Recruitment Agency

[fendi]

But that is what the 99% will do. They'll cast your cv out to every company possible and will only let you know once they have a 'bite' from a potential employer.

yes if you are one of the good CVs..

if you are a bad CV. you won't get sent anywhere.

 

[Abraham]

Had nothing but bad experiences from recruitment agencies. From being paid late, to sending me for shifts that just didn't exist. I steer well clear these days.

Employment agencies, despite seeming remarkably similarly named are a different entity. Still scuzzy, but not in the same league.

 

[Cosimo]

They're the cancer of the job market. They need removing.

They're the Estate Agents of the job market.

 

[Thekwango]

most of them don't, it would burn them too when so many of the candidates they put forward then aren't available for interview

often a recruiter is working to fill a particular vacancy

To be fair I'm only going off what I've been told by a friend who's worked in a few agencies. She told me that they basically used to just spam employers with cv's till someone showed an interest, only then would they advise the candidate that they sent their cv to 'x' employer.

 

[dowie]

To be fair I'm only going off what I've been told by a friend who's worked in a few agencies. She told me that they basically used to just spam employers with cv's till someone showed an interest, only then would they advise the candidate that they sent their cv to 'x' employer.

your friend is a naff recruiter then, it isn't just unethical it is pretty dumb from a business pov too

 

[Vita]

They're the Estate Agents of the job market.

+1.

 

[Glaucus]

Guys seriously THANK YOU I wont be bothering with them then.

Some companys only recruit through agencies.

 

[Participant]

I quite like recruitment agencies. Although my current job was through a direct approach via LinkedIn, recruitment agencies have managed to sell me for better paying positions in better companies.

I understand that they benefit from my success, but then so do I.

Robert Half and Hays are good.

 

[Abraham]

From the company which is recruiting end, I blacklist any that send me unsolicited CVs. We have a couple that we work with who we trust to send us reasonably decent candidates.

 

[peterwalkley]

To be fair I'm only going off what I've been told by a friend who's worked in a few agencies. She told me that they basically used to just spam employers with cv's till someone showed an interest, only then would they advise the candidate that they sent their cv to 'x' employer.

Useful list of recruiters btw: https://github.com/drcongo/spammy-recruiters.

 

[Meridian]

recruitment agencies are all nicey nicey on the face , but my experience is , unless you have exactly what they want you can clear off

Er - that's the point? The job of the agency is send a very limited number (seldom more than five) of ideal candidates to the company doing the hiring, so that said company doesn't have to spend time and money on advertising, sifting, lots and lots of interviews etc. In some cases, the relationship can work well enough that the agency may just send a single candidate who is ideal for the job. The agency does all the sifting, and is only interested in a perfect fit, or as close as it can get. It's not their job to help you slide into a job you are under-qualified for.

That said, this is the theory. In practice some agency are willing to send any monkey who vaguely suits the criteria, whilst other really do pick with care.

 

[DB_SamX]

As an employee looking for a job, a recruitment agency is an amazing free resource.

2 years ago, I was looking to get a job in London. Made an enquiry at an agency, gave them my CV and a few details about what I was looking for. The chap did all the legwork, sent me a list of 30 approx prospective employers, from which I picked around 10 I liked the look of. He knew I was working in Southampton, and could only take a day or two off to fit in interviews. Amazingly, within two weeks of my enquiry, he had managed to organise 5 interviews for me, all in one day, one after the other, planned such that it made my travel efficient. It worked perfectly. I ended up getting 3 offers within a few days and ended up working for one which was the top one on my list. Basically the whole thing was done within a month thanks to him and I barely had to do anything. I know it cost my eventual company something like £2k in fees.

 

[Pestilence]

They're salespeople. Those looking for work just happen to be their wares.

And just like any good salespeople, the ones who manage to succeed do so because they only present the most fitting product to their customer (the client), and reap the rewards (commission) for doing so.

You don't present someone who has walked into your shop and asked for a wooden spoon with a pneumatic drill and then look confused when they react like you're wasting their time.

The very best are like extensions of their most popular clients -- a necessary resource who can reliably find and present only the best candidates for a position. To any business, they're worth their weight in gold.

The bad ones don't keep their clients on the books for long, as the client will quickly get fed up with being provided a pile of poorly considered and targeted product.

 

[Thekwango]

your friend is a naff recruiter then, it isn't just unethical it is pretty dumb from a business pov too

that she is

to be fair she hated the business practices that the agencies used and has long since moved on to a different career path.

naff recruiter and dumb business practices aside, it indicates that at least a few agencies use that method - but in all probability they are as pointed out the cruddy ones

 

[TommyV]

They are the black plague of linkedin.

 

[Nelly]

Agency pays £7.50 per hour, you then work in the accounts dept and see the Invoice for £15 per hour! Seems like easy money for the agencies to me!

 

[Pestilence]

Agency pays £7.50 per hour, you then work in the accounts dept and see the Invoice for £15 per hour! Seems like easy money for the agencies to me!

That's a different type of recruitment agency.

Which, in all fairness, is probably the actual type that the OP was talking about. Not sure.

 

[Caged]

Recruiters are great depending on what field you are in, and if they are any good or not. It's not uncommon to be placed in a role by a recruiter and then be able to call them up a couple of years later when you're interested in moving on.

Companies that might only take on a couple of permanent staff each year have no idea what the market is like, so recruiters can sanity check their offers as well.

They are the black plague of linkedin.

And that

 

[Efour]

Another Level of parasites in the system. Some are worse than others.

 

[Mrs Seabiscuit]

A little update if you will.
After talking to Mr Seabiscuit and going over meeting with this `agency` yesterday.
We were thinking it not unreasonable to ask the agency a few questions

• What can you do for me extra that I cant do from just looking through the same jobsites you have on your computer screen?
• Do you offer a cv writing service? I am happy to pay a fee.

She was most upset and offended by these questions using lots of exclamation marks to say how upset and dissapointed she was for me to ask this.
She had promised to send me useful cv tips and help, and the job description I mentioned in my op straight after meeting. She hadn't done this and I emailed her asking for them this morning and then asked the above two questions. By 10:30 am I thought Im gonna ring. I did only to be sharply told I`m emailing you now she then just hung up.
Tell me was I wrong to ask those questions?