Dealing with recruitment agencies

mattcanary

Basically, one if the requirements given on my JSA agreement is to register and keep in contact with recruitment agencies (on a weekly basis). OK, fair enough.

I have registered with five recruitment agencies. Sent them all my CV.
However, I have heard that recruitment agents don;t like dealing with jobseekers that are vague in what kind of job they are looking for. They instead like to be able to put forward for open vacancies, candidates that really closely match the requirements of the particular role. In addition, my career history has not really followed any structire, up to now. Did customer service and admin work, then moved into meter-reading, then did some voluntary work with the CAB, went back into meter reading then did some parcel delivery work until recently. (on a self-employed basis where I was paid per parcel delivered - this was very insecure and I do not wish to go back to such insecurity).

As a jobseeker claiming JSA, I need to be somewhat flexible about what type of job I want. I seem to find (perhaps in consequence from what I have said) that I am very rarely contacted by recruitment consultants with possible jobs I may be interested in.

OK, fine call them up or visit them. But what do I say to them? Seems like I would be speaking to them each week asking them the same thing and getting nowhere - as well as annoying them and thus being less likely still to be contacted by them about any suitable vacancy in the future.
Should I arrange meetings with recruitment consultants and just tell them where I stand? Some of them are however difficult to contact, as they seem to hide behind the receptionist.
I need to be maintaining contact, as per my JSA agreement. But it all seems so pointless....

PS: I don;t want it to be pointless. I wish they would contact me regularly.

Anyway, how do you all deal with recruitment agencies? Do you visit them in person each week to discuss?
Any recruitment agents here that can give advice?

Caroline_a

Firstly you will need to make an appointment to go in and register. This gives them a feel for what you are looking for and what sort of person you are. Until you do this you won't get a job through a recruitment agency.

Then you need to call in/speak to them on a very regular basis - I used to contact around 2 to 3 times a week.

What you have to remember is that you are not their customer - companies are. They are as good as you allow them to be, and if you are putting in the effort to keep contacting them then they will work well for you.

NB - don't expect them to keep contacting you, they won't! the onus is entirely on you

DomRavioli

OP - agencies will only contact you if you also keep in regular contact. You need to be calling weekly to tell them you are available for work (the temp world moves fast!) and also advise that you are willing to consider all types of work. Be specific on what you don't want to do, which will help them.

I've been a temp for 10 years, its a good living but you need to carve a niche and be in very regular contact. It isn't for them to call you, they have thousands of candidates on their books, and don't have time to call you unless you are an outstanding candidate (top academics, plenty of relevant experience etc) and they have a vacancy for you.

The more you contact them (within reason, once or twice a week is good), the more likely you are to get work.

CCFC_80

Recruitment agencies AHRRGHHHH!!!!!!.


Avoid like the plague.


Ban the lot of them I say.

directdebiter

CCFC_80 wrote: »

Recruitment agencies AHRRGHHHH!!!!!!.


Avoid like the plague.


Ban the lot of them I say.

LOL. We've all been there & unfortunately will again!

AP007

OP look for agencies (if you have too) that do a variety of jobs. Someone say like Blue Arrow & Adecco recruit for all sectors and all roles.

Then they are ones like Hays of have divisions for different industries.

Mummy_Moo

Try contacting them by email, that way they can respond to you when they have a quiet moment, rather than you phoning up and interrupting them at a busy time. In the majority of cases they are looking for a very specific type of employee and aren't interested in 'wasting' their time with those who do not meet the criteria. You are more likely to come to the attention of a recruitment consultant if you apply for a specific role, for which you are qualified / experienced, rather than just sending in a speculative CV and hoping that they will do the 'matching' work for you.

Caroline's point is a good one. Even though some agencies claim to be very focused on providing services to candidates, the bottom line is that they are paid by the companies, not the applicants. Also be aware that recommending a poor candidate will damage a recruitment consultant's professional reputation, therefore they are only looking to work with the best employees.

My top tips would be:
- Have a good look at your CV, avoid spelling and grammar mistakes, informal phrasing and keep it neat and easy to read. Bullet points are good at highlighting your skills. Make sure you give information about your achievements, e.g. examples of when you have exceeded targets or provided excellent customer service.
- Apply for a lot of jobs, it's a numbers game. When I am job hunting I apply for between 30 - 100 jobs per day, day after day until I receive an offer. I've looked for a new position twice in the last year and each time have found a new job within 3 weeks by applying for large numbers of vacancies.
- Check you are providing the correct contact details, and always check and return answer machine messages.

...and finally, if you are invited to an interview - TURN UP!! I know this sounds really obvious, but I worked as a recruitment consultant for a while and it is amazing how many really enthusiastic candidates never bother showing up to interviews, or are offered jobs then don't bother turning up to work. Not only does this put the company off you for future reference, chances are the recruitment consultant will refuse to work with you again, and may mention it to colleagues if you apply for a different position at a later date. If you can't make it to an interview it only takes a quick phone call to be polite and avoid this problem.

Best of luck, hope you find something soon