Employment Agency query

hillbloom

In order to obtain employment would you guys recommend registering with an Employment Agency. Its in the area of Engineering. No experience. Don't want to emigrate unless its a last resort!

godtabh

Its an option. Direct contact is better

Victor

hillbloom wrote: »

In order to obtain employment would you guys recommend registering with an Employment Agency.

You want a recruitment agency, not an employment agency. Very different beasts.

mawk

If its any anecdotal use to you, I was in a very similar situation a while ago. I registered with every agency in the phone book and had quite a bit of contact with them.
It didnt do any harm, but frankly didnt do an awful lot of good either. I did end up being put in for a lot of jobs that I wouldnt have otherwise, but I also never ended up in a job they put me in for.

It got me an interview or two. I'd be remiss not to acknowledge that.

I got/get a surprising amount of interest through having my CV on monster.ie people email and call me out of the blue often enough.

are you a graduate?

ciaranmac

A while ago I had a company refuse an application I sent directly because they had previously got my details through an agency. So use a long stick when dealing with them.

godtabh

LinkedIn is also key. Have it as detailed as possible. I've had a good few positive experiences through it. May even be about to secure my first job from it

petethedrummer

I don't think you have to register as such with a recruitment agency. You can just send them your CV if you like one of the jobs on their books but they don't then have exclusive rights or control over it. I don't believe they can send your CV into a firm without your explicit permission. Though if they have informed you of a job and you use this information to make your own representations in the meantime, it may get muddy. Often on the phone they keep the job vague so as you don't figure out where it is and apply yourself.

Also, alot of the agencies have the exact same jobs on their books. So just keep that in mind before you think there are hundreds of jobs out there. Sometimes on Irishjobs or recruitireland you will see the same job being advertised by multiple recruitment agencies AND the company you'd be working for!

If you are new to an industry they can be a way to get into companies but once you are in a particular field for a number of years you will hear of jobs through word of mouth. Some companies MAY exclusively use a particular agency as their HR department so it may be the only route in, but I don't know of an example.

hillbloom

Thanks for all the comments. I am just out of college. I have a Level 8 Engineering Degree. Most of the positions need experience. Its very hard to get started. I keep a good eye on Careerjet and Irish jobs etc. So many have Masters now, a degree is barely good enough!!! Hopefully I will get lucky.

BlackEdelweiss

I would also recommend Linkedin although I havent actually got a job from it directly, the job I did get came in a bit of an indirect way from a contact I made on Linkedin. It was advice he gave me while researching for an interview with a major engineering company that led me to the name of my hopefully future boss who I emailed and have since been offered a job.
I did have to put a lot of effort into my networking to get that though, I bombarded Linkedin and hit everybody in my specific area with invitations to view my profile. I have over 400 connections now, most of which I could delete but I got my name out there and have been contacted by several people offering advice about companies who may be hiring or by recruitment agents who have offered, albeit unsuccessfully, to help.
A college friend had his profile on Linkedin and was lucky enough to get a job (not through the site) and updated his profile to state his new position. In less than 6 months he has been approached by 4 different companies offering him work and he has since accepted a better job in a major engineering firm.

You dont have to think of it as emigrating, just think of it as moving somewhere for a few years. Get a bit of experience and have a bit of craic. I have lived in several parts of the world but I have never emigrated yet. My new job is in New Zealand and I will be bringing my whole family and probably not returning for a long time, thats when I will consider I have emigrated.

petethedrummer

hillbloom wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments. I am just out of college. I have a Level 8 Engineering Degree. Most of the positions need experience. Its very hard to get started. I keep a good eye on Careerjet and Irish jobs etc. So many have Masters now, a degree is barely good enough!!! Hopefully I will get lucky.

A mate of mine has been hiring for his company in the financial sector and he immediately discounts anyone who hasn't been doing a bit of self-study or course work while unemployed.

I am self-employed-one-man-operation but if I was to hire someone with no experience, I would look to hire someone with strong Excel skills that can program simple scripts in the associated VBA. Wouldn't have to be a formal course or accreditation. Some online or book study would be grand. It is a very useful and transferable skill.