Recruitment Agencies

paddylonglegs

Am applying for jobs at the moment and had my first preliminary interview today, with a recruitment agency. As it turns out, the same job has been advertised through three separate agencies and all three have contacted me for potential interviews. Its my first time to go through an agency.
I'm looking for any tips on how I can negotiate the best possible deal for myself if I was offered the job. Obviously each agency is competing against each other to get their client (me) employed through them, but I wonder what an agency does to secure this deal - do they use a fraction of my potential salary to negotiate or what?

Would like to hear from people who have used recruitment agencies before and explain whether they use anything against the potential employer that I should be wary of.

Or, maybe I'm just being paranoid and they are actually amazingly helpful people!

Thanks all

Tom Dunne

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Or, maybe I'm just being paranoid and they are actually amazingly helpful people!

Aw, bless your innocence.

First of all, do a search on this forum for Recruitment Agency horror stories, there are plenty of them.

Secondly, remember, the reason there are more than one agency advertising this job is because they most likely copied it from one another and are not acting in an authorised capacity. My company advertised a job a while back and it turned up advertised by two agencies, complete with spelling mistakes, and were not at all authorised by my company. In other words, a copy-and-paste job.

Third and final point, agencies are sales people. They do not have your best interest at heart, they have the final commission cheque firmly in their sights. Never lose sight of this fact.

mrpink6789

ah I never get tired of recruitment bashing on boards.....

Forst off, you have to pick one agency to submit your CV to the client, there is a good chance though they have done this already if you have agreed to meet them. You can't go to another agency then if you think they are going to negotiate you the best deal.

A lot of agencies will advertise jobs from a client even if they dont deal with them jsut to try and get CV's in to them, however since these are actually asking to meet you there is a strong chance they do actually deal with the end client.

As much as people hate them here on boards, thing's are tight out there so the agent is going to do everything possible to make sure he gets you the job. They wont take any of your salary away from you, contrary to popular belief. That part of the deal is between them and the client.

Best of luck with it.

hobochris

A couple of things you should note,

You are not their client, to them you are just a body that they can use to get a commission Cheque, If they actually place a candidate in a company, it is the company that pays their commission.

Id estimated 80% of agencies are full of ****, you'll rarely find a decent agent, they're like gold dust.

Take anything they say with a pinch of salt attitude, Id 'believe it when i see it' with agencies.

If any agencies approach me with an "opportunity" I always grill them for information and pay close attention to their choice of words (the truth can usually be found between the lines), as being sales people they will try sugarcoat the position that is if the position exists and they are not just C.v scouting.

good luck with it.

paddylonglegs

Thanks guys, and as Tom lovingly points out, I really am naive to the whole situation . I'v always applied and got jobs through direct contact with the employer so this is a first for me.

I'm by no means out to bash the agencies,just looking for any tips on keeping me wary on any issues that may arise (like the copy and paste thing, and their best interests at the end of the day). Although how can this affect me if another company is blatantly copying and pasting the job description?

So probably based on my naivity, I'm happy enough to go with any agency that wants to put me through for interview stage, at the end of the day all roads are leading to Rome so I don't see this to be an issue for me.

With three agencies involved, does this mean the employer has forked out on each agency, or does it work on a commission basis?

JohnJericho

I have had three "preliminary interviews" with agencies and of course they're all smiles and chat promising me interviews with the company etc. But do i hear back?......................... Yeah and pigs will fly

the_syco

JohnJericho wrote: »

Yeah and pigs will fly

Pigs gain ability to fly :P

=-=

OP: Apart from looking for less money than advertised, it may be unwise to negotiate for more money, unless you have an excellent degree, and many many years experience, in the current climate.

KarlDrake

paddylonglegs wrote: »

I'm by no means out to bash the agencies,just looking for any tips on keeping me wary on any issues that may arise (like the copy and paste thing, and their best interests at the end of the day). Although how can this affect me if another company is blatantly copying and pasting the job description?

With three agencies involved, does this mean the employer has forked out on each agency, or does it work on a commission basis?

Hi Paddy,
The Copy and Paste thing is only an issue if the agent has not gotten formal permission to work the role, agreed rates etc. That is, the 15% rate of your basic salary should you accept a role. Again, it's important to reiterate that this will not affect what or how you're paid.
I highly recommend that you request a formal email stating that your CV has been submitted to role X, at salary Y on date Z. Maybe state this yourself and ask them to confirm. If they're unwilling to do this, run away.....

Companies hire a PSL, preferred supplier list, of agencies. So, a role comes out, it automatically goes to at least three agencies. The majority of agencies work on a "contingency" basis. No placement, no fee. It's very very unlikely that a company has paid more than one upfront. Esp at present.

Best of luck with it, and let us know!

AARRRGH

KarlDrake wrote: »

That is, the 15% rate of your basic salary should you accept a role. Again, it's important to reiterate that this will not affect what or how you're paid.

That isn't always true. I know at least one company who give lower wages to employees who come via agencies, i.e. the 15% comes out of their salary.

KarlDrake

AARRRGH wrote: »

That isn't always true. I know at least one company who give lower wages to employees who come via agencies, i.e. the 15% comes out of their salary.

Really? I'd been in recruitment for eight years and never once heard of that.
That's outrageous. Well I stand corrected. And I take it that the employee does not automatically get a 15% rise at the start of the second year?

thebiglad

When working as a Manager used to ask our HR department when I needed new staff.

They would use agencies but also put the role to our 'chosen' agencies - if any other agency approached HR with a candidate then that candidates CV would not reach me - therefore I believe agencies learn quickly that it is pointless to poach roles.

Also from the basic information available in adverts it is generally impossible to work out who the role will be with.

Whilst we never deducted the agencies fee (easily €6k - €10k) from the candidates salary it definitely hit my budget for the recruitment and if presented with 2 candidates 1 direct and 1 via agency then the deal breaker could simply be the fee for the agency!

Finding roles from friends within the company or networking in general is a much better way to achieve the optimal salary and get that role.

Mickdots

sorry to be off topic from op

found some of the links very good

on the look out for work in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. finding it hard to find agencies so if u have any of them could you post them up please!!

EORaghallaigh

Hi Paddy,

Firstly, if three agencies are recruiting for the same post and they have all called you for a preliminary interview, it is up to you to choose which agency represents you to the employer.

Ensure you tell each agency that they do not have permission to introduce your details to the employer until you give the go ahead. This is best practice and the ethical way to recruit, but there are unscrupulous agencies who will forward on your details to the employer behind your back so that they make the introduction first, and hence if another agency makes the effort to screen and introduce you, the original introducer will get the fee... trust me, it does happen...

Employers generally work with a number of agencies in a tiered system - the 1st tier PSL or Preferred Supplier List - these are the preferred agencies used by the client, the ones with the best relationship and performance. After this, there may be a second tier of less preferred agencies.

When meeting the agencies, make sure to ask loads of questions about the employer - whats the facility like? have you met the interview panel etc.. this will give you a good handle on whether the agency is 1st tier (they have seen the facility and met the employer) or second tier (might not have seen the facility etc)...

Being represented by a 1st tier agency will ensure you are represented in the best light possible - as the employer will have a level of trust and good relationship with the agent, so make sure to choose your agent wisely...

When it comes to negotiation it is the best interest of the agent to get the best possible deal for you salary-wise (as higher salary = higher professional fee, fees are based on a percentage of the first years salary)... It is unusual for companies (honestly, i have never heard of it happening, but i am sure that it does happen in a very small percentage of companies) to offer lower salaries to employees referred by agencies - professional fees are a cost of business and companies will pay fees for the best candidates.

We used and agency for our most recent hire and to be honest we were very happy with the outcome - if the person is right, there are no issues paying a professional fee as the cost of making a mistake when taking on new staff is multiple times the cost of a fee...

My advice is meet the agents that contact you and choose the one that seems to know most about the employer to represent you.

paddylonglegs

ok thanks guys for all your advice and guidance. I think that at the end of the day, to get a job will be the main task and once thats achieved then I'm happy. As per your advice I will definitely be asking alot more questions about the employer when I'm talking to the agent next

Thanks again

RentDayBlues

That isn't always true. I know at least one company who give lower wages to employees who come via agencies, i.e. the 15% comes out of their salary.

Really? My understanding was that this is illegal? Recruitment agencies cannot charge the employee for this service.

herya

RentDayBlues wrote: »

Really? My understanding was that this is illegal? Recruitment agencies cannot charge the employee for this service.

I guess he means the company using the agency (they take the agency's fee out of the new employee's salary) not the agency themselves. This is highly unusual for a professional setup though, all the companies I have experience with have separate budgets planned for salaries and recruitment and if their recruitment budget is up they simply won't use agencies, they don't take it out on the employee.

flash harry

WOW this was some of the most balanced discussion in recent memory about recruiters on boards!

OP I am a recruiter and if you pm me a link I'll tell you who the company is AND no I wont try fill the job myself....

The whole salary gets reduced thing, like a previous poster, I've been in the game for a long time and have never ever seen this and my reasoning is in most other threads where this comes up.

KarlDrake

Definitely plenty of good advice on this thread, I guess the only extra advice would be not to take it personally if recruiters aren't banging your door down.
Use them like a commodity, the same way recruiters use candidates.