Recruitment Agencies

Setanta1985

Anyone have any issues with recruitment agencies?

Signed up to Morgan McKinley and after initial call never heard anything back and that was July.

Signed up with FRS Recruitment and got an interview and the job was completely different to what I was looking for and the recruiter was very nice and apologetic about it. But since have applied for 2 jobs that would be suitable for me and they email me telling me now I’m not suitable for these positions.

Are they all like this? Are you better going it alone? As honest to god if I was asked to give a star rating I’d be rating at -1.

Facthunt

From experience…..

Best off applying direct if you know company who are hiring!

I find agencies treat you as a commodity! They often don’t know what the role they are advertising entails!

I find LinkedIn useful! Update your profile here.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319665/recruitment-agencies

Recruitment agents will never try to find you a job. That's not their job.

They are trying to find employees for their clients, the employers. That's who pays the bill.

If you happen to fit a job spec that comes across their desk, then you're their best mate. Until then, expect tumbleweeds.

fritzelly

Few years ago I joined a few agencies based on a new job listing - strangely all the jobs were gone when I applied.

Came to the conclusion it was just marketing to get you on the books

road_high

They’re grand once they think they might benefit from you- I had one there recently nice as pie put me forward for an interview (such wonderful news, i was so privileged!)- I declined to attend the interview for various reasons and could almost feel the passive aggression down the phone telling her.

road_high

Their job is basically selling cvs and candidates matching them to clients jobs and are paid according to successful placement of candidates. So if they place someone it can mean €1000s in revenue

chrisd2019

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319665/recruitment-agencies

Yes it is typical, has been for many years, candidates are their raw material.

If possible contact employers directly.

road_high

One way the better ones can actually help you is a run through interview questions- I found that useful in the past as it did focus me

I am me123

As someone who has worked through agencies in the past, it really depends on the recruiter themselves that you deal with from the agency. Some recruiters really are worth their weight in gold, who go above and beyond to ensure their candidates are well prepared for interviews, great at giving feedback,etc. If the candidate builds up a good reputation this can lead to more job opportunities down the line for the candidate.

lbunnae

Treat them like they would treat you , dont bother replying to things if you have no intetest

Shield

Mod: Moved to Work & Jobs from Media and Research.

-Shield

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319665/recruitment-agencies

Just like everyone else, recruiters work for the people who pay them and in this case that is the employer. The reason employers use agencies is because they either don't want to have to handle the early stages of interview process or because they want the agency to do a head hunting job.

So applying to an agency is in most cases no different to applying to an employer directly, with the exception that you are applying to multiple employers in a single go. So it is important that you have a well written CV, make it easy for them to work with it by having all the relevant buzzy words front and centre and so on.

There is one advantage of working with an agency and that is that you almost always get an opportunity to make an oral presentation to them, either by phone or in person, where as employers only talk to people on a filtered list. And that is your opportunity to build up a good relationship with the recruiters and ensure that you are on their minds when a new position comes in.

In my experience the people who do well working with agencies are those who take the time to build the relationship with the recruiters and that means contacting them and even meeting up with them multiple times. Not just send them a CV and then just fail to keep in contact. Even if your CV does come up on their databases after say six months, they will probably ignore it as they have not heard from you and will assume you found something and are not longer interested. Many jobs that come into the agencies don't get advertised because the recruiter already has the 5 or 6 candidates in mind that they will talk to the employer about on their mind.

I'm retired now but I still meet up with some of the people in the agency I used to use for a coffer or a beer every so often.

El Gato De Negocios

They have a place. I moved roles a few months ago via an agency. I had seen the job advertised directly and assumed that it wouldn't pay what I would need to leave my previous role as the salary wasn't listed in the company ad. I was wrong and ended up getting the job and a significant pay bump. Once you don't take it personally then they can serve a purpose but try and make them work for you.

taratee

Good and bad in every walk of life. Recruitment agencies are no different. Have had some good experiences, some (one) bad one, and one strange experience. Prefer to deal with the company directly myself. Things tend to move a little slower if you go down that path but you know where you strand when you are dealing with a company.