do agencies know what they are doing?

crashuk

crashuk

crashuk

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7 Dec 2005
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this was for a 6 week contract.

"Site support role covering compaq hardware support and PC support, Microsoft environment, Windows 2000, XP, MS Office, service desk, back ups, ghosting, outlook 2000 and general support. You will need to be a good all rounder covering hardware and software within a Microsoft environment, the ability to work on your own and take full responsibility for delivering a quality support service."

reply "Following your recent application for the position of Desktop Support
Engineer (reference: NW1), I am writing to let you know that
unfortunately you have not been successful this time. I will keep your details on
file and be in touch when a more suitable position arises."

This is whats on my CV for different jobs

installing, imaging and setting up, PCs/laptops/servers/ PDAs /routers/ switch’s/ access points, creating internal wired/wireless secure networks for their numerous PC’s and laptops


roll out project work, windows workstation / laptops builds/software builds, de-commissioning and re-commissioning, backup images, project administration support utilising third party development staff and consultants, 1st/ 2nd analyst support, networking/ hardware/software break/fix/config, network testing, documentation of migration software Licensing and hardware invoicing 3rd parties. This involved working under pressure, tight Service Level Agreement schedules,

co-ordinating builds and desktops, Processing and raising requests, configuring desktops, laptops (Compaq and Dell) and PDAs
 
I find agencies a complete waste of time, and they're only interested in taking your details.
 
99% of the egencies I've dealt with have been totally useless, that is talking both as someone job hunting and also as an employer. I've lost count of the number of 'candidates' I've had put forward to me that have been totally unsuitable for the positions I've had on offer.

They seem to be worse in the UK than the rest of Europe, I'm recruiting for someone to be based in the office in Paris and every candidate I've had put forward so far will be getting an interview.
 
these are all the trainig courses ive been on
• Microsoft MCSA
• Cisco CCNA (Cisco academy program, London).
• ECDL (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, Outlook).
• LOCN Level 3 Windows 2000 and Server, Computer hardware and Linux.
• SFA Qualified Financial Services Authority

just havent an idea what they want.
 
tbh, I hate employment agencies, they are scum. Only thing worse than them are security staff.

Bit of a chip on my shoulder, and I am aware of it... still.
 
It might be that the job didnt actually exist and they just wanted to get people who have those skills registered onto their "books", so they have a pool of people willing to fill vacancies should vacancies arise.
 
Agencies are merely there to get numbers on their books. i have several friends who work as recruitment consultants. She tells me they have been known to make jobs up in the past which are appealing a broad market, then loads of people register and send in their CV's you get a call back saying we just need some more info and that is the last you hear from them.

It is purely so they can go to companies and say "advertise with us cos we X amount of people on our books waiting to work for you!!".

Obviously they arent all like this but I would say in my experience at least 80% of them are.
 
To get my present job I had to argue with the agency to get them to forward my details. They didn't think I'd be suitable. After 20 minutes he agreed to submit to the client, probably just to get rid of me. 1 hour later I had an interview arranged, 3 days later I had the job offer.

Often agency personal are filling posts in field they know very little about, so they look for certain keywords, if they don;t see them they ignore/reject you. I've found its always best to phone them about any roles they advertise because they you can get more precise details on what they are looking for, and give a much better arguement on why they should submit your CV.
 
What I find just as annoying is when they offer to put you forwards for jobs where you have none of the required skills.

i.e. me- recent graduate 1 year's industry experience, skills in x,y,z

Role- Candidates must have at least 3 years experience in a & b.

I got about 4 of these in 2 weeks from some agency, so sent the woman sending them to me a really arsey e-mail and I think I got taken off their lists as a result, as I get nothing now!

If you are looking for an IT job, I can wholeheartedly reccommend Monster. Some very decent companies hire from there and that is how I got my job with a company with almost as much market penetration as Microsoft, which I love. I also found agency jobs to be very low paying. I am on a good £8K more than ANY agency job was willing to offer me when they spoke to me on the phone.
 
Last edited:
crashuk said:
need to find a site that doesnt have agencies, just companies.
Click to expand...
Like I said, try Monster then. A lot of companies look for candidates directly on the site.
 
I use only 3 agencies.

Premier IT
Progressive IT
GCS

Never had a gap of more than 2 weeks on my CV that I can put down to not being able to get a job.

If you want contacts, drop me an email (in trust) with your CV and I'l forward it on to my agency contact.
 
crashuk said:
this was for a 6 week contract.

"Site support role covering compaq hardware support and PC support, Microsoft environment, Windows 2000, XP, MS Office, service desk, back ups, ghosting, outlook 2000 and general support. You will need to be a good all rounder covering hardware and software within a Microsoft environment, the ability to work on your own and take full responsibility for delivering a quality support service."

reply "Following your recent application for the position of Desktop Support
Engineer (reference: NW1), I am writing to let you know that
unfortunately you have not been successful this time. I will keep your details on
file and be in touch when a more suitable position arises."

This is whats on my CV for different jobs

installing, imaging and setting up, PCs/laptops/servers/ PDAs /routers/ switch’s/ access points, creating internal wired/wireless secure networks for their numerous PC’s and laptops


roll out project work, windows workstation / laptops builds/software builds, de-commissioning and re-commissioning, backup images, project administration support utilising third party development staff and consultants, 1st/ 2nd analyst support, networking/ hardware/software break/fix/config, network testing, documentation of migration software Licensing and hardware invoicing 3rd parties. This involved working under pressure, tight Service Level Agreement schedules,

co-ordinating builds and desktops, Processing and raising requests, configuring desktops, laptops (Compaq and Dell) and PDAs
Click to expand...


Perhaps they have a requirement that applicants should have a clear grasp of grammar, capitalization and punctuation?
 
worst thing is when you get people calling you asking how do i add a user in ad via cmd, stuff like that. Just wondering how they get the jobs.
 
Some agencies suck, others like Deerfoot don't. Talk to Nick at deerfoot.co.uk if your looking for it work in the south oh and say I sent you :D

I've had calls before where they bang on about how suitible i am for this or that job only to go to the interview and the guy is there recruiting for something completly different.

Also the other classic is.. where do you want to work.. I want to work in XYZ and I don't want to work in London. So about this job in london .. :mad:
 
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