Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

kittensoft1984 · 20-10-2008 03:46PM

ive just finished working for a small recruitment agency. The reason I left was cos I am moving back to Galway.

To be honest I think you are much better going to the small agencies rather than the bigger ones....I went to CPL and they wanted to put to forward for jobs I wasnt even qualified for!!

How Strange · 21-10-2008 10:26PM

Worst
There are so many terrible ones but this one springs to mind
Sigmar
They insist you meet them for an initial interview i.e. you take time off work etc, they promise you the world and then............................................................................nothing
or they try to cajole you into leaving a permanent job for a 6 month contract because you know they can't fill it and are desperate.

Good
Techskills
Honest and do what they say they will

Brightwater
Can't compliment them enough. They have integrity and decency which are rare qualities for a recruitment agency

amtc · 21-10-2008 11:22PM

got current job (100k) through brightwater
found them great

JJJJNR · 22-10-2008 01:50AM

Just a bit of advice for everyone, if you are sent on an interview at the beginning of a week you are being used by said agency to do a reci, you are 100% sure you will be asked a hundred questions by the recruitment agent for the next person who they think is more suitable.. So my tip of the day would be tell said agency the opposite of what you were asked in the interview.

Just be careful out there folks.. its a big bad world.

sunny -H20

amc1977 · 22-10-2008 03:03AM

Personally I have never found any recruitment agencies that I have dealt with to be any good.
I seen a job advertised with brightwater that I was interested in. They called me and asked for me to visit there office which I did and told them exactly what I was looking for. A couple of days later I got a call from one of there consultants telling me about this position they had. They send me the job spec and i had reservations on its suitability but the consultant informed me that this role would be ideal to progress to where I want to be. At the interview the person interviewing said he could not understand why a person with a BA in Business Studies, Diploma in Project Management and half ways through the completion of a Masters in Finance and Law would be interested in a job where the daily duties was predominantly photocopying answering the phone and some typing. I told him what the consultant had said and he was shocked. He told me he would speak to them immediately shortly afterwards i got a call from the consultant who said the client felt i was unsuitable but if anthing else came up they would be in touch ( Never were)
I have registered with other agencies also but have never been considered for any roles. Recruitment consultants are sales people who do not take in to consideration transferable skills ambition etc they are only interested in putting candidates forward that are 100% match. At this stage i am considering emigrating.

Hairdo · 22-10-2008 09:28AM

I went for an interview in Galway before with a certain un-named agency and when I didn't hear back from them about any possible roles I checked their website. When I checked a job came up that was exactly the description I was about to leave. (With almost my exact job description from my cv that had previously gone in to them) When I rang her to ask her about the job she said that there was nothing suitable for me at all and didn't know what I was talking about re this job. Of course, the job disappeared off the website within an hour.

Now it could have been a coincidence but draw your own conclusions....

PM me for the name of the agency if you would like to avoid it.

CorkFenian · 22-10-2008 11:07AM

Well i think is a disgrace what RTR (abbreviated are doing), absolutely should be against the law, they have loads of jobs advertised on irish jobs, when all they are doing is farming for cvs, and looking specifically for people who are leaving roles, to call them back, them and NN, would be my own personal waste of time agencies , especially NN.....

22-10-2008 12:23PM

I have a few stories but just wanted to mention Sigmar. I contacted a few recruitment agencies about temp work a few weeks ago. I got a week in an office with one agency, and while working there I got a call from Sigmar. It took a while to answer the call, about 10 rings, as I was just heading out for lunch, and I wish I hadn't bothered, as she was the B*TCHIEST cow I have encountered in a long, long time. She just said 'you were looking for work, but.............. it sounds like you already have work' in a really nasty tone. I told her I had a week in this office, but I was free after that during the day. I have no intention of ever contacting them again though, she was such a nasty, snippy, cold b*tch. There is absolutely NO need to behave like that!

flash harry · 22-10-2008 01:27PM

JJJJNR wrote: »

Just a bit of advice for everyone, if you are sent on an interview at the beginning of a week you are being used by said agency to do a reci, you are 100% sure you will be asked a hundred questions by the recruitment agent for the next person who they think is more suitable.. So my tip of the day would be tell said agency the opposite of what you were asked in the interview.

good tip - of course all jobs are neatly interviewed Monday - Friday in one week so if your in on Monday you are going to be used as a test subject. Oh no wait, what I really mean is this is the stupidist thing I have ever read on boards, and believe me there's some serious competition for that particular prize!!!!!!

eth0_ · 22-10-2008 01:35PM

If it's not true, why does the recruiter ring you after the interview and often grill you on what you were asked?

Fair enough, ring up and ask how the candidate got on, but to extract the interview questions out of the candidate ...to me that's clear the recruiter is going to use this information to better prepare the other candidates they have for the job.

Maybe you have professional ethics, flash_harry, but most recruiters don't. You can't defend the indefencible.

flash harry · 22-10-2008 01:49PM

Monday-Friday bit is BS I think we'll agree?

Yes I know the other happens, and I agree, should be a level playing field for all applicants

FH

eth0_ · 22-10-2008 01:50PM

Yeah the monday-friday thing is a bit far fetched but the essence of his statement is still true in a lot of cases, I know i've experienced it a couple of times in the past.

Munster_Gal · 22-10-2008 02:07PM

panterachick wrote: »

I work for a recruitment agency on a temp desk. I get hundreds of CVs everyday, of which i read through and identify if they have the right experience for the role to which they have applied.
Most if the time they dont.
When you send your CV to an agency dont ring them the next day - they have received it - they will call you if they are interested. the chances are they have a better candidate on file. just becasue you have a qualification doesnt mean you can do the job. most of my temps have little or no qualifications, but excellent experience. the experience is what counts.
we will choose a candidate who will satisfy our client, there is no point in putting someone forward who cant do the job.
i would rather have 30 good candidates registered and interviewed, who i know i can place than 300 who i cant.
i will always be honest and tell someone if they do not have the relevant experience and give advice on other agencies who may help, or mention any jobs i have come accross in papers and online.
the nature of the industry is to put the right people in the rigt jobs, to make the client happy and the candidate also.
more often than not the client decides the salary/payrate - we have no influence over this.
recruitment agencies are not job clubs so dont expect to get a job from them because you have sent your CV.

Fairplay PanteraChick for sticking up for us guys working in recruitment. Of course 300 people can't be replied to every day. And anyone who thinks that they're guaranteed a job just because they contact a recruitment agent is living in la la land. recruitment agencies are there to assist you with finding a new job. We don't recruit for every company out there so there may not always be suitable jobs for everyone who sends in their CV's.
While I understand that some people may have had bad experiences dealing with recruitment agents... Generalising it is a bit unfair as most recruiters spend most of their time going through CV's that they receive trying to find the best people for jobs that will suit them and not landing them in crappy ones!!!

eth0_ · 22-10-2008 02:12PM

Nonsense, I can count on one hand the number of times i've dealt with a recruiter who had the first clue about matching a CV to a job.

Don't ring me and waste my fscking time asking me to go for a job as a programmer or a lotus notes developer simply because you've seen I did some Java programming in college, and did Notes administration in a previous job.

flash harry · 22-10-2008 02:16PM

I've said this before in a previous post but it seems to me a lot of the bad feeling on recruiters on boards (in general) seem to be IT field? An observation more than anything......

KTRIC · 22-10-2008 02:27PM

flash harry wrote: »

I've said this before in a previous post but it seems to me a lot of the bad feeling on recruiters on boards (in general) seem to be IT field? An observation more than anything......

Thats because the majority of IT recruiters don't have a clue about the different technologies.

InReality · 22-10-2008 03:37PM

I've worked in IT and had a mate in IT recruitement for a number of years so think I have a fair idea of how they work.

My advice re agencies would be
1) It depends more on who you deal in an agency then the agency itself.
2) Companies pay agencies, not you directly. So don't expect the same "customer care".
3) If your on a mailing list , ask to be taken off it. I don't see why this annoys people so much

4) You can always mail companies yourself and not deal with any agencies.

Maglight · 22-10-2008 07:21PM

AnotherEmigre wrote: »

Rather than send my CV off again to the agencies, I intend to be a lot more selective this time. So can anyone recommend a headhunter in Dublin? They do exist, don't they?

Try Merc partners www.merc.ie, Amrop Hever or KPMG Executive Selection. www.Irishjobs.ie also as an Executive room with only senior level jobs advertised.

herya · 24-10-2008 04:34PM

eth0_ wrote: »

If it's not true, why does the recruiter ring you after the interview and often grill you on what you were asked?

To know what's the company's policy, what kind of questions they have for all candidates, how do they come across in personal aspect, in general what the interviewing process is like. Most likely the company is a regular client so the consultant will have other jobs from them, they might even need more employees for identical role or something similar enough so knowing the process well gives you an advantage in sourcing and placing.

Some of this you know from the company but most you have to piece together talking to your candidates and of course the longer you do that the better feel you develop for the company's needs and style.

She Devil · 24-10-2008 08:07PM

My friend owns a recruitment agents in wexford, he gave me excellent advice the other day about recruiters in Dublin, TRY TRY TRY not to go for the temp jobs, if you ever want a full time position, because if you are any good they will keep moving you to look good for them!!

I am going solo looking for my jobs now, i am sick of the fake bunch of "£$£%$%$%$, isnt it amazing how they are so nice to you at the beginning, and then when you start saying no to the shyte they are trying to pawn off on you, they get ****ty!! ARGH i hate them, and i honestly used to think they were great!

Tom Dunne · 25-10-2008 09:50AM

I've spent the morning looking for a job.

What I do is fairly specialised, so there aren't too many jobs around, but there are a few places hiring.

What I have noticed is Company X advertises on their own website and the job description, word for word, appears on at least five different recruitment websites.

And you can tell the company hasn't commissioned the recruitment agencies, because usually the job adverts start with "our client, a leading.....", whereas these all start with "A leading...... is looking for.....".

/rant

Farls · 29-10-2008 01:21PM

I done a contract role with GCS recruitment, found them very professional and excellent to work with.

Currently looking for a new position and have a lot of companies calling me looking to waste time more than anything from what I can see. Had two companies send out my CV to positions that I told them I was not interested in and call me back a few days later to say things are progressing nicely?!?!!

Had realtime recruitment call me up and tell me I would never work again at the salary I was looking for, then everyone that has rang me since reckons I could probably look for a bit more?!!!

Overall my feelings are that it depends on who you deal with within the company more than the company itself.

I'm getting a lot of call from two guys in harvey nash at the moment, has anybody had any dealings with HN good or bad?

I was just talking to VanRath in the North there also, they seem very professional, ie. the guy was actually technical that I spoke to.

ronan001 · 06-11-2008 02:07PM

I was searching for a job recently and i've found recruitment agents to be utterly useless. They lists hundreds of jobs that dont exist, just trying to get CV's in case something suitable actually does come in.

I spent hours looking through web sites, picking jobs that are suitable for me, only to be told, "no that one went yesterday, i need to take it off the web site". But of course two months later, these jobs are still up.

It should be illegal, surely its false advertisement?.

I know its difficult to find out about companies who need people, but it is far better to deal directly with a company. First of all, unlike agencies, they actually read your CV. The agencies just call you, and ask you everything thats in your cv because they are too lazy to read it. I will do everything in my power to ensure a recruitment agency never makes a penny out of me in my life.

mrpink6789 · 06-11-2008 03:56PM

ronan001 wrote: »

I know its difficult to find out about companies who need people, but it is far better to deal directly with a company. First of all, unlike agencies, they actually read your CV. The agencies just call you, and ask you everything thats in your cv because they are too lazy to read it. I will do everything in my power to ensure a recruitment agency never makes a penny out of me in my life.

Sorry to hear you had bad luck with agencies, it's unfortunate that there are so many idiots out there in the area. I'm a recruiter myself so I hate hearing about these people giving me a bad name.

It's not always better to deal directly with the company trust me. Like some agencies, some HR people are jokes so your CV gets brushed aside, only a small part of their job is to deal with CV's for hiring managers so its never top of their list.

If you are still looking for work feel free to drop me a pm, you don't want to deal with agencies and that's fine but I'll at least give you some free advice on what kind of jobs are active in the market place at the moment. Luckily for me my company isn't shamed on this thread.

Either way best of luck with the job hunt.

AARRRGH · 06-11-2008 04:05PM

mrpink6789 wrote: »

It's not always better to deal directly with the company trust me. Like some agencies, some HR people are jokes so your CV gets brushed aside, only a small part of their job is to deal with CV's for hiring managers so its never top of their list.

I agree with this. I know a few HR people who will only use agencies.

yop · 06-11-2008 04:08PM

Same as that, been looking myself lately, 1 job in my area appears on Monday, date is on it.
I apply and asked for more details, said email me as I cant take a call. Agency rings, rings again 2 minutes later.
I email, dont call me, cant take the call. Ring me again.
Following morning, 8am, ring me, in the car.
Emailed, said that I wanted more detail on the job. Did not get it. Emailed again, asked about job, no reply.
The 2 days after advertised, got email Oh job gone. I said sound ya
This morning, whats up there again, the same job!! What a shower of wasters.

Emailed another crowd. Dont want a perm job in X area as too far away.
What do I get, a voice mail. Lovely job in X area, give me a call.
Emailed, whats the job, what daily rate?
Got back reponse, its X per year, need you to call me.
I reponded is it perm.... shock horror it was!!

I wish to GOd that companies would just advertise themselves, at least they can see the people intersted and vice versa.

Sorry, rant over!!

mrpink6789 · 06-11-2008 04:33PM

yop wrote: »

Same as that, been looking myself lately, 1 job in my area appears on Monday, date is on it.
I apply and asked for more details, said email me as I cant take a call. Agency rings, rings again 2 minutes later.
I email, dont call me, cant take the call. Ring me again.
Following morning, 8am, ring me, in the car.
Emailed, said that I wanted more detail on the job. Did not get it. Emailed again, asked about job, no reply.
The 2 days after advertised, got email Oh job gone. I said sound ya
This morning, whats up there again, the same job!! What a shower of wasters.

Emailed another crowd. Dont want a perm job in X area as too far away.
What do I get, a voice mail. Lovely job in X area, give me a call.
Emailed, whats the job, what daily rate?
Got back reponse, its X per year, need you to call me.
I reponded is it perm.... shock horror it was!!

I wish to GOd that companies would just advertise themselves, at least they can see the people intersted and vice versa.

Sorry, rant over!!

Yeah I don't know how people won't do their jobs right. Its worth their while to remember your details so they are not wasting their time ringing candidates who won't do the job, plus it just makes you not want to deal with them again.

Don't let this be a reflection on all agencies though, some of us are actually good at our jobs and develop strong relationships within it.

Lil' Smiler · 06-11-2008 05:16PM

I have had ****e luck from agencies

No word back after Initial phone call from Celtic Careers and other random ones that rang as they found my CV on irish Jobs etc

Met with Top People in Dublin.. traipsed around Harcourt Street on a horrible rainy day for ages trying to find them. Waited for them for ages when someone finally arrived to interview me. Went through CV twice with 2 different people. There was some problem with their computer so couldn't do whatever tests typing etc, said they'd email it to me. No email came through. Rang them, no one rang back, emailed, no reply. So just left it, about 2 months later someone rang to ask if I was still looking for a job. Gave them a piece of my mind and insisted I was removed from their databse.

Recruitment Solutions in Bray, thought I'd try my local one. Ridiculous. The guy was so enthusiastic saying my Cv was so employable la la la, was in constant contact which was grand until he started sending me for jobs. Was sent to a company who were looking for a HR assistant....I was looking for a secretarial/receptionist/admin role. I went into the interview and was practically laughed in the face as I wasn't at all qualified in HR, she asked why I wanted the role and what I knew about the type of position it was.

I was not impressed with that. He then sent me for another job supposed to be another Admin - exactly the same as a previous job but it was for a Pharmaceutical Company. Again was laughed in the face at, although this man interviewing was SO much nicer. He said he was very sorry for wasting my time but the job was for a guy in a warehouse.

I've just found over the last few weeks, that I email agencies and never hear very unimpressed with that. Have not heard back from Sigmar, Mary B, La Creme, Executive Connections, Ann O'Brien. At least Storm Recruitment in Greystones were honest and said that the people with the best CV's will only be the ones considered.

Anyone have any recommendations for Office work type agencies?

flash harry · 06-11-2008 07:40PM

It is completely unfair to name agencies here with complete anominity and effectively slander them. Should the recruiters here be able to start a thread and name candidates who have not did what they said they'd do?

I do believe in replying to everyone who sends their details to me but as some of the other recruiters will agree with, some people will just apply for jobs they have absolutely no credentials to do so for and it can get tedious sifting through them and replying individually - hence why most agencies have a generic automated response.

the_syco · 06-11-2008 09:51PM

mrpink6789 wrote: »

It's not always better to deal directly with the company trust me. Like some agencies, some HR people are jokes so your CV gets brushed aside, only a small part of their job is to deal with CV's for hiring managers so its never top of their list.

The one person who would know most about the job would be the manager. However, it's most likely HR that will be looking at them. From different HR's, I feel that most agencies have a better clue of the job, than the HR. HR will know about people, but not the specifics of the job, what it entails, etc.

Thus, agencies in their fields usually know about the jobs specs, can ensure you suit the job, etc. CPL, shower of *******s that they are, mostly do know they sh|t, and will usually not send you to an interview for the sake of sending you.

Manpower, having gotten a job in Eircom from them, I'd never touch again. They were total cowboys at the time.

Hays IT, brillant. Yer ones knew about the jobs they were sending me to be interviewed with, and all the jobs were jobs that I wanted. True, one job was a bit advanced for me (would have needed more experience/certs to get it), but it was an excellent interview experience.

Head-Hunt International Limted.. the interview was going well, untill I mention having a CompTIA. Blank luck. Told be job spec. I asked a question about a technology used. Blank look. The twat didn't have a clue other than what was written on the page. Have avoided them as well since.

=-=

Anytime I'm looking for a job, I tend to go back to the same recruitment people, CPL, Hays, and some other that I forget atm. True, they're **** half the time, but, they're **** that have a good understanding of the job they're putting me forward for, so in my book, that makes them competent.

And more agenices get added to my black list:pac:

flash harry wrote: »

It is completely unfair to name agencies here with complete anominity and effectively slander them.

Although I partly agree with you, it's always nice to know that when X agency screwed you around, it wasn't just a once off, but one of a number of reasons to avoid them.

Example: thought Manpower was just crap whilst handling the recruitment in Eircom. Things sometimes happen beyond an agencies control, and all that. But, nope, found out they were like that elsewhere. Saved myself a lot of hassle avoiding them since then.

=-=

For the record, anyone job hunting should check out jobbank.fas.ie - mainly direct dealings with the company, with no middle-man.

Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

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