Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

Duq_ · 08-06-2011 8:07am

But the important question: did Brightwater get you a job in the end?
I've had enough blunt, constructive and conflicting feedback on my CV. Now I want to actually get a job.
Just checked my email archives. Brightwater is one of the recruiters who were happy to receive my CV and then did absolutely bugger all with it.
Others were CPL and Archer, while ComputerPeople contacted me to deliver training in French on Windows 7 and Sql Server 2008. Not sure why. I'm not interested in short contracts, don't speak French and have no experience with Windows 7 or Sql Server 2008...

mickman · 08-06-2011 8:31am

Duq_ wrote: »

But the important question: did Brightwater get you a job in the end?
I've had enough blunt, constructive and conflicting feedback on my CV. Now I want to actually get a job.
Just checked my email archives. Brightwater is one of the recruiters who were happy to receive my CV and then did absolutely bugger all with it.
Others were CPL and Archer, while ComputerPeople contacted me to deliver training in French on Windows 7 and Sql Server 2008. Not sure why. I'm not interested in short contracts, don't speak French and have no experience with Windows 7 or Sql Server 2008...

the recruitment agency dont get you a job, its yourself that has to get that

genericguy · 08-06-2011 8:02pm

mickman wrote: »

the recruitment agency dont get you a job, its yourself that has to get that

Yep, totally agree. These guys are not fás, their job is to meet a company's brief and find them the people they want, not to make sure you get the job of your dreams. If a recruiter doesn't call you back, then there is no job there for you - if you were suited to a given position they would be straight on the phone to you. They get paid to find people with demonstrated ability to do a job, not to give you a crack of the whip because you would like to get into that area.

sanna · 09-06-2011 11:05am

Surprised no one has mentioned Grafton Recruitment.

Utterly useless well the one in D12 is, they dont reply to emails, calls, cant be arsed with follow up, signed with them nearly 2 yrs ago and only now am I getting text messages about roles that are in fricking Antrim, hello my file says no car and public transport usage only!!

Last count I was signed with 14 agencies, had work with 3 of them Julia Ross, Stepone and Orange, another were newish when I managed to get 3 months work so starting again with them now (Adecco,Manpower, Kelly Services & Office Angels) the others had advertised for a particular role I went for and had few interviews with companies but not heard anything back or they said they would follow up with other work or the job was too far, they were la Creme, Cougar, Progressive Placement. GHL are hard to get a reply from and Ive been with them nearly 6yrs!

On my way this afternoon to meet with Reed so fingers crossed, they got my CV from Monster.

Mr. Loverman · 09-06-2011 11:21am

mickman wrote: »

the recruitment agency dont get you a job, its yourself that has to get that

The recruiters job is to basically forward your CV to the employer and then take a lot of money when you get the job, so I wouldn't give them much credit if you get the job!

hinault · 09-06-2011 4:30pm

Avoid a crowd called Wallace Myers International.

They are based at Regus House, Harcourt Road, Dublin 2.

They contacted me about a "fantastic role that they had" by email. I emailed them back asking some cursory questions about the role, where it was based and the remuneration.
They claimed that they couldn't give me that information unless I registered with them.

I said that I would be prepared to that but they insisted that I had to send them on my CV by email first.
I did send on my CV and have spent the last three weeks trying to call them to arrange for me to register with them:mad:

They're a CV harvesting entity as far as I can make out.
"A Steadfast Ethical Approach - From common professional courtesy to putting your interests first, not our fees"

sanna · 10-06-2011 10:10am

I think the best way to deal with agencies is to treat it as another avenue for getting a job

Im only using them as Im temping in the meantime, going on previous experiences with agencies you can get a day or two temping someplace and the next thing you know you have a few weeks work out of it, which lets face it is better than nothing.

The agencies arent working for you they are working for the employer, I got grief off an agency as I turned down a role, I knew it wasnt for me by the time I got there but it woulda helped if I got the job description a couple of days before instead of the night before the interview, and the description was complete crap looked like a Brian Cowen speech, went round and round in circles and didnt describe the job properly at all.

shoegirl · 13-06-2011 12:39pm

TheDoc wrote: »

Got a call from Hays recruitment today for an IT job based in Citywest, meeting tomorrow for an interview.

Your man seemed sound and very informative over the phone about the position .

Was it for a company with a 3 lettered acronym for a name? If so would be curious how it panned out as went through same about 6 weeks ago, didn't hear from the agency. Mailed them 2 weeks later and they said that company was pleased with me, and was hoping once HR and finance were sorted would be making me an offer.

That was the last I heard from them so a bit less than confident in that agency and agent.

shoegirl · 13-06-2011 12:47pm

Mixed feelings all round:

CPL - some good agents, some not so good.
Archer - all right, got me interview for a job last year
Realtime - ok, didn't like fact that the contract length the consultancy hiring said was different to the agency
Morgan McKinley - previously dealt with them in Cork and found them utterly awful, but currently dealing with Dublin office and finding them considerably better
Elan - good to be honest IF they have a job suited
Verkom - really really awful. sent me to one company last year and never heard anything again.
Hayes - poor. another that came back with vague feedback or none at all
Harvey Nash - good at following up, slow burners but ok
Tek Systems - very hard to assess this one - kind of felt that they were fishing for information and contacts

Noticing a lot of agencies now demanding references in advance - very fishy - they are looking for contacts for sales in my opinion.

_Kaiser_ · 13-06-2011 3:12pm

Just had a rather unpleasant conversation with a Paul Murphy from itstaff.ie there...

He currently has a Windows Deskside IT-type role advertised in Louth through irishjobs.ie so I gave him a call to see what the story is...

Now aside from sounding as if he was on a speakerphone (though it was a mobile number I rang), and answering with "hello Paul here" (no last name, no company identification etc) and despite claiming to be a manager he was very distracted, not very informative and when I tried to glean some more info from him, cut across me to tell me that the role was at offer stage and that by the sound of it there were other candidates that'd be better qualified etc (this before I even MENTIONED my own qualifications/experience etc - which for the record includes experience as Senior IT Admin/Manager in a wintel enviornment in everything from procurement to support to project management and looking after a small team of helpdesk staff)

When I challenged him on this he hung up on me - so I duly called back and he accused me of not listening to him and then said that I'd probably be overqualified for the role anyway!

He didn't have much of an answer when I said that I don't appreciate being hung up on by a guy who's clearly too busy talking to others (I could hear voices in the background) to deal with people applying for his vacancy - that if he was in a meeting (which of course he then said he was) all he'd have to do is ask to reschedule the call but I think this was falling on deaf ears to be honest.

For fun (and to lodge a complaint) I tried ringing the main number on their website but it seems to go to the same mobile so that's not a good sign either in my opinion!

No wonder agencies get such a bad rep with people like this who are clearly too "busy" to deal with jobseekers or even take down jobs that are already "at offer stage" :rolleyes:

Amtmann · 13-06-2011 8:02pm

Hi folks, first post in this forum.

Just in relation to getting your CV reviewed/making contacts in good agencies like Sigmar and CPL, what should you do? Is it enough to just apply for a job they have advertised, thereby putting yourself on their radar, or should you ring them solely to make them aware of your availability and skills?

mistermister · 15-06-2011 10:18am

Eolas - Used to be good a few years ago but are bad now and very rude. Usually deal with Peter Kirby

Vero(Rebranded to Gempool) - Fairly professional and polite but let down repeatedly by late payments for contractors

Archer - Went for phone interview and office interview for job, and they refuse to follow up. Dealt with Sam Perrin

Epeople - Dealt with Brian Kearns - very insulting and rude. Closed down now.

Mr. Loverman · 17-06-2011 8:12am

shoegirl wrote: »

Noticing a lot of agencies now demanding references in advance - very fishy - they are looking for contacts for sales in my opinion.

Yep, sounds like it!

salesjobs.ie · 17-06-2011 10:11am

Hi All,

With 15 years running my own agency (IT People ltd), ex IT Engineer and last 7 years running www.ComputerJobs.ie & www.SalesJobs.ie (Niche job boards) I have seen all sides between candidates / recruiters and employers.

All I can say is that like restaurants / hotels / taxi drivers & pubs, there are "the good, the bad and the ugly".

Your mission is to find the recruiters that suit your profession/industry and stick to them, even when they move agencies -target about 5.

Recruiters can be slack on returning calls so when on the job hunt, make sure you call them AND email them once a fortnight with the following:

Current role, current and ideal salary (dont spoof, be straight), profile of ideal employer (small irish, big international,), dream / ideal job, preferred location.

Don't take it personally when they don't return calls.

*** Once exact match lands on their desk, you will be foremost on their minds because of your 2 weekly contact ***

Also, remember, employers use agencies so they can save their time having to screen loads of Cv's (& spend their employers money as its not theirs anyway) so the recruiters send your cv but it sits in some managers inbox (along with about 10 v good other cv's) and thats one of the reasons they get a bad rap, thy are depending on the faceless HR / hiring manager to respond to your Cv.

Hope all above helps,

Niall

CorkFenian · 17-06-2011 10:17am

salesjobs.ie wrote: »

Hi All,

With 15 years running my own agency (IT People ltd), ex IT Engineer and last 7 years running www.ComputerJobs.ie & www.SalesJobs.ie (Niche job boards) I have seen all sides between candidates / recruiters and employers.

All I can say is that like restaurants / hotels / taxi drivers & pubs, there are "the good, the bad and the ugly".

Your mission is to find the recruiters that suit your profession/industry and stick to them, even when they move agencies -target about 5.

Recruiters can be slack on returning calls so when on the job hunt, make sure you call them AND email them once a fortnight with the following:

Current role, current and ideal salary (dont spoof, be straight), profile of ideal employer (small irish, big international,), dream / ideal job, preferred location.

Don't take it personally when they don't return calls.

*** Once exact match lands on their desk, you will be foremost on their minds because of your 2 weekly contact ***

Also, remember, employers use agencies so they can save their time having to screen loads of Cv's (& spend their employers money as its not theirs anyway) so the recruiters send your cv but it sits in some managers inbox (along with about 10 v good other cv's) and thats one of the reasons they get a bad rap, thy are depending on the faceless HR / hiring manager to respond to your Cv.

Hope all above helps,

Niall

Good post in fairness, how would you feel as I have experienced (working but looking) been on 1-2 interviews lately ,one which was a whole afternoon of interviews (2-3 hrs) (where I have taken time off work etc) only to receive no feedback whatsever....Just told that role was gone...Which makes the whole experience utterly pointless..

Going to an interview and taking time off to do so is a lot different to just sending a cv in...I think there needs to be some kind of regulation within the recruiting industry.
I have met good and bad ones, the good ones always help out and have gotten me roles etc, unfortunately theres very few of them out there...

Jen12345 · 22-06-2011 10:25am

Hi,

Has anyone had any dealings with Micheal Page of EMR Recruitment?

Thanks,

Jen,

bayles · 22-06-2011 2:41pm

2 jobs on the same companies web site put up by 2 different employees , worded totaly differently and it turnes out to be the same job so you end up applying twice

. SIGMAR RECRUITMENT DUBLIN WTF IS GOING ON .

Eric Cartman · 03-07-2011 4:31pm

Verkom - Excellent, really nice , they originally had me pegged for 1 job but after their little 'pre-interview' they told me my CV didnt do me justice and send me for an interview for a better paid job more suited to me. Im still there after 3 years

Offy · 04-07-2011 12:02am

I applied for a job as an automation engineer with Exalt in Galway. I was very clear on not been interested in any position that did not offer going rates. Exalt said that would be no problem as it was a great company. I did the interview and supplied references. I got an offer of €5k less than min going rate! I would not recommend them, it was a waste of a day and petrol going to that interview.

compo1 · 04-07-2011 12:05pm

Any good agencies in the Cork area dealing with admin/clerical roles?

sendit · 04-07-2011 12:26pm

Offy wrote: »

I applied for a job as an automation engineer with Exalt in Galway. I was very clear on not been interested in any position that did not offer going rates. Exalt said that would be no problem as it was a great company. I did the interview and supplied references. I got an offer of €5k less than min going rate! I would not recommend them, it was a waste of a day and petrol going to that interview.

Some people would be very glad to have got an interview for that job. Just because you didn't get a wage you wanted doesn't make them a bad agencies.

degrassinoel · 04-07-2011 3:34pm

no it means they didnt give a flying fcuk what he said so long as he went for the interview.

sendit · 04-07-2011 3:44pm

degrassinoel wrote: »

no it means they didnt give a flying fcuk what he said so long as he went for the interview.

But he was offered that wage at the interview whos to say the agencies didn't know what they were going to offer?

degrassinoel · 04-07-2011 4:04pm

of course he would have known, its his job to know these things!

I'd be happy to work for a little less myself but if i had specificlly told the recruitment guy what my expectations were for salary, and then be offered significantly less by the employer i'd be fecked off too.

Offy · 04-07-2011 10:08pm

sendit wrote: »

But he was offered that wage at the interview whos to say the agencies didn't know what they were going to offer?

I made it very clear to the agency that I would only work for going rates. When I was offered the position the agency asked if I would consider meeting them half way. I wont work for less than a graduate gets as I have 20+ years experience. The agency wasted my time in the hope they would find someone that was desperate and get their commission.

sendit · 04-07-2011 10:47pm

Offy wrote: »

I made it very clear to the agency that I would only work for going rates. When I was offered the position the agency asked if I would consider meeting them half way. I wont work for less than a graduate gets as I have 20+ years experience. The agency wasted my time in the hope they would find someone that was desperate and get their commission.

How do you know that the company told the agency was told a different wage to the one you were offered?

Offy · 04-07-2011 11:09pm

sendit wrote: »

How do you know that the company told the agency was told a different wage to the one you were offered?

I dont know what the company told the agency but I do know what I told the agency BEFORE the interview and the agency said that would not be a problem. If it was a problem I should have been told, if I was I would have dropped out of the running. Do you work for the agency? Why are you so defending the agency so adamantly?

sendit · 04-07-2011 11:15pm

Offy wrote: »

I dont know what the company told the agency but I do know what I told the agency BEFORE the interview and the agency said that would not be a problem. If it was a problem I should have been told, if I was I would have dropped out of the running. Do you work for the agency? Why are you so defending the agency so adamantly?

No i dont. But you have noting to prove that the company told the agency one wage and changed there mind when you went for an interview.

Seems like your blaming them because your gready

Offy · 04-07-2011 11:25pm

sendit wrote: »

No i dont. But you have noting to prove that the company told the agency one wage and changed there mind when you went for an interview.

Seems like your blaming them because your gready

I wouldnt recommend the agency as I was clear about what I would and wouldnt work for before I went to the interview. After the offer came through the agency asked if I would accept the offer. I said I wouldnt but to ask the company if they would up the offer to going rates. After a week I sent an e-mail to the agency to ask what the response was, they never replied so a few days later I sent another e-mail. Again they didnt respond. I see this refusal to respond as unprofessional and I see the agency as a mickey mouse outfit based, thats my opinion. Others are free to make their own opinion. You might think its greedy to ask for what everyone else doing that job is getting paid but I dont. I think you would have to be desperate or a fool to accept less than what everyone else is getting paid to do a job. Again thats just my opinion.

sendit · 04-07-2011 11:28pm

Offy wrote: »

I wouldnt recommend the agency as I was clear about what I would and wouldnt work for before I went to the interview. After the offer came through the agency asked if I would accept the offer. I said I wouldnt but to ask the company if they would up the offer to going rates. After a week I sent an e-mail to the agency to ask what the response was, they never replied so a few days later I sent another e-mail. Again they didnt respond. I see this refusal to respond as unprofessional and I see the agency as a mickey mouse outfit based, thats my opinion. Others are free to make their own opinion. You might think its greedy to ask for what everyone else doing that job is getting paid but I dont. I think you would have to be desperate or a fool to accept less than what everyone else is getting paid to do a job. Again thats just my opinion.

You never said any of that at first did you?

Offy · 04-07-2011 11:33pm

sendit wrote: »

You never said any of that at first did you?

Nor did I write my life story, I gave an opinion, nothing more and nothing less. Now Im opting out of this discussion.

Mr. Loverman · 05-07-2011 3:54pm

Define the average wage for an automation engineer, 'cause the salary surveys I've seen have been total bollox.

Offy · 05-07-2011 10:16pm

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Define the average wage for an automation engineer, 'cause the salary surveys I've seen have been total bollox.

No.

markfdrums · 06-07-2011 5:13pm

anyone ever do the office angels online test?

an hour into it and still not finished! have your log tables handy too!

KarlDrake · 14-07-2011 2:16pm

Here's a doozie for you.

A million years ago when working for a recruitment agency in Dublin a new manager was appointed.

Within a week I was emailed log ins and passwords to the manager's previous employer's (Multinational Recruiter) Irish based job board and told to monitor and intercept applicants to the manager's previous employer's jobs.

If that sentence makes sense.

Naturally I refused to due to it's ethical vacuum and was laughed at for being naive. I subsequently left within a matter of weeks but the rest of the team acquiesced.

Was humming and hawing about posting this, but time heals etc. Don't ask me to name names tho.

murphthesmurf · 14-07-2011 7:34pm

Hi all, anyone recommend an agency for the Athlone area? Driving work, or my primary field is fire alarm service engineer. Thanks.

COYW · 15-07-2011 10:56am

Strange one here.

I am in the process of searching for a new position. I am in full time employment but fancy a change.

Anyway, I passed my details on to a recruitment agency and they called me informing me that a client of theirs was extremely interested in my C.V. and wanted to meet me. However, they wanted to confirm the result of my undergraduate degree. I said, no problem and confirmed my result. For the record, I completed my undergraduate degree 10 years ago and actually completed my Phd 3 years ago.

Over the past 2 weeks, I have had 2 more calls from the agency asking me to confirm my undergraduate results. I have done so each time but also queried the need for this given my level of education since then. Anyone ever experienced this kind of behaviour before? It really is starting to get irritating now.

saa · 15-07-2011 11:10am

Noel rec, got a temp job a couple of years ago must go back. They're fine for that but if your serious about it you've got to do all the ground work.

Blush_01 · 16-07-2011 11:40pm

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

The recruiters job is to basically forward your CV to the employer and then take a lot of money when you get the job, so I wouldn't give them much credit if you get the job!

Not all recruiters get paid commission, but often a hell of a lot of work goes into finding even one suitable candidate for consideration for a role.

Recruiters are not actually evil incarnate. (Just something along those lines. :P)

Daisi · 18-07-2011 1:58pm

I've been through so many recruitment agencies over the last few years. I was once sent to a great interview on the wrong day,the day after they were supposed to happen. I travelled for almost three hours to get there only to find out they'd happened the day before. The manger felt sorry for me so interviewed me himself. The worst part was the guy in the agency rang me and gave out crap to me saying he told me the right day. I was certain I had read the date right. When I got home I looked up the e-mail and had proof he sent me the wrong day! I rang him back and he did apologise but he was paniking and trying to cover his back. Put me off agencies. Have had so many bad experiences with them. Most of the jobs they advertise don't exist. Hanging up the phone on me. Wanting me to work for free on the first day as part of the induction. Promising to return phonecalls and then don't bother. Still waiting! Best advice would be to contact companies directly or send in ad hoc applications or search newspapers but definately don't use recruitment agencies. If they advertise that they've won awards be very sceptical. They'll give you fancy little packs with sweets and stuff in them and they'll promise you the earth but at the end of the day you'll only come out disheartend and annoyed.

EdwardHopper · 19-07-2011 4:33pm

Anyone know anything or have any opinions on "alternatives" agency.... never heard of them but then am relatively new to market. Have meeting with them tomorrow re a prospect I applied for.

onesoma · 27-07-2011 1:49pm

Grafton Recruitment are pretty useless. Currently working for them. They don't return calls, and are pretty ignorant and unprofessional on the phone when you do get through to them. Maybe that's just the woman I was dealing with though.

BlackWizard · 27-07-2011 2:40pm

I used Recruit First a few weeks ago. They found me a position I liked and were great to deal with. Fully understanding when I turned down other roles, took time to figure out what I wanted.

The recruiter was Shane. The manager out there is Mark I think. I didn't deal with him much but he seems to just talk talk talk. I could barely get a word in with him on the phone. Typical sales lad.

Anyway, I found them to be a nice little company.

Delancey · 27-07-2011 10:59pm

onesoma wrote: »

Grafton Recruitment are pretty useless. Currently working for them. They don't return calls, and are pretty ignorant and unprofessional on the phone when you do get through to them. Maybe that's just the woman I was dealing with though.

Don't take it personally -everyone in Grafton behaves that way :rolleyes:

martineatworld · 30-07-2011 7:31pm

My experience with Wallace Myers...

Got two interviews through them, made contact and still haven't been told whether I was successful or not because my contact went off on holidays for two weeks without informing me although we were in constant contact until she went.
Also when arranging a meeting with her to go through interview prep, she had double booked the time, so I had to wait for half an hour to see her.

Very poor experience.

Jarren · 30-07-2011 9:56pm

Irish Recruitment
A few years ago I've had a job offer from them so we agreed terms and conditions,
was suppose to start a new job on Monday and then this happened...
I got a phone call from the agency on Monday morning saying that they are very sorry but my new job is gone but they can offer me another job with 40% salary reduction:mad:
very unprofessional IMHO

homerjk · 03-08-2011 3:44pm

I just want to praise Marian in the IT section of CPL. I tortured her for the best part of 9 months (I'm experienced and was looking for a very particular role) and not once did she get sick of me or stop coming to me with roles even though I was quite often turning prosepctive ones down.

In the end she found me a fantastic one that was perfect but around the same time I got offered another perfect job with another recruiter and I went with it instead. She wasn't at all pissed off or angry that I was turning down her role even though I was offered it and had wasted her time the past 9 months and she genuinely wished me luck in my new role.

I got the other job through Angela in Morgan McKinley who was a great help in preparations for the interviews...