recruitment agencies...

xirokx

xirokx

xirokx

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Joined
2 Oct 2004
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4,362
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N.W London
Hi,

Can someone please educate me how recruitment consultants work?

I am currently looking for work and I either get told to register online or to go and see the recruitment agent for an informal discussion..

I have now received a few interviews quicker then I thought BUT...

I have found these jobs myself despite being reassured by several different top end agencies that once "your details are on our system, we will contact you if we have anything"...this is what I am querying..

Basically applied to a role with an agency close to central london despite having signed with one of their smaller offices in north london...I found the job myself not through their site and when I called the other office (the one I didnt register with) I was told "that was quick I only just posted that job 20 mins ago"...

So do these agents look their internal database or do they just post jobs out willy nilly?

Its not the first time it happened, today I received a call saying I wasnt selected for an interview as the company the agent was waiting to hear from is on the verge of going under..10mins later I happened to browse the agencies site and found a different job matching my skills to a T...So why didnt he say sorry about the other one but I have got a new one for you...

Again another agency told me they had 3 jobs despite advertising over 20 in my field on their site all of which were posted in the last week..

I am beginning to think they advertise jobs which dont exist to get a maximum amount of clients and then start looking for work for them once they know the work is confirmed as they dont want to have the work to offer and not have clients to put forward...

What do you think? Anyone had experience of working as a recruitment consultant?

I am so intrigued..
 
xirokx said:
Hi,

I am beginning to think they advertise jobs which dont exist to get a maximum amount of clients and then start looking for work for them once they know the work is confirmed as they dont want to have the work to offer and not have clients to put forward...
Click to expand...

Thats usually the case in my experience, they get you in then offer you all sorts of crap that isnt suitable if they even bother at all. Most agencies are completely useless but there are some very good ones about.
 
thanks but im really questioning the authenicity of the jobs they advertise as opposed to saying whether the agency is any good or not...

i just wondered if they lie about the jobs they put up??
 
Recruitment agencies == scum of the earth, in my experience.

When I was starting out they weren't interested in me at all and would treat me like dog ****. 10 years later, and no thanks to them, I have a very good looking CV with lots of skills that they're often looking for, so it's now my turn to treat them as they treated me :)

I found that the jobs they advertised were never available and that they really just wanted to add my details to their database. I presumed this was because they would then say to potential clients that they have x thousand clients looking for work, which would persuade companies to go with them rather than their competitors.
 
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I work for Kellys which are a very large agency, i worked for them in Bradford and im not due to start for them in Leeds, the big ones usually work for companies such as HBOS and Abbey, companies that will need staff every so often to clear backlogs and that.

Also, if a company wants to get a broader horizon for employees they will go through this route.

Sometimes they do advertise jobs that have been filled but they will then look for work once your on there system, youll be in a que with the advisor you are dealing with.

Also if you get on there back like i did they will try harder to to find you work because they will remember you and if something comes up theyll get in touch.

Thats the way ive seen it work for me, they can easily work in different ways.
 
I’m not a recruitment agent but I know someone that is and from what I hear, they subscribe to various websites like monster and reed and the other big job websites, and that gives them access to search all the cvs that have been uploaded to these. This is one of the main sources they search from, but they are mostly searching on keywords, so if your CV is up there, they might not find it depending on what comes up. Most of them also let you register your CV directly with them, and although its contrary to what you’ve experienced, my understanding is that if anything, they are more likely to put you forward for a job if you do this.

The reasoning behind this is that all the other agencies they are competing with also search the big job boards, so they often find the same people as the other agencies, in which case it’s a question of which agency submits a CV first. The agencies only get paid on a percentage commission on your salary if they place you into a job, and if more than one agency sends the same CV, the commission goes to whoever sent it first, so it is worth registering your CV directly as an incentive for them to pick you. Its also worth chasing them up from time to time to see if they have anything.

Theres quite a good pdf guide on dealing with recruitment agents amongst other thing on the following site, although you have to register to view it:

http://www.comceptrecruitment.co.uk/career-advice.php

Agencies are a necessity as a job hunter, especially in certain industries, as a lot of companies seem to want to pay the massive commission and they won’t deal with you directly. So, you should put your CV on some job sites, but also send it directly to any relevant job agencies. If at the end of the day you think a job agency is wasting your time, you just move onto the next one as theres plenty out there.
 
I got my current job through Office Angels. Out of the reasonably large number of agencies I went to see, they were by far the best and not only got me a job within a week or so, but it was also one that was in my field of work, locally :)

- Pea0n
 
My one experience with them was a good one, I went through Darwin Rhodes to get my current job.

Although I think the guy I delt with was very good, no hard sell, talked through what I wanted before he put anything forward so perhaps some are just better than others.

I did also speak to one guy at Reed when I was looking, but he was a complete toss pot so perhaps it's more the person that you get to deal with rather than the company.
 
xirokx said:
i just wondered if they lie about the jobs they put up??
Click to expand...

Yes

Tis quite common for them to harvest CVs, they'll also pester you for contacts - who are your managers at your current place? Where have you already interviewed at, can you tell us who interviewed you as we don't want to send out duplicate applications?

Then when you get a job through them they'll want to take you out for a drink to 'celebrate' and of course tap you for information about former colleagues who might want to leave.

Basically if you've got an over keen agent and you let too much slip then your former boss will be getting unsolicited phonecalls from the agent trying to fill the position you just left and your colleagues will be getting calls trying to poach them. And if you've really slipped up when talking to them loads of other places you interviewed at will get calls.

Tis a balancing act as you want the agent to think you're playing the game but you don't want to burn too many bridges/annoy former or potential future employers etc..
 
Maybe the kind of agencies specialising in "office jobs" are better than the techie ones I've dealt with... I suppose there are more administrative types of jobs for them to advertise and they get more revenue from filling lots of these kinds of positions as opposed to filling a small number of specialist positions (such as the kind of role I was looking for).
 
dowie said:
Yes

Tis quite common for them to harvest CVs, they'll also pester you for contacts - who are your managers at your current place? Where have you already interviewed at, can you tell us who interviewed you as we don't want to send out duplicate applications?

Then when you get a job through them they'll want to take you out for a drink to 'celebrate' and of course tap you for information about former colleagues who might want to leave.

Basically if you've got an over keen agent and you let too much slip then your former boss will be getting unsolicited phonecalls from the agent trying to fill the position you just left and your colleagues will be getting calls trying to poach them. And if you've really slipped up when talking to them loads of other places you interviewed at will get calls.

Tis a balancing act as you want the agent to think you're playing the game but you don't want to burn too many bridges/annoy former or potential future employers etc..
Click to expand...
That's spot-on and I've experienced the very same thing... and I spotted what they were doing from a mile off.

However, the bird who worked at Computer People in Bristol 10 years ago was stunningly fit.
 
Recruitment Agents = Car Salesmen

They are all the same slimy sort of people. Deal with them appropriately and it's fine but at the end of the day most of them make a living by getting people into jobs quickly and making there cut. They don't care about you, most of them only deal with certain vacancies which is why they maybe didn't mention the other vacancies to you.
 
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