Recruitment agencies - name, shame (and praise)

helimachoptor

CPL- had mixed fortunes.. A friend of mine was looking for a temp job as she was finished doing 1 masters and was going back to do another so a 3 month job. She was offered a junior PM type job (permanent) that was exactly what I wanted so I gave the recruiter a call (sarah I think) sent her my CV and told her my experience and she was like "oh yeah this is exactly the position for you, i'll send it to the company" never heard back!!

Next up were 2 of the PM recruiters who never returned my calls, emails as at the time I was in a technical job with only 6 months junior PM experience. When I moved to a PM position a few months back they wouldnt stop calling!

Finally some good experience -> Marguerite Maher gave me some great advice on my CV, I had applied for a position which was a bit beyond on my experience, she called me and explained she had nothing for me at the moment and but would keep an eye out, gave me some pointers on my CV and shes called a few times since.

Eolas Recruitment: Dealt with Keith and a guy called Peter. The junior guy was Keith and found him pretty good and so was Peter, They got me great money from the company and even a signing on fee! But it would mean no life while I was there as the hours were very very long, with travel probably 7-7.30 each day.


Allegis Group: Met with Angela in there, said I would be better going down the contracting route as I would make more money and that they didnt really do permanent jobs but overall got a good vide from them.

Hall Recruitment: Had a very positive experience with Miriam in there but sadly the company I interviewed with turned out to be idiotic!

Abacus recruitment, ABC recruitment and a few other one man operations which were terrible.

Jobsource - A one man band got me my current job. Came out to where I was working had a quick coffee discussed the role. As expected he told me I'd be very suitable. Went for the interview and landed the job, can't fault him.

Aslo last week had a letter to my work place from a recruiter (cant remember the name/company) asking about my availability for a job interview :eek::eek:, she called a couple of days later to reception and said this is X from Y recruitment company :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Shivers26

Premier Recruitment - (Dublin City Centre) - Found them very good. Always dealt with the one guy, he was always on the end of the phone if I had queries, honest, gave me good feedback from interviews, answered emails quickly, slightly pushy but then they do want their fee and thats just to be expected

McGrath Saunders - Accountancy 'Specialists' - Total Flake, promised me the sun, moon and stars, kept ringing me to say she had excellent roles and did I want an interview, if I said yes she said she would arrange it and then never came back to me

Top People currently have my CV as I have taken the decision to change jobs but am in no hurry to do so. I did find them good initially, however she asked me about 2 weeks ago could I go for interview the following day, I said I could and she never came back to me. I would prefer to be told even if the employer didnt want to meet me. I will follow up on this crowd but overall, not hugely impressed

Robert Half - Come across really professional but kept offering me roles that were very very junior for me with much lower salaries than I was on

A tip : Do not under any circumstances upload your CV onto irishjobs, those vultures will get you - if you decide to use an agency, research them a bit and get some recommendations and try to stick with just one or two!

dazberry

Shivers26 wrote: »

A tip : Do not under any circumstances upload your CV onto irishjobs, those vultures will get you - if you decide to use an agency, research them a bit and get some recommendations and try to stick with just one or two!

Yeah, I put my CV on monster and I got innundated - literally the following morning from 8am. All working it backwards, now have CV need to find a home for it /sigh/. You really know they are chancing their arms when you hear things like - "let me contract my clients" blah blah blah. After about 15 calls in 2 days (none of which have ever rang back btw) I took it down and learned a very valuable lesson.

I absolutely detest my job - and have being trying to get out of the place for the last 3+ years, and in that time I've only managed 5 interviews, 1 was a direct application, and from all the agencies I have talked to and the promises made, 3 (1 disaster, 1 unlucky and 1 in progress ) were from Eolas. Says a lot to me...

D.

Shivers26

I know what you mean, in Jan this year I had to apply for a new job and I was a bit naive on the whole process so I uploaded on to irishjobs, monster and I was hounded...lesson learned, never again!

I have an interview on Friday that is for a job in my preferred sector so fingers crossed it goes well and it was a direct application as well

yop

Looking at Greythorn on computerjobs.ie and spotted that Winforms job, enquired but it was gone, yet 4 or 5 weeks later its still there with "Added Today", what a shower.

eth0_

Just be thankful that lots of these waste of space recruitment agencies will go bust in the coming months.

oldscoil

eth0_ wrote: »

Just be thankful that lots of these waste of space recruitment agencies will go bust in the coming months.

Spot on eth0_

Lemming

Mixed bag man with agencies myself.

As a student; any and all were f*cking terrible. Which agencies I cannot recall any more but most definitely not helpful. Even when the positions advertised stated "would suit recent graduate programmer" or some such. "Oh, but we really want you to have at least one year's experience ... " in which case you're not a f*cking graduate. Go figure.

I also remember applying for a sys. admin role out of college (when jobs were harder to find because of the dotcom bubble bursting) with 6 months commercial experience under my belt and after being informed they wanted someone with 6 months experience, being told that it [my experience] didn't count because it was in two three month blocks with different companies (my summer holidays). That was an interesting bullsh*t excuse.

Anyway, names I can remember as either being negative or not delivering:

Eden Recruitment. Snide, snide, snide cow on the phone. Utterly uninterested whatsoever. This was me with 5 years experience.

Stelfox. Non entity.

IT Talent. Amiable on the phone, but never delivered a role.

Sigmar. Friendly but again, never delivered anything

Rescon IT. Never delivered anything

Computer Future Solutions. Never delivered even after some lengthy phone calls, repeatedly spam the crap out of me. Even contacted me for a 1st line tech support role when I had 7 years as a developer under my belt. Eh ... "no".

Irish Recruitment. Never delivered anything.

Berkley IT. Friendly but never really delivered anything.


Those I have successfully used:

CPL. Two seperate reps have successfully delivered me my last three roles; one contract role in Microsoft, and two permanent roles since then. They've fought my corner every time, although I did initially have to push them a little.

GreyThorn. They delivered interview (which resulted in an offer), and specialise in .Net development roles, which suits me quite nicely. My only beef with them is that they are quite aggressive in their approach and can be quite pushy.


I'm sure there are others worth mentioning, I just can't remember since this is a list stretching back over the years, most of the above confined to the last three/four years. All in all, I've only had two or three really negative experiences, with most of the rest of those in the first list I gave simply not delivering and/or being disappointing (like Computer Futures) in my personal experience.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Got a phone call from sigmar the other day, went for an "interview". I thought they were matching me up for a role or something... Drove from Carlow town to Dublin city centre to be told "you should be on the dole, are you?" Anything they told me could have been done over the phone, what a waste...

I have used multiple agencies, they are all worth the same, nothing... Not one company would I say anything positive about. In it for themselves of course... It will be great to watch most of these useless agencies go bust. There are too many and too false for my liking.

eth0_

Oh my God...so Sigmar didn't even do an interview or discuss possible roles?
I would have blown my top and demanded to speak to a manager there....what a massive waste of your time driving up from Carlow!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

eth0_ wrote: »

Oh my God...so Sigmar didn't even do an interview or discuss possible roles?
I would have blown my top and demanded to speak to a manager there....what a massive waste of your time driving up from Carlow!

Yup, was pretty annoyed. Only thing they did say was to contact them on a weekly basis, which I am doing. There was no roles available but they did ask what I was looking for. It was more like an advice session, "contact your previous employers, sign on the dole" etc etc. I don't think I will be bothered doing too much searching this month, seems completely hopeless.

Farls

Abby Witty Snack wrote: »

I don't think I will be bothered doing too much searching this month, seems completely hopeless.

Never give up!! I signed a contract for a new position on friday there. Just when I thought it would be January before things would pick up also.

herya

Abby Witty Snack wrote: »

Yup, was pretty annoyed. Only thing they did say was to contact them on a weekly basis, which I am doing. There was no roles available but they did ask what I was looking for. It was more like an advice session, "contact your previous employers, sign on the dole" etc etc. I don't think I will be bothered doing too much searching this month, seems completely hopeless.

Keep looking, don't be discouraged. Yes the market is slow but many foreign employees are leaving for home now before Christmas and they need to be replaced. Be realistic in your expectations but keep looking!

uaobrien

Hays: Dublin City Centre = Blackrock
Eden / Verkom: Dublin North = Dundalk

Obviously geography is not a prerequisite skill.

Lil' Smiler

Farls wrote: »

Never give up!! I signed a contract for a new position on friday there. Just when I thought it would be January before things would pick up also.

Yup me too, started my new job 3 weeks ago!!!

Arcee

Anyone have any experience with Hudson? Specifically for IT jobs.....

Farls

Arcee wrote: »

Anyone have any experience with Hudson? Specifically for IT jobs.....

Had a few calls from them but never led to anything...usual twenty minute chat about positions and my experience then not a word back

tommyboy2222

Just be thankful that lots of these waste of space recruitment agencies will go bust in the coming months.

True that . Karma baby !

Tom Dunne

I forgot about this thread.

Around November, our company posted a job on our own website for a position, which was subsequently filled. Lo and behold, the same job appears under Firsstaff on jobs.ie, word for word, including spelling mistakes a month later.

Aside from the dishonesty, they didn't even have the intelligence to spell check the job, literally copy and paste.

Morons.

AARRRGH

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I forgot about this thread.

Around November, our company posted a job on our own website for a position, which was subsequently filled. Lo and behold, the same job appears under Firsstaff on jobs.ie, word for word, including spelling mistakes a month later.

Aside from the dishonesty, they didn't even have the intelligence to spell check the job, literally copy and paste.

Morons.

Wow, that's quite amazing.

I can understand them wanting to get candidates to fill your role, but blatently ripping off your advert like that? WTF.

Tom Dunne

ROFL. Just noticed the spelling mistake in my post. See what I did there?

AARRRGH wrote: »

Wow, that's quite amazing.

I can understand them wanting to get candidates to fill your role, but blatently ripping off your advert like that? WTF.

I still think our company was too easy on them. When confronted, nobody wanted to take responsibility for it and our HR person was passed from person to person. She eventually got what can only be described as a grunt who probably wasn't responsible for it and wasn't worth shouting at.

uaobrien

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I forgot about this thread.

Around November, our company posted a job on our own website for a position, which was subsequently filled. Lo and behold, the same job appears under Firstaff on jobs.ie, word for word, including spelling mistakes a month later.

Aside from the dishonesty, they didn't even have the intelligence to spell check the job, literally copy and paste.

Morons.

I wonder if they could be caught under false advertising.

I actually found out a job's origin after talking to an agency about it. I enquired about the position from the company directly (as the agency were giving the run around). They company wrote me back stating they had no current vacancies. This was in November.

Not only is the job still posted by the agency, two subsequent postings under modified titles exist. Sure they can be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

Actually I think I'll call ASAI and ask.

Edit: Will have to wait till 5th Jan. Office is closed till then.

Tom Dunne

uaobrien wrote: »

I wonder if they could be caught under false advertising.

That's a very good point. Methinks it would put a lot of agencies out of business, thought.

uaobrien wrote: »

Actually I think I'll call ASAI and ask.

Do, it would be great to know.

AARRRGH

I wonder is a job "advert" an advertisement though?

the_syco

Tom Dunne wrote: »

That's a very good point. Methinks it would put a lot of agencies out of business, thought.

Aye. It'd be terrible if the agencies advertising non-existent jobs went out of business...

Tom Dunne

AARRRGH wrote: »

I wonder is a job "advert" an advertisement though?

I think the ASAI would have the final word on that. Personally, I think it is an advertisement of a service available and therefore is an advertisement.

the_syco wrote: »

Aye. It'd be terrible if the agencies advertising non-existent jobs went out of business...

I did mean that with a hint of irony. Just noticed my spelling is gone to pot today.

dazberry

A certain agency had recently advertised the following:

Excellent permanent C#/.NET opportunities in a Telecom company for experienced C#, C++,.NET Developers.

Other skills areas include:
COM, DUN, Wifi, WWAN and GUI Custom Development and OO.

The correct candidate will be supporting functionality to new business requirements within an existing application framework. Design, documentation, and implementation of scalable applications and device level components.

If you are interested in joining this company, then please send your CV to [snip] at:

linky

I googled for some of the key phrases and came up with this from early 2007 in Colorado:

Excellent multiple long term contract opportunities in the Telecom industry for experienced C#, C++,.NET Developers. Other skills areas include: COM, DUN, Wifi, WWAN and GUI Custom Development and OO. The correct candidate will be supporting functionality to new business requirements within an existing application framework. Design, documentation, and implementation of scalable applications and device level components.The client needs multiple contractors and is offering excellent rates. Please contact [snip] at or email: [snip].

linky

So its either a very lazy recruitment droid taking a spec verbatim, or indeed a fake ad, I don't know which as I won't deal with that agency.

D.

Tom Dunne

dazberry wrote: »

So its either a very lazy recruitment droid taking a spec verbatim, or indeed a fake ad, I don't know which as I won't deal with that agency.

D.

That is unreal. Name and shame, I say, name and shame.

Edit: I see the name in the link. Unreal.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Ok, how can one tell if that job is a fake or not? I use agencies every day, guess how many phone calls I get? NONE...

AARRRGH

Abby Witty Snack wrote: »

Ok, how can one tell if that job is a fake or not? I use agencies every day, guess how many phone calls I get? NONE...

You generally can't tell if a job is fake.

Did you follow any of the advice I gave you about your poor cover letter, or are you still using the cover letter you sent me...?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

AARRRGH wrote: »

You generally can't tell if a job is fake.

Did you follow any of the advice I gave you about your poor cover letter, or are you still using the cover letter you sent me...?

No I am using a differant one. Last two interviews were more like advice sessions from the recruitment companies, WTF is that about? Since when is that their job? It annoyed me as I thought I was being put forward for a position.

herya

Are you applying for junior or senior positions? It's fairly standard to give some tips to junior candidates if they want to keep you on their books. You can always ask upfront whether the interview is about an actual position and not to make an appointment if it's not.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

herya wrote: »

Are you applying for junior or senior positions? It's fairly standard to give some tips to junior candidates if they want to keep you on their books. You can always ask upfront whether the interview is about an actual position and not to make an appointment if it's not.

Junior position (any position) At the moment I really don't care, I am not searching so much, maybe one or two every second day. Lost the will really.

Anyway, last interview was supposedly for a job, a pretty good one. But when I got there she mentioned nothing about it until I asked. Which still wasn't much. It's just annoying getting dressed up, going into town and to be told what you already know, get on the dole, apply for jobs bla bla bla... rubbish.

dublinpd

I've had the same experience in IT Force, an interview, a test in a canteen, in my case the woman's said that because I'm foreign and my english and my knowledge had not been specified (at that time was true).
After all, said that has no contract jobs and would contact me if any part-time came up.

In fact as foreign, I'm still out of IT market here that's upsetting me...

eth0_

dublinpd wrote: »

I've had the same experience in IT Force, an interview, a test in a canteen,

Hahah they're still at that? I went for an "interview" with them for a specific job i'd applied (and was more than qualified) for about three years ago.

She took me into the canteen and gave me a really unchallenging I.T. test. I was really p*ssed off that she expected people to do a test in a canteen when people were having lunch and talking all around me.

She didn't really interview me as such, and said there was no job per se, they were just scouting for people to have on their books! The wagon knew I was out of work and she basically wasted several hours of my day knowing the job I applied for was non-existent!

dublinpd wrote: »

After all, said that has no contract jobs and would contact me if any part-time came up.

Same here. I heard back from them - wait for it - TWO YEARS LATER! And not even to ask if I was interested in a job, it was just asking if I was still looking for work.

So that's another company to steer clear of, I.T. Force...

flash harry

uaobrien wrote: »

I wonder if they could be caught under false advertising.

I actually found out a job's origin after talking to an agency about it. I enquired about the position from the company directly (as the agency were giving the run around). They company wrote me back stating they had no current vacancies. This was in November.

Not only is the job still posted by the agency, two subsequent postings under modified titles exist. Sure they can be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland.

Actually I think I'll call ASAI and ask.

Edit: Will have to wait till 5th Jan. Office is closed till then.

Would love to see response if you complain to the NRF but as its a lot easier to moan on boards I guess you probably wont:


http://www.nrf.ie/members-details.aspx?id=38

uaobrien

flash harry wrote: »

Would love to see response if you complain to the NRF but as its a lot easier to moan on boards I guess you probably wont:


http://www.nrf.ie/members-details.aspx?id=38

Actually I didn't even know such a place existed, I'll do a double whammy using my example plus the Colorado example above on 5th Jan, will report to both NRF and ASAI.

Will post their responses.

So stay tuned folks....

uaobrien

Abby Witty Snack wrote: »

Ok, how can one tell if that job is a fake or not? I use agencies every day, guess how many phone calls I get? NONE...

Well I usually look for similar jobs specs in multiple agencies for 'real' jobs. I go on the premise that, especially in a market like this, a company will not employ one agency when they can employ a few to get candidates.

Agencies don't get paid until they place their candidate, afaik, so it's no skin off a company's nose to use many. Also when every agency is phoning you looking for scraps, why not use them.

Stay away from the jobs posted solely by one agency. In very rare instances, a company may choose to use only one agency, but in this market it doesn't make sense.

Another rule of thumb, don't apply for jobs where they blatantly tell you they won't call back "due to the numbers of applicants". Seriously, what recruitment knob would even believe that'd be an incentive for applicants. "Send your CV in to us and I guarantee you you'll never hear a thing."

Just my rules of thumb. I could be completely wrong.

uaobrien

uaobrien wrote: »

Actually I didn't even know such a place existed, I'll do a double whammy using my example plus the Colorado example above on 5th Jan, will report to both NRF and ASAI.

Will post their responses.

So stay tuned folks....

By the way, if anyone has any more verifiable examples I can report to ASAI and NRF please either PM me or post them here before Sunday night and I'll use them too.

If we get enough of them we might be able to drum up some press interest too - now that would be the ultimate name and shame for the guilty agencies.

"Recruitment agencies dupe jobseekers - making recession worse for some"

herya

uaobrien wrote: »

Agencies don't get paid until they place their candidate, afaik, so it's no skin off a company's nose to use many. Also when every agency is phoning you looking for scraps, why not use them.

Actually it does make sense to restrict the number of agencies you are dealing with - otherwise you end up with countless consultants contacting you to ask questions about the roles, trying to push other CVs they now have etc. There is a limit how many recruitment people can be serviced by one HR person. Professional HR departments usually have preferred suppliers list of 4-8 agencies, reviewed yearly. I agree that one agency agreements are unheard of nowadays.

uaobrien wrote: »

Another rule of thumb, don't apply for jobs where they blatantly tell you they won't call back "due to the numbers of applicants". Seriously, what recruitment knob would even believe that'd be an incentive for applicants. "Send your CV in to us and I guarantee you you'll never hear a thing."

Again I would not rely on this too much. The number of applications is mindboggling, it might be up to 30 for a junior and around 3-5 for a senior role advertised - daily. 70% is absolutely irrelevant (they don't meet requirements at all - retail managers applying for senior IT roles etc) and further 20% is only mildly relevant (experience way too short, not the required sector etc). Maybe 10% is worth considering at all. Now multiply it by the number of roles you have - there is no way all these applicants could be contacted individually... We send an automated response to acknowledge that we received the application and to give an estimated time when the candidate will be contacted if their application is successful. After that we get back to the relevant applicants only. Or if they are not a good match for the role they applied for but we may have sth suitable soon we let them know too.

uaobrien

herya wrote: »

Actually it does make sense to restrict the number of agencies you are dealing with ... Professional HR departments usually have preferred suppliers list of 4-8 agencies, reviewed yearly. I agree that one agency agreements are unheard of nowadays.

Herya, the point I was making was to look for a similar or matching spec on multiple recruitment sites as it is more likely to be a real offering. I don't believe HR depts. use every agency that approaches them, but as you mentioned they will use a few.

herya wrote: »

... We send an automated response to acknowledge that we received the application and to give an estimated time when the candidate will be contacted if their application is successful. After that we get back to the relevant applicants only. Or if they are not a good match for the role they applied for but we may have sth suitable soon we let them know too.

Then I congratulate you on your professionalism. However, the original requestor's contention seemed to be, and I can add from my own recent experience of job hunting also, that no communications are being received from the agencies they apply to. I take that to mean they are receiving no cursory automated response of receipt, nor even a "thank you for your interest". Therefore you appear to be the exception to the general rule these days as you may note from the amount of disgruntled posts

But as I mentioned they are just my rules of thumb, I can appreciate that people may not find them as applicable as I have.

herya

Sure, I'm not disputing your point - I'm just trying to provide some insight from the other side hoping that it might help understand how the agencies work and how to use them to your advantage.

From my own job seeking days I remember that I had no clue about the application process. Nobody told me that it makes no sense to apply for the same position through various agencies as well as directly. Nobody told me that an agency might want to bring me in for an interview even if they have no jobs available, just to register me on their books, and that I can refuse to waste my time on this if I don't feel it makes sense right now.

I could have used this knowledge back then so I hope somebody might use it now

uaobrien

herya wrote: »

...Nobody told me that an agency might want to bring me in for an interview even if they have no jobs available, just to register me on their books, and that I can refuse to waste my time on this if I don't feel it makes sense right now.

You know, obvious as that point is, its still incredibly insightful and worth remembering, as I'm sure most people overlook it (I know I have until you mentioned it).

There's no obligation on us to run into an agency because they want to make an appointment to 'talk'. But I think we're all a little reluctant to say no, don't want to bite the hand that's (supposedly) feeding us, fearing of some unseen or imaginary consequence.

Thank you for that

dirtydress

Ive had mostly terrible experiences with agencies. I really cant stand those who just dont call you back or dont even acknowledge that you contacted them, its so rude and it speaks volumes about how they will deal with you if you WERE suitable.

Anyway:

Top People Great.... initially. They have loads of boring jobs on offer and push you to go for them. They got me to go for some ridiculous job in Ernst and Young that was just typing memos all. day. long. I told her I didnt want it, it was worse than the job I had already but she said the interview would be good experience. So naively I went, felt bad for the interviewer because I knew and she knew I didnt want the job. After I told the recruiter that in (shock) didnt want the position they offered, she never called me again.
They're interested in filling positions, not getting the right people for them. Lots of blondey girls who try to be your best mate which means they dont like you saying no to roles.

Progressive Placements A non-agency, theyre offices are scary and empty and there were only 2 quite young girls in the whole building when I went in. It reminded me of two girls playing recruitment agency.

Julia Ross Finally, a good agency. Got me my last job, very helpful, do an amazingly detailed skills test and are genuinely interested in getting you into a job you will like. Were honest about the good and bad points about the job, asked ME what I wanted. Definitely recommend them.

MysticalSoul

Select Appointments: Absolutely rubbish. I register, then find a job on my own, and at least once a year get an email from them wondering if I am looking to move etc. If I do decide to re-register and meet someone there, all is ok at that point. However once I am on the books, they never return calls or emails (despite on one occasion, telling me about a specific job they felt I was suitable for).

Top Sec: At the outset, seemed professional enough, however they arranged an interview for me. All seems good. I had told them about another position I was also going for interview for. They seemed ok with that. However I got offered the position of the company not connected with the agency, and in terms of location etc it suited my requirements more closely, so decided to accept it. I rang the agency to tell them this, and they tried to preessurise me into going for interview anyway, regardless. I stood my ground, and then was told, they needed someone to go for interview, and if I knew anyone who could go for the interview instead if I could let them know :eek:

Meghan Recruitment: Overall have been helpful. However did have the occasion once of being told about a position. ANyway, someone I worked it at the time had recently been for an interview with this company, and told they were looking for someone with more experience, and as we had the same amount of experience in the field, told the agency this. They told me, due to lack of interest they are now willing to train the right person up for the job, so I went along for the interview, and the agency came back to me saying I had not enough experience. :rolleyes:

lady_j

I'm on the books of noel recruitment, adecco and julia ross at the moment.

Noel Recruitment call me every thursday without fail, ring straight to my voicemail, tell me there is a great job they want to put me forward to and ring ring back asap. I do, every thurs, leave a message with the receptionist as my agent is always on the phone, then I ring again and again and I never hear back until the following thursday when they ring my voicemail again.

Adecco adviced me that there was loads of jobs and proceeded to show me the list of jobs they had that week, all four of them :rolleyes:

Julia Ross Initially found them quite good and positive. They appear to have a lot of people on their books and ring constantly to see who's available and who's not. Which is good until they call over christmas and tell me that I've now been put on the available list... all well and good but I did register with them 3 months ago so not sure why I only went on that list now...

Got my first voicemail of the new year from noel recruitment.... hear we go again

AARRRGH

Just my opinion...

descry wrote: »

Noel Recruitment call me every thursday without fail, ring straight to my voicemail, tell me there is a great job they want to put me forward to and ring ring back asap. I do, every thurs, leave a message with the receptionist as my agent is always on the phone, then I ring again and again and I never hear back until the following thursday when they ring my voicemail again.

That sounds a bit weird, but perhaps they are getting another candidate for the job before you ring back?

descry wrote: »

Adecco adviced me that there was loads of jobs and proceeded to show me the list of jobs they had that week, all four of them :rolleyes:

I can't blame them for the lack of jobs at the moment, but yeah, they shouldn't tell you they have "loads" of jobs.

descry wrote: »

Julia Ross Initially found them quite good and positive. They appear to have a lot of people on their books and ring constantly to see who's available and who's not. Which is good until they call over christmas and tell me that I've now been put on the available list... all well and good but I did register with them 3 months ago so not sure why I only went on that list now...

Got my first voicemail of the new year from noel recruitment.... hear we go again

Just a thought:

Are you waiting for agencies to hand you a job, or are you checking the jobsites/newspapers/company websites yourself on a daily basis too?

lady_j

AARRRGH wrote: »

Just my opinion...



That sounds a bit weird, but perhaps they are getting another candidate for the job before you ring back?

They don't ring my phone, they ring my voicemail directly. I realise the job market is slow, I just wish they would only ring me when there is a suitable job instead of wasting my time with these frustrating voicemails

AARRRGH wrote: »

Just a thought:

Are you waiting for agencies to hand you a job, or are you checking the jobsites/newspapers/company websites yourself on a daily basis too?

I realise you are just stating your opinion, but I am currently unemployed so I am urgently trying to get a job and haven't the luxury of being reliant on agencies. I am keeping in touch with agencies I have registered with (not just the three mentioned), but I'm assuming the agencies won't get me a job due to my recent experiences with them. I have been put forward for completely irrelevant jobs, been sent on terrible temp jobs and receive inane calls every couple of weeks where they are obviously ringing people for something to do.

The number of companies advertising their jobs directly seems to have increased, not using agencies for recruitment is a cost saving measure. I am applying for jobs daily, and I have had a few interviews so am hopeful something will come through. Not one of my decent interviews came from an agency.

AARRRGH

Yeah, it's tough alright. I remember (although I know it's not quite the same) being unemployed after the dot-com boom. It was very frustrating and disheartening getting no where.

As you know, all you can do is keep at it and hope someone bites.

Best of luck!

eth0_

AARRRGH wrote: »

Are you waiting for agencies to hand you a job, or are you checking the jobsites/newspapers/company websites yourself on a daily basis too?

Theoretically, once you register with a recruitment company, you shouldn't have to go on their website on a daily basis to search for and apply for jobs that THEY should match to YOUR CV.

But unfortunately the majority of recruitment agents are lazy sh*tes who do little more than scan a CV, take the contact details off, forward it to a potential employer and then take their 5% minimum fee.