recruitment agencies

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gongey

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what do you think is the length of time you should stick with a recruitment agency when they haven't contacted you about any vacancies in a fairly "in demand" area?

it's been almost a month since I've had a prelim interview with an agency,
 
how badly do you want the job, there are other agencies out there? or how about approach the company yourself?
 
Register with loads of agencies, and check recruitireland.com etc yourself, and contact companies directly yourself. Any agency can have hundreds\thousands of candidates on their database and they dont care about any one individual, they just want their fee, so whether its you or some other candidate doesnt matter to them.

Dont rely on one agency to sort you out. And going directly to a company yourself might even benefit you as you can negotitate a slightly higher salary as the company wont have to pay an agency fee (which is usually about 20% of the salary).
 
I'd be wary of registering with loads, it gets difficult to keep track of who is putting you forward for what which can be a problem if you get put forward for the same job by two agencies, many employers will rule you out if this happens. Reputable agencies should check with you in advance before submitting your CV to anyone whough so if you track it carefully this is less a problem. I would always register with more than one though maybe 3-4 at most.
 
I would normally register with about 3 or 4 maximum.

I have noticed that you don't get any calls if you don't remind them that you're still around and looking for a position. I normally call on a Monday afternoon and a thursday evening to get an update. If I feel that they are passing me over, I would request them to remove me from their database.

HTH
 
dam099 said:
I'd be wary of registering with loads, it gets difficult to keep track of who is putting you forward for what which can be a problem if you get put forward for the same job by two agencies, many employers will rule you out if this happens.
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While I'd agree with the thrust of your recommendation not to register with loads of agencies, I've never heard of any half-decent employer ruling out a candidate for such a petty reason. If it is the right candidate, I can't see why this would rule them out.
 
RainyDay said:
While I'd agree with the thrust of your recommendation not to register with loads of agencies, I've never heard of any half-decent employer ruling out a candidate for such a petty reason. If it is the right candidate, I can't see why this would rule them out.
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I cant believe an employer would do this, its not competition where multiple entries make the person invalid.

But I still think you should register with as many decent agencies as you can. Any one company would use 1-3 agencies (from my experience) so the more you are with the more chance you have of finding the right job.
 
RainyDay said:
While I'd agree with the thrust of your recommendation not to register with loads of agencies, I've never heard of any half-decent employer ruling out a candidate for such a petty reason. If it is the right candidate, I can't see why this would rule them out.
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I'm not sure if employers take a dim view of this (maybe an employer can confirm), but I know that recruitment agencies do make reference to this (which isn't surprising is it?) if they know you are registered with a number of agencies.

I have to say that I find them a ruthless bunch. When I was looking for my last job, I was sent for an interview by a certain person within a certain agency who had also sent a fellow co-worker forward for the same job! Also, the same agency that placed me in my current position (and took a nice slice of commission) rang me six months into the job asking was I thinking of moving (the girl was fully aware that they had placed me in this job).
 
Can't stand recruitment agencies but sometimes they're a necessary evil. I would agree with registering for three or four as a lot of them tend to get in the same jobs from employers and it will mean that you will be able to keep track of who you're dealing with better.

I have never heard of an employer having a problem with somebody just because more than one agency put them forward for the job. If you register with an agency they'll ask if you've registered with any other agencies anyway just so that this sort of thing doesn't happen.
If you work in an "in demand" area then they will scramble to get you placed somewhere so you shouldn't be waiting too much longer.

good luck.
 
CCOVICH said:
I'm not sure if employers take a dim view of this (maybe an employer can confirm), but I know that recruitment agencies do make reference to this (which isn't surprising is it?) if they know you are registered with a number of agencies.
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Now that I think about it I have mostly heard about this from agencies, so self interest could be a factor allright. I think the logic though is if an employer has a CV from two agencies for one person it becomes and issue of who do they pay the commission to and could there be a dispute, so they just avoid the hassle. It probably depends on the market conditions too. When good applicants are scarce then they obviously won't let a good one go but if they have loads of good applicants they might take the easy life.
 
CCOVICH said:
When I was looking for my last job, I was sent for an interview by a certain person within a certain agency who had also sent a fellow co-worker forward for the same job!
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Would you be more impressed with them if they hadn't sent you for interview at all and let your co-worker have a clear shot at the position?
 
RainyDay said:
Would you be more impressed with them if they hadn't sent you for interview at all and let your co-worker have a clear shot at the position?
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To be honest, yes. If they thought that my co-worker was a better candidate, that's fine.

This conflict of interest wasn't disclosed to either of us, I found out purely by chance.

It might also be relevant that I had already received a job offer through this agancy from another company, so they had the prospect of two fees if I accepted the first job and my co-worker got the second job. Of course I can't prove that anything untoward happened, but the whole thing left a bad taste.

My girlfriend also had 'difficulties' with two agencies when she was moving jobs that didn't reflect favourably on either of them, but it's too late to rehash that story.
 
I wouldn't see anything wrong with an agency sending 2 co-workers for interview for the same job. I'd expect that they would try to avoid having the two parties running into each other in the reception area, but there is no conflict of interest here.
 
RainyDay said:
I wouldn't see anything wrong with an agency sending 2 co-workers for interview for the same job. I'd expect that they would try to avoid having the two parties running into each other in the reception area, but there is no conflict of interest here.
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You don't think so? Not even in my case? Ok, fair enough.
 
I would encourage you to register with 3-4 agencies. Most companies have a small set of preferred agencies that they deal with, so if you register with 3-4 agencies you will get more coverage of the companies and should get notified of most of the jobs going. Also, if you see a job advertised on the web by an agency you aren't registered with, send your CV in anyhow. They will want to add you to their books for future jobs, but you're quite entitled to say you're only interested in the job you saw advertised.

As for two agencies sending your CV to the same company...agencies don't submit CVs to companies on spec, they have a contract with the company to supply CVs. Part of the contract is that, for a given candidate, the first agency to submit that CV is the one that gets the commission (if the candidate is hired) regardless of how many other agencies send the same CV. If Agency A want to submit your CV to a company, they should ask if your CV has ever been submitted to that company before...if Agency B has already sent it in you can tell the Agency A of this. Agency A will not submit it again as they don't stand to get any commission.

Stu
 
Don't agencies have to make some sort of refund if their person quits within a certain length of time?

This would discourage them from pursuing people they already placed.
 
Magoo said:
Don't agencies have to make some sort of refund if their person quits within a certain length of time?

This would discourage them from pursuing people they already placed.
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Yes, but AFAIK (I'm open to correction), the clawback reduces over time, and of course ceases to apply after a certain period.
 
We certainly don't exclude candidates on the basis of receiving their CV from more than one agency. Most companies deal with specific agencies - we used to deal with only teo, but have increased the number due to a shortage of suitable candidates. I think most employers are aware that prospective candidates tend to register with multiple agencies.
 
gongey said:
what do you think is the length of time you should stick with a recruitment agency when they haven't contacted you about any vacancies in a fairly "in demand" area?

it's been almost a month since I've had a prelim interview with an agency,
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In response to the first poster, I would suggest you contact the agency in question and tell them you are still looking for work. I don't mean to sound smart when I say this, but it is your job to stay in touch with the agency-not the other way around. Agencies ultimately work for their clients. If your skillset doesn't suit a particular client spec, then they will not call you. Put yourself out there. Don't register with every agency under the sun. Keep it to 2-3. If your skillset is specialised, stick with specialist agencies. Don't worry about 2 or more agencies submitting you for the same job. The first agency to submit your details will win 99.9% of the time. That doesn't put potential employers off. What will put them off is if 10 agencies have submitted your details!! Finally not all agencies are 'bad'. Keep your eye on the websites, if you see something you think you would be interested in, ring the relevant consultant.
 
i contacted the agency every week in that month. kept hearing that they hadn't got back to her yet which I found very strange as it's in the accounting/tax field where I know many jobs are arising and I'd be a fairly suitable candidate (not blowing my own horn). this was confirmed when I contacted two other agencies who have almost immediately put me up for a few interviews. i just found it strange.
 
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