Agencies that do nothing?

marybelle01

LadyMissA wrote: »

I have told agencies when they say they do not have anything I would do an accounts job at NMW and some have asked me if I was joking!

What does this have to do with anything? I was referring to the many reasons I have heard from falko89 for not being able to apply for jobs. And I have only been here a week!

As I said, my personal experience of agencies is that I have always found work through them when I wanted to. Maybe that isn't everyone's experience, but that doesn't mean they don't do the job - they are not only still in business but they seem to be proliferating, so they must make their money somehow.

LadyMissA

marybelle01 wrote: »

What does this have to do with anything? I was referring to the many reasons I have heard from falko89 for not being able to apply for jobs. And I have only been here a week!

As I said, my personal experience of agencies is that I have always found work through them when I wanted to. Maybe that isn't everyone's experience, but that doesn't mean they don't do the job - they are not only still in business but they seem to be proliferating, so they must make their money somehow.

You are the lucky one then as I have only ever got a job from an agency once since 1987 when I started work and that one I lost due to redudancy after 5 years. I am just pointing out no matter what you say to agencies they DO NOT have to help you at all.

Like I say I have been told now they can't help me as they wont put their company on the line and are only really getting work for people already in work.

LadyMissA

InsideInsurance wrote: »

That doesnt however clarify the whole host of other considerations....

How many people does the agency have for your role type? I know my agent has over 300 PMs on their book but I am fortunate that PMs can be highly segmented based on industry, experience etc.

What is your rate -v- the market and more importantly -v- other candidates? For some roles the best candidate is important, for others the cheapest.

What have you done in the last year? Its unfortunate but if you've been unemployed for more than a couple of months some employers may be put off and so other candidates may be put forward instead.

If you are employed, whats your notice? Rarely are roles advertised far enough in advance and so any notice period can be a detriment -v- the person that can start exactly when the client wants.


Agents are there to make money. Ultimately they are not there to help you get a job or develop your career etc. If they think you are the best prospect they have for getting profit they'll put you forward. If they think someone else has a 0.0001% better chance than you, that person will be put forward instead.

I have told them NMW anywhere in London and can start in 2 days, but I have been told that lots of clients want people already in work so not a lot I can do there.

InsideInsurance

What sort of work do you normally do? What sort of wage does it normally attract?

Whilst you say you will work for minimum wage doing anything agents arent going to consider placing you for a cleaners job on min wage if you are skilled as an accounts person on £25k as they simply wont believe you;ll stick to it and nor will the client and they undoubtably have a number of experienced cleaners on their books trying for that job too.

LadyMissA

InsideInsurance wrote: »

What sort of work do you normally do? What sort of wage does it normally attract?

Whilst you say you will work for minimum wage doing anything agents arent going to consider placing you for a cleaners job on min wage if you are skilled as an accounts person on £25k as they simply wont believe you;ll stick to it and nor will the client and they undoubtably have a number of experienced cleaners on their books trying for that job too.

Me? My job in accounts can pay between £26k-£30k. I have told them anything in accounts (not cleaning) at NMW but of course I am over qualified. Can't win no matter what I say to them.

PasturesNew

Cut out the agencies then ... in order to have jobs on their books, they spend all their days phoning all local companies and seeing if they've got any jobs going, or maybe going soon .... nothing to stop you doing that.

falko89

marybelle01 wrote: »

When I am between jobs - my normal work is usually contract based - I get work though agencies. I have never had any difficulty getting work when I want it - at most a week before they find me something suitable.

Perhaps the problem is that you tell the agencies what you have said here: you can't work with people or do any job involving speaking to or meeting people because you have a social phobia; you can't work anything other than the hours you want to work because there's no transport and you appear to be unable to drive or ride a bike, so unless the job fits in with your one bus a day, you can't do it; you can't do part time hours because it isn't worth it... What on earth do you expect? Your shopping list of what you will or won't do / can or can't do is so restricted that nobody could possibly ever find a job that meets your expectations. If you are really serious about working, then you need to amend your expectations and find a way of dealing with your circumstances. There are plenty of unemployed people who don't have such an exhaustive list of reasons they can't do things...

They don't know anything about any of the above, Next?

InsideInsurance

LadyMissA wrote: »

Me? My job in accounts can pay between £26k-£30k. I have told them anything in accounts (not cleaning) at NMW but of course I am over qualified. Can't win no matter what I say to them.

As you say, you are over qualified and so you will be wasting your time, and importantly from their perspective, wasting theirs too. You are better off positioning yourself at slightly below the right point and mention that you'd consider something if it came in a little below it.

It goes without saying that simply doing this wont mean you suddenly get flooded with requests but every little bit helps. A lot of recruitment is playing the game/ numbers.

Idiophreak

falko89 wrote: »

May be its just me in that I am not qualified enough or whatever but since signing up 9 weeks ago with the 2 local agencies not 1 has ever contacted me, I see jobs that I could do like say a warehouse operative, despatch clerk, junior I.T Technician but when you phone about them they've already gone. Do agencies actually do anything?

Agencies work very much on a you-scratch-my-back basis.

The jobs you're seeing are probably being offered to people who've done a number of other, much worse, jobs for them in the past.

In order to play the game, you have to get on the ladder...Look past the warehouse operatives and the junior IT technicians and look at the drivers' mates and the chemical cleaning operatives...these are the jobs you actually stand a chance of being placed at.

Agents are also incredibly lazy. They don't work on a first-come first-served basis and they don't really care whether they help you, or one of the other 1000 unemployed folks they have on their books. So, it works like this.

1) They get a call asking for someone to do a job.
2) They think about whether any of their "regulars" are available.
3) If not, they wait.
4) The phone rings. It's the lucky caller!

The only way to get a job through them is to call them at least once a day, if not twice...and make it clear that you're just going to hassle them until they give you something. Once you've done a few rubbish jobs for them and proved that you turn up on time and put in a decent shift, they'll start looking at placing you with their better clients.

LadyMissA

InsideInsurance wrote: »

As you say, you are over qualified and so you will be wasting your time, and importantly from their perspective, wasting theirs too. You are better off positioning yourself at slightly below the right point and mention that you'd consider something if it came in a little below it.

It goes without saying that simply doing this wont mean you suddenly get flooded with requests but every little bit helps. A lot of recruitment is playing the game/ numbers.

Yes but I need a job and people think its very easy to get one and it's not. If you say you will take a job at NMW and anything else then I do not know what else to say.