CV, when I made slight adjustments to this).

hardboiled

chablet wrote: »

I'm glad I found this post. I have been having really bad luck with recruitment agencies the last year. I will apply for jobs and always call or email the person I sent the application/CV to for follow up and either never get a reply (even after several emails), an email beating around the bush basically thanking me for my CV and they'll let me know if they have anything that fits my skills instead of saying no thank you. (A reply on a six reply email so they are able to look back and see I have applied for X job and have been inquiring about it rather than just sending in my CV for any old job)

If I call no one ever wants to take my phone calls and never calls me back. This has been going on for the last year. Yesterday I got a voice mail and a text message about a minute apart from an agency I applied for a job with the other day. I missed the call and called them 15 minutes later. The secretary always says they are busy so they take my number and will call me back. Nothing. My husband keeps saying to call them. I called 4 times the other day spread out over the day. One time the actual lady answered and told me she didn't have my CV in front of her so she'd call me back. Nothing. Today I called again and explained to the secretary I was confused that I've not gotten a call back. The secretary said he'd have her call me right away and hung up on me as I was giving my number.

Another time I had not heard anything so I called a recruitment place and explained I had dropped off my application/cv and asked if they had filled the position. I got hung up on. I thought maybe it was a phone glitch so I called again. I started asking the same thing again and got hung up on!

I'm about ready to give up. In the past year I have gotten two jobs. One is for an hour a day and another for two hours a day. Thankfully my partner has a job, but even then we are barely getting by. I couldn't afford to take the bus to the jobs so I've walked between the two in total 7 miles a day. So I'm dedicated... we are moving so I have quit both and trying agencies again in our new town... same issues. I'm clueless, how does one actually find a job?...

Try not to be offended. that's the normal $hitty behaviour of agencies!! All of them.

hardboiled

mattcanary wrote: »

I sympathise with you.

I have registered with around 6 employment agencies to help in my search for work. Part of my agreement for claiming JSA was to keep in contact with the agencies I had registered with. So I sent emails to each company on a weekly basis. After I had done this, I think, 3 times, two of the agencies put my email address onto their spam filter.

I was only sending them emails to tell them I was still looking for work! (and sending thwm my new CV, when I made slight adjustments to this).

You can't keep in contact with agencies. they just stop answering your calls and don't reply to email. The JSA people are completely out of touch with the real world.