Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

Stheno

Brightwater
Didn't get placed but consultants were always very honest about positions and tasks involved.

I got my last job (prior to the one now) through Brightwater and have to say I found them absolutely fantastic to deal with.

I was contracting at the time, they kept me well up to date, did mock interviews beforehand, and kept in touch the entire time I was in the job.

When the contract was almost up, they called me to discuss other roles they had about five weeks before the end of the contract.

I got my current job through ETS and found them excellent too.

I've not much time for Hays, Rescon, HRM (sent me to an interview with the WRONG job spec), and especially Elan IT (Sent me for a role they initially said was permanent, then 12 months contract, turned out to be a six month contract on fixed salary) I took the job and then had a major fight with them to get paid for holidays, took over a month to sort it out. Holiday pay was included in the role at the statutory rate btw

When I was last looking for a job (august/sept time) I updated my c.v. on monster and had a ridiculous amount of calls from agencies, most of whom wanted me to look at roles with no relevance to what I do.

HBK

crap...

ADECCO

totally crap, never responded to calls/emails, althought could of been just one consultant

computer futures

sold jobs prety well, when in fact were ur run of the mill piss poor roles

good....

ELAN

shoddy ofice but seem like decent ppl to deal with, jobs on offer bit low end
though

Berkley it

very pleasent to deal with, gave great prep for interview, and tips...would deal again

dazberry

I think there has been a big accident in CSR. All their hands are broken and they can't use email/phone. Bit of a pity, dealt with them twice - 1995 and 2002 and found them nice - waste of time now.

D.

wheres me jumpa

Im a graduate who has just secured a job. I was searching for jobs for approx. a month. Here are my thoughts.

Its interesting to see people rate agencies I have been very poorly treated by. Really means that had the same agencies Im pi**ed at got me a job I would be praising them here.

One particular agency sticks out. I was called about a position, told that they would love my personality, that my skills match their requirements and that an interview is being arranged. Delighted. I was then told that somebody with more experience got the last available position however the company were so impressed with my CV that they wanted me in for an interview and if I was successful they would take on another candidate.

So I wait for word of my interview. About a week later a friend starts telling me about a position shes going for. Seems very familar. Its the same position and its the same individual and my friend was told the exact same things I was told.

I can handle rejection. But this person led two of us on. Foolish of me but she got me hook line and sinker. Im not going to name this agency. As I feel like it would bring me to the level this person operates.

The other agencies I have dealt with Ive had similar feelings. It got to the point that I would not answer private numbers because I couldnt sit through another "chat". Im in I.T. and very often I was dealing with people who knew little or nothing about the type of role, other than the bullet points they had in front of them.

My biggest gripe would be the lack of feedback. If somebody calls me with a position Im interested in and I meet all the requirements, I want to know why I didnt get an interview. How else can I improve my C.V. or applications.

In the end I got my job through CPL. Of course Im pleased with them as they got me a job however Ive had a lot of contact with them and they have been very helpful with all the typical graduate questions.

youcancallmeal

wheres me jumpa wrote:

Im a graduate who has just secured a job. I was searching for jobs for approx. a month. Here are my thoughts.

Its interesting to see people rate agencies I have been very poorly treated by. Really means that had the same agencies Im pi**ed at got me a job I would be praising them here.

One particular agency sticks out. I was called about a position, told that they would love my personality, that my skills match their requirements and that an interview is being arranged. Delighted. I was then told that somebody with more experience got the last available position however the company were so impressed with my CV that they wanted me in for an interview and if I was successful they would take on another candidate.

So I wait for word of my interview. About a week later a friend starts telling me about a position shes going for. Seems very familar. Its the same position and its the same individual and my friend was told the exact same things I was told.

I can handle rejection. But this person led two of us on. Foolish of me but she got me hook line and sinker. Im not going to name this agency. As I feel like it would bring me to the level this person operates.

The other agencies I have dealt with Ive had similar feelings. It got to the point that I would not answer private numbers because I couldnt sit through another "chat". Im in I.T. and very often I was dealing with people who knew little or nothing about the type of role, other than the bullet points they had in front of them.

My biggest gripe would be the lack of feedback. If somebody calls me with a position Im interested in and I meet all the requirements, I want to know why I didnt get an interview. How else can I improve my C.V. or applications.

In the end I got my job through CPL. Of course Im pleased with them as they got me a job however Ive had a lot of contact with them and they have been very helpful with all the typical graduate questions.

Yea CPL are good for the "Starting out" type IT jobs. Who is the agency that messed you around?

penexpers

I've had my fair share of agency runarounds. I won't bother naming names as most of them have been mentioned here. Two really good ones that haven't been mentioned so far are

Questman : They are based in Greystones, and seem to have a small list of clients. They don't seem to advertise on any of the usual job sites, but they headhunt people for clients. The consultant I worked with there was fantastic and was always upfront with me, even when I didn't get the job.

Executive Edge : I think they used to do most of the recruitment for SAP (they might still do). Again, I found the consultant there really helpful and always honest with me.

the_syco

wheres me jumpa wrote:

It got to the point that I would not answer private numbers because I couldnt sit through another "chat". Im in I.T. and very often I was dealing with people who knew little or nothing about the type of role, other than the bullet points they had in front of them.

...

In the end I got my job through CPL.

One reason I quite liked CPL: they put people who know the area/have worked in the area on that area. As in, most of the interviews who I spoke to, I found out that they knew how to talk about computers, understand you, and not just look at you like you have a third head when you mentions the words LAN, server or computer

wheres me jumpa

the_syco wrote:

One reason I quite liked CPL: they put people who know the area/have worked in the area on that area. As in, most of the interviews who I spoke to, I found out that they knew how to talk about computers, understand you, and not just look at you like you have a third head when you mentions the words LAN, server or computer

I was lucky with CPL because they are the sole recruiter for the company I now work for. So they knew the company, they knew the type of interviews and they knew type of people that would be interviewing me.

kmick

IT Candidate with 7 years experience- Here are my experiences from 6 months ago. Before you read them understand there are two types of agencies and that will determne the kind of service you get.

1) An agency is hired by Microsoft to locate candidates for a role. They get paid a fee up front and a fee on completion. Therefore they are not under pressure to generate revenue - rather to find the right candidate.

2) Two guys start a recruitment company. They trawl through company websites and find positions. They then advertise those positions as their own. when they get CV's they send them on to the company and take a fee each time a placement is made. It can be around 5 grand per person. You will see on some company websites 'The assistance of agancies is not required at this time'. This is because agencies will send in unsuitable candidates and the company wants to do the hiring themselves anyway. Also they dont want to pay out the 5 grand.

CPL -Brilliant -Professional and don't mess you around if you are a good candidate. I liked their upbeat attitude and their honesty.

Eolas - Avoid like the plague - It seems to me from our conversations they are a one man band.

HayesIT - Mediocre - Never heard back after first contact.

HRM - Mediocre - Did loads of nterviews with HRM and they put me in for about 5 roles. Never heard back yea or nay even though I called the guy twice.

ComputerFutures - What a bunch of fly by nights - hilarious. They make it up as they go along.

Rescon -Brilliant -Professional and dont mess you around if you are a good candidate. Never misrepresentd me or any of the roles.

Stelfox - Timewasters - Dont even bother calling - their attitude is atrocious

Eden - Mediocre - Another no call back after a long QandA session.

mountainyman

I found them dishonest. They promised the world but didn't deliver. Also they charge the highest fees in the country so you are better off being with ANY other agency.

MM

eth0_

I would like to praise NetNation. I was made redundant a few weeks ago and saw them advertise roles on this very board.

Gerry is a fantastic guy, very communicative and most importantly is honest with you. He got me into a job that i started in this week, negotiated money for me, and so far so good, it seems like a good role.

Have to reinforce the negative comments about Computer Futures though...a guy there rang me a while back trying to put me forward for a video conference job in Google - completely based on the fact I mentioned I supported some Tandberg systems in a helpdesk role I was in a few years ago - I took his call with a pinch of salt because I know Google don't use recruitment agencies except for temp roles, and also I looked up the job spec on their site while I was on the phone with CF - it was RIDICULOUSLY out of my league, this job was designing and implementing cross-continent video conference systems!

whitelightrider

eth0_ wrote:

I would like to praise NetNation. I was made redundant a few weeks ago and saw them advertise roles on this very board.

Gerry is a fantastic guy, very communicative and most importantly is honest with you. He got me into a job that i started in this week, negotiated money for me, and so far so good, it seems like a good role.conference systems!

I have to agree here. Gerry has been really good to deal with and is straight up when speaking to you. The little experience I have had with NetNation has been very good.

KTRIC

I've been contracting for Computer Futures for a while now and apart from them making a few quid off the contract fee (which is normal) I haven't had any problems.

I did deal with one of their reps a couple of years ago and he was a complete ass.

bambam

I'd like to highly recommend CSR. Very recently I got a cracking job through them, a very close match to what I had in mind. The guy I dealt with was John Tormley. He came across as very professional and attentive.

In the past, I have dealt with Net Nation, and found them very good also. The guy Cathal, went out of his way to prep me for the interview.

BTW, I'm a Snr J2EE dev.

IronMan

I too would like to weigh in behind the praise for NetNation. I was working in a role that made me unhappy, I got it through CPL, who were very communicative whilst I was applying for the job, but were mean, rude, and unresponsive once I had been posted on the job (permanent contract).

I replied to a job posted by Netnation on one of the major job sites, and they were excellent to deal with. I would get a call before the interview, helpful advice, a call after the first interview to ask me how I had got on. I didn't get that job, but they kept putting relevent interviews my way, always with the same helpful, personal response. And good quality jobs as well. A very positive experience.

eth0_

IronMan wrote:

I didn't get that job, but they kept putting relevent interviews my way, always with the same helpful, personal response. And good quality jobs as well. A very positive experience.

That's the mark of a good recruitment agency, not dropping you like a hot stone if you don't get offered the first job theyput you forward for!

Little-Devil

eth0_ wrote:

Actually, I forgot one...

Computer Futures
Dealt with a guy called Oisin in there. It was my first contracting job. He completely lied about the job spec, and I spent 3 months building PC's when I was supposed to be a sys admin. Was also covering for the boss and his lapdog (the only other guy in the dept.) who went on 2 hour lunches very regularly, the boss would come in at 10 and leave at 4, talk about taking the p*ss.

I was off sick one day and I got a call from the agency guy scolding me for taking a day off! Presumably because THEY are losing money because i'm not in work! He was really unhelpful and made no apologies that the job was totally misrepresented.

I've since been cold called by a colleague of his, spent nearly an hour on the phone to him going over my experience for him to put me forward for a job...never heard back from him.

They have being in contact with me about a possible job, which i have interview shortly. I will post up in the next few days about my experience. I'm dreading this interview now:eek:

eth0_

Little-Devil wrote:

They have being in contact with me about a possible job, which i have interview shortly. I will post up in the next few days about my experience. I'm dreading this interview now:eek:

The interview with him was fine, it was once I was in the job that he turned into a prize jerk, giving me sh*t because I was off sick (genuinely!) for a day or two.

I wish i'd had more of a backbone at the time to walk out of that contract, it was COMPLETELY misrepresented to me and I ended up being a skivvy and not doing systems admin work at all!

If similar happens to you, cut your losses and quit the contract. There's so many agencies out there, you're not going to ruin your career by leaving one contract.

Raekwon

eth0_ wrote:

That's the mark of a good recruitment agency, not dropping you like a hot stone if you don't get offered the first job theyput you forward for!

Very true, but recruitment agencies like that are very rare! Infact I have never come across one that would get back in contact with you offering more roles if you failed to secure the first role that you went for. (Stelfox are you listening?!?)

0ubliette

Sunny_Dublin wrote:

also surprisingly bad: cpl in dublin.
particularly aoife o'something, don't know if she still works there, is a few years ago now. this lovely lady even went as far as to threaten me that my career will be over if i don't take this particular job (which was in sales and i had repeatedly told her "no sales!!") and that i won;t find another job in any it company with my attitude... i'm quite happy now working in a management position in it, thank you very much...

I remember i worked for HP, recruited through cpl. It was tech support, a miserable soul destroying job, and one of our team leaders, in one of our weekly "team meetings" (aka, berate us all for doing so badly) was giving out about the amount of people calling in sick (everyone called in sick cause the job was so ****ing stressful and downright awful) and the cpl jackass went as far as to say, with a veiled threat, that if we got a bad mark from cpl, we'd never work in IT in dublin again!
So yeah, nice bunch of people :rolleyes:

beer4life

Anyone know of any where they actually employ you if you dont have degrees diplomas etc etc from college?:(

the_syco

beer4life wrote:

Anyone know of any where they actually employ you if you dont have degrees diplomas etc etc from college?:(

Depends what experience you have. Anything from dialup support, to data entry. Or with experience, maybe HP. Also depends who interviews you.

nodger

Raekwon wrote:

Yeah that is the same dude that I dealt with. Calling him useless would be an understatement!

He's gas... one of his tricks appears to be to dial directly to your voicemail, then email you to say he tried to call you but your phone was switched off. He asks you to call him instead, thus saving himself the cost of a lengthy call to discuss your CV or potential jobs, etc.

He also loves sending out these emails with loads of bogus jobs in them. I told him 3 times to take me off his mailing list & to remove my details from his database. Eventually, I had to threaten to submit his email address to every spam database known to man.

mick.fr

beer4life wrote:

Anyone know of any where they actually employ you if you dont have degrees diplomas etc etc from college?:(

Having a diploma is good

But not having one but with the required experience is not a problem at all depending of the area you are working on.

In 10 years in the IT, only one time somebody pointed out that I had no diploma, a part from my living cert, just because I was asking too much money in her opinion. I left the interview saying that I was loosing my time with her and the week after I had another job at the requested money.

As a freelance, I have provided consulting at 1500 euros/day sometimes (Storage training), and my usual rate is no less than 400 euros/day, I work all the year long with 3, 6, 9 months contracts.

At least in my IT area (Storage, AD Design, Security) diploma is meaningless most of the time. Experience and technical background counts only.

However having a diploma is still very recommended for many reasons.

panterachick

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.

Tom Dunne

ROFL.

You dig up an ancient thread to post that drivel. Nice one.

Looks like Recruitment agents can't even use teh interweb except to spam our inboxes with irrelevant jobs

Dan133269

panterachick wrote: »

recruitment agencies are not job clubs so dont expect to get a job from them because you have sent your CV.

Jesus I dunno what I was thinking when I approached recruiting agencies, should I have been looking for a haircut or something instead? :rolleyes:

Matrix Recruitment, ****e!

Charlie

Anyone have any recommendations for recruitment agencies that are good for grads, with little experience, who are looking for entry level/trainee roles.

I hold a 1.1 law degree and a masters, but want to get into Banking/financial services, yet I am finding every role requires 1 yr exp. etc.

the_syco

charlie mchugh wrote: »

1.1 degree

Goto the banks main office, and apply directly.

Charlie

the_syco wrote: »

Goto the banks main office, and apply directly.

Am I not likely to be told to email someone in HR or that they're not taking people on till next September?

Ishmael

I have dealt with 4 different agencies.

First one was The Meghen Group. To be honest, the only reason i even dealt with them was because i didn't know any better at the time(about 3 years ago now). The had some misrepresentations about the job spec mainly to do with working hours but it wasn't a big deal for me to be honest. Although, i got an email from them a few weeks ago that reeked of laziness on their part and was obviously just a C.V. harvesting email.

Second one i dealt with was "Allegis Group", the first guy i dealt with there was very good, helpful and quick to respond to any of my queries. He has since left and been replaced with a guy who is a bit of a git. He contacts me every now and again trying to push contracting jobs on me when i have already told him i am not interested in contracting. Also, i would like to mention that it seems to be an allegis thing to use the term "touch base" and i want to punch them every time they say it.

The Third is Allen recruitment, The first time i was contacted by them, the put me forward for a software position i was very interested in, but i didn't do so great in the interview. After that i think i was flung onto the dung heap, as 2 others have been in contact with me from the there trying to pass off the same sales job as a technical support position.

The last was CRB, who put me forward for a very good position that i was really interested in. I got to a second round interview but failed to get the position. They haven't been in contact since.

I have been contacted by other agencies(eolas, cpl, sigmar, chase) but i have never had any major dealings with them. I don't really care about recruitment agencies having loyality to a person until they find them a job so i'm not hounding them to find me a job when i am perfectly able to look myself. If they have something i'm interested in, then fair enough its in both our interests to get the job. If not then i will tell them fairly quickly i'm not interested in it.

the_syco

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Am I not likely to be told to email someone in HR or that they're not taking people on till next September?

Suppose that could happen. Or if you're not doing anything, go, with your CV, if you have the degree thing showing you have the 1.1, include a photocopy of that, and a cover letter for that particular bank (ie: not a one-for-every-bank letter), into the main place, and ask for a manager, and wonder if they have any grad positions for a 1.1 degree yoke, or a job in general.

flash harry

yeah definitely show up unannounced and expect that a manager will drop what they're doing to go meet you. Especially in the big banks where they have large HR depts to deal with all recruitment.............

But seriously the banks (ingeneral) aren't hiring much at the moment - you may very well just have to send it to HR. Follow up with a phone call after about a week nicely enquiring about your application and what, if any, process should be.

Mr. Incognito

but want to get into Banking/financial services

Why?

the_syco

flash harry wrote: »

yeah definitely show up unannounced and expect that a manager will drop what they're doing to go meet you. Especially in the big banks where they have large HR depts to deal with all recruitment.............

Yeah, suppose, my bad

But if you miss the recruitment drive, and arrive in late, posting your CV will get it ignored.

Ask, and you may find out that a) you're late, try next year b) you're late, but they'll throw your CV into the pile or c) you're late, but there'll be another recruitment drive in X months.

This is coming from the IT side of things, and got option C if I missed the recruitment drive. Avoids waiting 3 weeks for a PFO letter.

She Devil

The recruitment agent i was with wont give me my P45 back, they got me ONE WEEKS work, and now i can't sign on for my credits until i get my P45 they have it over four weeks now, i can't afford not to have it, they have stopped calling me also because i have asked for it back, so i have apparently shot myself in the foot!! Don't think il ever get myself a job I'm about to give up ....... Damn agencies!

luckat

Ring the tax dept and ask for a duplicate.

Dudess

Mary B ****ed me over, Eden ****ed my friend over, but I have to say I found La Creme excellent. Oh yeah, Hays still owes me money 11 months on...

Kinetic^

Dudess wrote: »

Hays still owes me money 11 months on...

I was so close to taking a job from them this week! Thankfully I didn't now.

Kinetic^

She Devil wrote: »

The recruitment agent i was with wont give me my P45 back, they got me ONE WEEKS work, and now i can't sign on for my credits until i get my P45 they have it over four weeks now, i can't afford not to have it, they have stopped calling me also because i have asked for it back, so i have apparently shot myself in the foot!! Don't think il ever get myself a job I'm about to give up ....... Damn agencies!

I'd walk in to their office and refuse to leave without it tbh.

kittensoft1984

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

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

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

JJJJNR

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

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

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

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.....

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

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_

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.