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Recruitment agencies are wasting my time
Monday 26th July 2010, 10:50AM BST.
Filling out forms is a waste of time if the agency doesn't get back to you.
This week I’ve had a few calls from firms about jobs. Whilst you might think that this is good news, the bad news is that every single one of them has been a recruitment agency writes James Alexander.
I put my CV online onto a jobs website and I felt quite chuffed when I started receiving calls asking me if I was still looking for work.
The first time I went to see an agency was some time ago and I felt quite positive – these were people who were going to help me find work.
After a myriad of form filling, I finally got around to asking them about the position they’d called me about.
Alas, they told me, that had gone in the two day gap between me being called and visiting them.
But, they got jobs all the time that I could do so they’d be in contact asap.
Of course, the call never came.
This has happened repeatedly whilst I’ve been out of work; I’ve been made all kinds of promises, given all kinds of flash business cards but very rarely has an agency ever called me back to let me know that they were still looking.
Whenever I called them to chase it up, there would be ‘nothing available at the moment’, or if there was, it would be too far away for me to even think about taking.
So, when I started receiving calls this week asking me if I was still looking, I was on my guard.
I asked them about the jobs that they had available for me – none of them could give any specifics whatsoever.
I’ve been messed around too much before – I’m signed to twenty three agencies currently – so I reluctantly told each one that I wasn’t prepared to meet them until they had something firm in.
The thing is, I’ve now got to being paranoid about recruitment agencies; I understand that they have targets to meet as well, but is them lying to get me into an office and fill in some paperwork helping them in the long run?
Surely the business only gets money when they place candidates – what’s the point in just getting my details if they’re never going to do anything with them?
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James, i totally agree with what your saying because im in the same boat, my situation is slightly different though as i am currently employed but ive put my CV on job websites because im looking for a new challenge. This has been about two months and its excactly like you say, I either get phone calls from agencies saying they have got the ideal job but its in Scotland or London, or they have my details off me and thats the last thing I hear from them, I think im close to your target of twenty three agencies. It is very frustrating and it does make me think what do these agencies actually do all day apart from try and get as many cv’s from people as possible.
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I am glad you have discussed this issue, James.
Many times we are invited to these agencies that require us to travel, sapping into our already limited spending budget, just to be handed over a bunch of forms (to fill out in our own time) that could have been posted to us.
I am also interested on how our personal details are stored; some of the agencies requiring CRB checks and requesting sensitive data such as NI number and bank account details.
How much trust can one put in these agencies, and what type of safety guards are put in place not only to ensure our data is safe, but the details are not sold afterwards to third parties?
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Chris & Ioana. As a Recruitment Consultant I had to reply to your comments. The role of the recruitment consultant is to find a candidate that matches the employers requirements and personal interviews are part of getting of the recruitment process.My company would never put forward a candidate without that initial interview.
You should also remember that recruitment agencies only get paid when they place someone into a job. If a candidate told me they were registered with another 22 agencies I would be concerned that I would be doing a lot of work and little chance of being paid for it!
A tip for you. Take time out to talk to a few agencies and find out what they are going to do for you then register with them and keep in regular contact.
I do not know what type of work you are looking for but be aware that most agencies tend to specialise in certain sectors, make sure you are registered with one that handles your type of work.
Please do remember recruitment agencies are not a Job Centre and many of them are struggling to find work themselves.
Good luck with your job searches.
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I run a team in recruitment and we specialise in one specific sector. We only do permanent recruitment and therefore could not help everyone, only a specific set of people.
To ‘slate’ all of us as recruiters is quite wrong, there are good and bad in all sectors.
As for registering CV’s to meet targets, if this is happening I would suggest you are not dealing with the right recruiters. These people are only wasting your time and their own.
A few tips which could help.
Don’t put your CV on Job Boards, you will get pestered by people looking for an easy and lazy option. Instead speak to a specialist recruiter who operates solely within the sector you are looking to work in.
DO NOT register with 20+ generalist recruiters, only go to two or three that are specific to what you are looking for, you will see much more positive results.
If you need any further help, please do not hesitate to reply.
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Good advice from the recruiters in comments 3 and 4. Would be interested in knowing more about how the advice you give and how best to work with recruiters to gain employment.
Would either of you be interested in contributing a short blog post about how to find work through the eyes of a recruitment agency?
Contact me at todd.nash@expressandstar.co.uk if so.
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Thanks to the recruitment consultants who responded to my post, I value your input greatly.
You’re right in that some agencies are better than others; I registered with so many because I’d register with a couple, try and stay in contact but after being told there was nothing for six or seven weeks solid I felt like I was pestering them and I’d register with other ones.
If I’m not to put my CV onto job boards, where should I put it?
I’m open to speak to new people – maybe you can help me better than others I’ve spoken to, I’m looking for anything within a few fields including general or admin?
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