CPL Recruitment Agency

Standard Toaster

I tried searching already but you can't search with just 3 letters.

Anyway, I've an interview with CPL next week.
I'm just wondering what experiences people have had with them.
Success stories or nitemares.
Am I wasting my time or are they the best thing since sliced bread?

Cheers for any feedback guys/gals.

srdb20

Whats the interview for man?

Standard Toaster

An I.T role anyway.
They seen my CV online and have a number of offers.
Interview is just a face-to-face thing I guess.

seamus

CPL certainly aren't the worst out there, though you can be unlucky in who you get.

The interview isn't really an "interview", it's more CPL gauging who you are and how you come across etc. You'll still have to do interviews for actual jobs.

Approach the interview as a first meeting with a potential client, and you'll be grand.

Standard Toaster

Yeah, I'll throw on the suit regardless. Cheers.
Anyone have any good results with them?

Ponster

The_Edge wrote:

I tried searching already but you can't search with just 3 letters.

Best use Google.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=CPL+site%3Awww.boards.ie+-quake+-counter&btnG=Search

Standard Toaster

Ah, that's dead handy. I'll check out some of the links now.
Cheers Ponster.

LundiMardi

is this the place in Harolds X by the canal? If so i got a job through them once, agency was grand, girl was nice, job was kinda ****, but that's not the agencies fault!

Standard Toaster

It's based in Merrion Square.
Cheers for your input though!

ianmc38

Absolute cowboys. They pay a pittance. The companies that hire them to find staff pay CPL about 30% of your annual wages as a commission as well as a bonus if you stay with them 6 months. I would avoid like the plague.

Standard Toaster

Serious? :eek:
Is that with all the jobs they have advertised?
Surely it can't be the case.

I'll ask next week.

oneweb

All agencies work like that - you get paid way less than the company you're working for pays the agency.

As was said to me at an agency "interview" - it's a foot in the door of the sector. And they were right, I've moved up a bit in the place since I started with them I still hate them for the fact they charge me an "admin fee" EVERY WEEK but I love my job now so it's 50-50.

Standard Toaster

Fair enough.
Are you docked 30% admin fee a week though?

oneweb

No, €12 a week, which is a LOT in a year!

Standard Toaster

Cheers for clearing that up mate.

I think of it as 3 less pints a week.

eth0_

ianmc38 wrote:

Absolute cowboys. They pay a pittance. The companies that hire them to find staff pay CPL about 30% of your annual wages as a commission as well as a bonus if you stay with them 6 months. I would avoid like the plague.

Eh..all contracting agencies work like this. In one role I saw what the company was being charged - I was on 20 eur p/h, the company was paying 27 to the agency.

the_syco

CPL are nice, and are one way in jobs such as IBM, HP, etc. Nice crowd, but only if you get a good recruitment person. One or two of them are useless, and give you no help. Some, though, are a great help

seamus

ianmc38 wrote:

Absolute cowboys. They pay a pittance. The companies that hire them to find staff pay CPL about 30% of your annual wages as a commission as well as a bonus if you stay with them 6 months. I would avoid like the plague.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The agency and the company agree a fee for finding someone, which usually amounts to a certain % of the employee's yearly salary. Generally they get most of the fee upfront, and then the remainder when the person has completed a certain term (e.g. 6 months). This doesn't mean that the agency gets part of your wages, this is essentially a finder's fee for the agency.

Say for example, a job is advertised as €30k and the agency get 25% commission on that salary. This doesn't mean that you get €22.5k and the agency gets €7.5k. It means that you get €30k and the agency gets €7.5k. They don't take a cut of the final salary. If that was the case, agencies would never ever manage to hire anyone because they jobs they offer would pay way less than going direct to companies. This also does not mean that your job is worth way more than you're getting paid. You may lose out maybe 5-10% than if you went direct, but it certainly doesn't mean you're getting shafted.

The €12 per week or 3% fee that some people will mention is the book-keeping fees for when you do contracting work. This is an optional extra and there is no reason why you absolutely have to pay them this money. If you are contracting, then you are by definition self-employed, so you can choose who you want to pay (if anyone) to do your book-keeping. Any agency who insists on this "administration" fee is scamming you.

azezil

I got a job tru CPL just before christmas, they were lovely people, helpful and pleasent to deal with. Since moved on and now I'm surrounded by them! lol, working out in HP, we share the same office space, but they're really nice people

eth0_

seamus wrote:

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The agency and the company agree a fee for finding someone, which usually amounts to a certain % of the employee's yearly salary. Generally they get most of the fee upfront, and then the remainder when the person has completed a certain term (e.g. 6 months). This doesn't mean that the agency gets part of your wages, this is essentially a finder's fee for the agency.

I *think* the OP was referring to what happens when you contract for CPL, or indeed any other agency.

TheDoc

is this cpl as like cyberathlete profeesional league or whatever, or some company =D

Confused caue i know cpl hire it staf etc etc.

AARRRGH

CPL are arguably the best recruitment agency in Ireland. I know a few of the people who work there. They're professional and don't advertise jobs that don't exist (which makes them quite abnormal in the industry.)

Standard Toaster

^^^

Cheers for the feedback guys/gals.
You've put my mind at ease with CPL

IronMan

As a pure recruitment agency, they are one of the better ones, they normally do not post fake adverts just to harvest CV's etc. Some of the recruiters you deal with are better than others. They normally have a wide range of graduate jobs. However they will put you in a position that you are painfully over-qualified for, e.g. they had someone with a masters in software development from a top German university working on first level support for a major multi-national based on the southside. It didn't suit him as it was degrading work, and eventually it didn't suit them, because he went loo-la and left after 2 months. Some of their on-site staff in large contract sites, bring a new meaning to the word incompetence. It really depends on who their client is, and what they want implemented.

I dealt with them last year - a guy called Brian. I found him very nice to deal with and he got me an interview with Dell, which I was offered the position for.
The key i think with these companies is to get the right person, ive been to a few and met some people who really just werent good at their job - telling me to take stuff of my cv - stuff that has resulted in me getting offered other jobs.
But if that dude is still there he'd be a good one to talk to

windy

For the record it is illeagle in Ireland for an agency to charge you anything for finding you a job whether this be a registration fee or any on going fee - the bookkeeping thing is just a way around it - after week one of your contract tell them you do not wish to use that service.

Person who posted about finding company name and applying direct - surely you have to set the tone re professionalism i.e. that is not professional, they are providing a service which you do not have to use, if you do you should respect it.

the_syco

windy wrote:

For the record it is illeagle in Ireland for an agency to charge you anything for finding you a job whether this be a registration fee or any on going fee - the bookkeeping thing is just a way around it - after week one of your contract tell them you do not wish to use that service.

Company outsources stuff such as paying the staff, recruiting the staff, etc, to CPL. CPL then recruits you. You work for CPL, not for the company. CPL pays you, not the company. IIRC, HP and IBM both outsource to CPL, so if you want to start off in either company, the most likely way is through CPL.

Is there a bit of a mix up here between CPM and CPL?!!

Standard Toaster

Just thought I'd update this thread.
CPL did come through in the end and I landed a pretty decent job because of them. Looking to go full time with the new job now.

Very professional and friendly. Arron, the head of CPL, was sound too.
So, 10/10 from me.

ChRoMe

Sticking hot needles in my eyes would be preferable to ever have to deal with CPL again. They were outsourced to run the HP call centre out near UCD. I had the misfourtune of working there for a week before I told them to shove it up their hole.

The job was grossly mis-represented. When I got in I found out that they were providing support to nine different companies. Each of these customers were under the impression that they had their own dedicated help desk catering for them. A CPL employee informed me on the first day that it was actually one team providing support for the nine different customers without them knowing.

This brought a situation to the contractors where (remember you are a contractor so dont think your going to get a HP or Dell or whatever reference becuase technically you dont actually work for them) the contractors had nine different ways to answer the phone and other such crazy support practices. This along with on my first day being told by a guy who had been working there for THREE MONTHS that he was considered to be one of the most experienced operators they had there.

Goes to show the sky high rates of employee turnover due to the fact of how badly people were being treated. I still laugh now when I look on monster.ie because the same jobs are still posted the exact same way as they were over a year ago.

By all means let those monkeys help you find a job but make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself in for.

[Jackass]

Seamus' post is exactly how agencies work. I got my job through a CPL subsidiary (career register) and they were superb. Plus, my cousin works for CPL, so I know a bit about it and I can guarantee you no one is getting ripped off.

As Seamus said, overall you may be paid slightly less than if you found the job directly, but most big companies rely on recruitment agencies to find them the most suitable candidates before interviewing them and choosing the cream of the best candidates found

mountainyman

Edge there are some jobs that CPL employ people directly for, the HP helpdes springs to mind. They will hire anyone for these jobs as they just need bodies.
As an agency they are fine, certainly better than Qualitas, Verkom, Hays, Rescon RealTime or Computer Futures (all of whom post false jobs and leave real jobs up long after they are gone.) Though frankly I don't believe anyone who claims that CPLdon't do this.

CPL don't charge complanies high rates.

MM

19K or under

Over the past three years under CPL Management Services I was not able to succeed to any new level or roles.
There's no real career path perspective and the constant moving in/out of position with secondments often less than 2 month has not presented a reasonable for agents to move into permanent roles. Neither CPL have made the agents aware of career path moves available within it's managed services neither applicants have been feedback on application submitted to roles. I now I didn't.
Been an agent means bad luck/good luck depending on skill sets you are on. It's true they will use you for what ever reason you have not been presented with during the hiring process, given the additional client support they need to supply agents to cover additional service desk requirements and that will not improve your package even if your are bilingual. The lack of communication is evident in all business levels in same way there is lack of competence to address agents frustration. I'm still in the company ( bad luck, should say!) I've been given systematic increase in workload and no additional payment or bonus. I would be happy to calculate the bonus if it was a reasonable sustainable calculation.The company has been promoting new hiring for similar position for additional package with excuse of language skills they cant find easy but the reality is there is no improve to existent staff income, not raised a single penny over the last 3 years despite IT/Call centre sector growing fast pace. The industry has been representing a massive grow on the past years with salary increase up to 10% achieved in most of the IT sector for same offers including Managed Service and Recruitment Services. There’s been a reluctance by CPL to improve the current salary of 19k for bilingual agents within language skills for Italian, Portuguese and Spanish while Scandinavians/ Northern languages are been offered 23K and up with Irish less or ( =!) than 18K generating inequality and unfairness from which it's Business Partner (HP) cannot be exempted. The general feelings is that bad culture and no criteria had impartiality affected the employees moral over the past years. For those who have left the company or still in the desk support. The increase of task with cross skills will do nothing but undermine their aspirations. The constant rotation left more agents performing burden tasks and unable to expect reasonable career progression or salary increase as CPL Managed Services are continuing to generate revenue profits and margins with the Overheads or whatever HP is given upon agents salary Cap. The status for underpaid has been imposed and the frustration is clear. CPL pays less than their counterparts in business and having CPL for future job prospect reference might not be the indication of worthy work valuable experience. If you cant eat a sandwich with you salary better work for MacDonald's. They sure have a work culture and philosophy. I've seen comments for CPL in this board from since 1998 with similar reference, wish I'd knew before.