Why do agencies do this?

falko89

If your anything like me, there aren't to many jobs that get posted that go unnoticed, I see a lot of jobs that get posted by actual companies, or on the job centre, they float around for about a week then the agencies get hold of them and post the exact same ad again, Why is this? Why would someone go through an agency when they can apply direct to the employer? It also seems to be silly jobs that wouldn't attract many applicants such as.

our client requires people who can work on an ad-hoc basis to cover sickness, holidays and when promotional lines are running.

LadyMissA

falko89 wrote: »

If your anything like me, there aren't to many jobs that get posted that go unnoticed, I see a lot of jobs that get posted by actual companies, or on the job centre, they float around for about a week then the agencies get hold of them and post the exact same ad again, Why is this? Why would someone go through an agency when they can apply direct to the employer? It also seems to be silly jobs that wouldn't attract many applicants such as.

They can only go direct to the employer if the employer has a job advertised or you have sent a CV on spec and suddenly a job comes up. Companies use agencies as they may not have an HR team or the time to place an advert and then sort over the CV's. Plus if they need to see 4 people say for an interview by Friday they can get 4 people from an agency.

VfM4meplse

Agencies have access to a database of people who are willing to work flexibly, and perhaps are already working on short-term assignments - hence no time to go to the job centre - and can easily slot into these roles. As an employer I'm much happier to employ someone who appears to have a strong work ethic and spends their time using their skills in a gainful way.

Loft_Boy

I would imagine the most likely reason is saving the company time and effort when it comes to payrolling people. Agenies run extensive payrolls on a weekly basis. It saves the company a massive amount of hassle when they have people doing different hours on a week to week basis. Therefore that headache is taken out of the equation when an agency is payrolling the individual

LadyMissA

Loft_Boy wrote: »

I would imagine the most likely reason is saving the company time and effort when it comes to payrolling people. Agenies run extensive payrolls on a weekly basis. It saves the company a massive amount of hassle when they have people doing different hours on a week to week basis. Therefore that headache is taken out of the equation when an agency is payrolling the individual

That's only if you are working for the agency. Some companies take people on via agencies

InsideInsurance

First of all it depends if the agency is doing it on the instruction of the company or if they are simply readvertising something they've happened to see.

The first has been covered off by others.

The second is fairly obvious, they hope the candidates see their advert and not the hiring companies. They then do their job of filtering the candidates and approach the hiring company saying they have 2 or 3 exceptional candidates etc and hope that the hiring company will entertain taking them and thus paying the commission if the hire is successful.

Also, whilst I am not a fan of agencies by any stretch of the imagination there are some decent agents that can add value to the hiring process. My last perm role I go through an agency was advertised at up to £X0,000 I thought I would ask for about 10% below the maximum salary but the agent said to simply say my expectation was near the top of their band and after the third interview I got offered £X0,000 + £5,000.

scooby088

I went to an induction for an agency for a job as a parcel sorter yesterday was told to expect a phonecall by 6.30pm to say i've got to go to the employer by 8pm, low and behold haven't heard a thing. I have rang but got no reply as person dealing is out the office all day. Some agencies are a waste of time and space.

Plus if you are using an agency be very specific in what you want, what hours you prefer, length of contract, whether temporary to permanent, from my experience the agency also spin a lot of the job description when applying too.

CCFC_80

People should also check carefully on jobsites that a vacancy advertised by an agency, may also have the same vacancy advertised directly by the employer.

On the Reed website today, there is a vacancy advertised by an agency to work for a county council at £6.50 per hr. However the same county council is advertising the same job on the same website at £6.50 per hour.

It really is a complete no-brainer to apply for the role direct with the county council and not through the agency.

falko89

CCFC_80 wrote: »

People should also check carefully on jobsites that a vacancy advertised by an agency, may also have the same vacancy advertised directly by the employer.

On the Reed website today, there is a vacancy advertised by an agency to work for a county council at £6.50 per hr. However the same county council is advertising the same job on the same website at £6.50 per hour.

It really is a complete no-brainer to apply for the role direct with the council council and not through the agency.

Yes this is what I mean, Do they just trawl the net relisting jobs?

LadyMissA

CCFC_80 wrote: »

People should also check carefully on jobsites that a vacancy advertised by an agency, may also have the same vacancy advertised directly by the employer.

On the Reed website today, there is a vacancy advertised by an agency to work for a county council at £6.50 per hr. However the same county council is advertising the same job on the same website at £6.50 per hour.

It really is a complete no-brainer to apply for the role direct with the county council and not through the agency.

Most times you have no idea who the company are as they say something like

'A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join a fast paced, international publishing company as an Accounts Payable Supervisor. Working within the Finance Team, this new role offers real opportunities to work within an exciting team in a dynamic company. '

How are you meant to know who they are from that? You can't! However one agency made a mistake once and in the job spec they got from the company it mentioned their name but the agency just posted the job spec as it was so I looked up the company and applied direct to them.

CCFC_80

LadyMissA wrote: »

Most times you have no idea who the company are as they say something like

'A fantastic opportunity has arisen to join a fast paced, international publishing company as an Accounts Payable Supervisor. Working within the Finance Team, this new role offers real opportunities to work within an exciting team in a dynamic company. '

How are you meant to know who they are from that? You can't! However one agency made a mistake once and in the job spec they got from the company it mentioned their name but the agency just posted the job spec as it was so I looked up the company and applied direct to them.

When put like that it is very difficult, but sometimes you can read between the lines, i.e they will give clues as to the type of employer that is recruiting for that role. If you know your local area well you should have some idea who is and isn't recruiting.

The one on the Reed website advertised by the agency actually named the county council it was recruiting for.