Recruitment agencies

Zombienosh

Hey,

Looking for some opinions on recruitment agencies, I've never used one before.
I'm in the middle of job hunting, I've been looking for a few months now, at both jobs and internships, I'm just wondering should I stick at it this way or register with an agency?

I don't know how to go about it, don't know how someone picks an agency? I've noticed a good few agencies popping up again and again on job sites. So how would registering with them be different from me just applying online?

anyone any experiences with the agency path would be good to hear from you.

oceanman

my advice would stay far away from agencies.....they are a total rip off.

Neon_Lights

I find they're a middle man that get in the way and slow things down.

Some are very good and have a nice personality and will continue to develop a nice working relationship with you. But its easy to feel that quite a lot are in it for the money.

I've gotten all my jobs by speaking to HR in the company directly about vacancies which they have. Its way better to put yourself on the map. But if they send you back to an outsourced recruitment consultant what harm.

agencies i'm registered with are and how they were to deal with:

The Panel (Okay)
Hays (Good)
Next Generation Recruitment (Okay)
Morgan Mc Kinley (okay/good)
Eolas (poor)
Cotter Personell (good)
CPL (okay)

But at the end of the day I think its better to represent yourself if possible.

L.Jenkins

I've found as of late, they are becoming more of a barrier to gaining employment. I've had countless recruiters ring me to talk about my CV and roles I maybe interested in. Others I have applied through want constant work on my CV before they will forward it and also like to discuss other jobs.

Now take having to re-jig my CV and multiple it by 10, to suit 10 different recruiters. Get highly annoying and I'm not interested in discussing any thing other than what I've applied for. They really seem to be wasting my time as of late, so I'll be sticking to direct contact with Companies.

cloudatlas

Nothing beats a try. It really depends. I have been bitterly disappointed in the past by the big recruitment agencies. The smaller the recruitment agency the better.

Zombienosh

The above is what I've heard a lot, as in they are a bit of an unnecessary middleman.

Lainey_b01

Like them or not recruitment agents are the gate keepers to a possible future role. You are severly limiting yourself if only focus on dealing with employers who advertise directly. The middleman won't realese employer name etc until you apply for role with them.

My advice is talk to people in same industry and ask who they found good, register with them. Keep applying in irish jobs etc and register on request with others .

I recommend HRM And Morgan Mckinely, work on accounts and Finance

Bandana boy

Itzy wrote: »

I've found as of late, they are becoming more of a barrier to gaining employment. I've had countless recruiters ring me to talk about my CV and roles I maybe interested in. Others I have applied through want constant work on my CV before they will forward it and also like to discuss other jobs.

Now take having to re-jig my CV and multiple it by 10, to suit 10 different recruiters. Get highly annoying and I'm not interested in discussing any thing other than what I've applied for. They really seem to be wasting my time as of late, so I'll be sticking to direct contact with Companies.

your CV should be reworked for every different role you apply for ,this is good advice from your RC and you should take it on board.

Gone West

They might get you the job of your dreams, they might take advantage of you and they will definitely take too much money off your contract.
But for some, when they put you in a good contract, you will stay there a few years on a great rate, feels good to be a contractor coming in and doing the difficult stuff that they can't find skills for.
There is no chance to negotiate a private contract with the client, not a hope of cutting out the agent, and if the client wants to put you on the books in a perm role... well they will be shelling out for it.
Hard one to call... on one hand, great money and freedom. On the other, the agent might take 30 or 50 grand or more off you a year. That's not great by anyone's standards. The alternative?
Either 1) take a 50-60% haircut after tax and go work for a perm role?
2) Get a private contract between your own business and a client. Difficult to do without being a savant, or without breaking your original contract with the agency.

gambit83

here's a thread based on people's experiences with agencies http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055011993

lillycool

On this topic, just looking for some opinions please

An agency puts someone forward for an interview with a company (the candidate felt it went well) and the company advised they would revert back (via the agency) within a few days.

The agency then calls the candidate a few days after the interview about a completely different position (not mentioning the previous position), asking to interview/possibly commence asap and on asking about the original position they advise that 'the company has not decided yet'.

The position does not suit as much as the original one. Does this mean that the original position has been filled or is there any reason why an agency would do this? Is refusing the new interview/potential position and pushing for a simple yes or no answer on the original one going to just annoy the recruiter?

April O Neill II

lillycool wrote: »

On this topic, just looking for some opinions please

An agency puts someone forward for an interview with a company (the candidate felt it went well) and the company advised they would revert back (via the agency) within a few days.

The agency then calls the candidate a few days after the interview about a completely different position (not mentioning the previous position), asking to interview/possibly commence asap and on asking about the original position they advise that 'the company has not decided yet'.

The position does not suit as much as the original one. Does this mean that the original position has been filled or is there any reason why an agency would do this? Is refusing the new interview/potential position and pushing for a simple yes or no answer on the original one going to just annoy the recruiter?

They should do the interview because just because the first job suits the candidate, doesn't mean the candidate suits the employer in the first job.

micromary

There is another post on this. I have taken up a temporary role away from my chosen area so will be working the next little while while looking for a position that more suits myself.

Personally, recruitment agents may be a necessary evil but I have become so fed up of them that I am not going to deal with them anymore. They are bulls***ers. I am even considering sending in my CV directly to companies who the agency supposidly sent my CV in.

lillycool

April O Neill II wrote: »

They should do the interview because just because the first job suits the candidate, doesn't mean the candidate suits the employer in the first job.

Thanks for the reply and yes he's pretty much guessing that he has been unsuccessful in Position 1.

He thought the company seemed very genuine when they advised him they would be back to the agency within a few days with a final decision on the 3 candidates the agency had forwarded. They have an exclusive relationship/contract with this one agency.

It's gone far past that timeframe and the same recruiter says she has heard nothing and is pushing him towards Position 2 which he can't go for due to it's location unless he moved.
He just wanted a Yes or No some sort of status update from the recruiter, but they only want to discuss the other one.