Good Recruitment Agencies

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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Bad recruitment companies

Keep away from "X" and "Y" - I had a bad experience with both companies

John. It's not fair to criticize named companies without being more specific. It also opens up Askaboutmoney to defamation proceedings.

How could the named companies defend themselves without any specific complaint and without knowing who the accuser is.
 
Agency

I never had much luck with them either, and always found approaching the company a better and more accurate way of finding out if a job exisits, ifs its been filled etc.

I basically think they are paper pushing biro jockies, and a waste of your time. I also found companies tend not to use them as much now due to the cost. Your local broadsheets will probably give you a better chance of moving.

For whatever thats worth to you

Stobear
 
Hi,

Does anybody know any good recruitment agencies that they could recommend. I am looking to move from my current job in IT. I have never had much luck with recruitment agencies in the past and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks
 
IT AGENCY

COMPUTER PLACEMENT IN DUBLIN ARE WORTHWHILE IN MY EXPERIENCE - BUT YOU NEED TO ESTABLISH RAPPORT
 
cpl

www.cpl.ie are decent .. one of the few

alot of companys post fictious jobs so that apply and they have your details

alot of agencys dont have a clue, if you are an UNIX Admin .. they might pimp you as a Admin (apply you for NT jobs etc)

but generally cpl are ok

if you have less than 2years exp forget it most agencys will forget about you, unless you want tech support
 
bad recruitment agents

I used to work as an IT contractor through recruitment company X near the end of my contract I managed to secure another job with a company in cork on my own. I told the recruitment agent that I got an offer from the company in Cork and I was taking the position.
In the mean time the recruitment agent rang me back to say he had an interview lined up for me in Dublin with a bank and it was more suitable. Up I came to the interview to find that there was no position available.
The recruitment agent rang the company in cork while I was in Dublin for the interview to say that I did not want the job and that he had someone very suitable for the position.

When I landed back down to cork and went in to company for my first days work I was told the story by my new boss that they had got a call from Mr F the recruitment agent who actually owns the recruitment company.

Recruitment company Y

Went for a job interview and got offered a 3 month contract - when I read the contract, the terms were different than what had been said on the phone so I declined to take the job.
I was then threaten by the recruitment agent that I will never get another job in this town again.
 
Name them

Since he has now described what happened shoudn't the names of these two companies be put back on the site?

Let them defend themselves if they want to.

Neither story surprises me.

-Rd
 
Re: Name them

Unfortunately, it will be me that is sued for defamation if the name of either of these companies is given out on Askaboutmoney.

JohnO would probably have a valid legal case agains the first named agency. He should take that case in the Small Claims Court and make sure that the papers are in attendance.

I don't think he has any legal case against the second one, but should make sure that he tells all his friends about it. Recruitment agencies get a lot of their business through referrals, so he can really hurt them.

He could check to see if either is a member of the National Recruitment Federation and make a complaint to them. Employment Agencies are licensed, so, in theory, he could also complain to the Department of Enterprise etc, who hand out the licenses.

I am not doubting either story, but if he wants to name them publicly, he should do so in some other forum and give his own name so that they can take defamation action against him if they so wish. If he gets it reported in the paper, he should publicize the court case on Askaboutmoney.

Brendan
 
I'm not gonna slag off particular recruitment agencies. I've yet to come across a good one so I reckon they're all crap! I've dealt with them both here and in Australia. Nothing changes. If you're a Java developer with 5+ years experience then whoop-di-do...they don't have to think and the likelihood is they'll get you work.
I'm a Multimedia Developer, but I work my weekends in sales. I have a broad background, in sales, IT and Printing. I've been doing the rounds in numerous recruitment agencies for a while now, telling them what I can do and what area I'd like to get into - mainly sales.
Anyway, I won't bore you all with the tripe I've received from all of them. One girl called me into an 'interview' (informal meeting) last week and hadn't even read my CV. After speaking with her on the phone at length (more than once)about my proposed career move, she hadn't got a clue why I was there. I had to remind her of our entire relationship up to that point! Then...at the end of our little informal chat she asked me if I'd like my CV put forward to their IT department! The mind boggles! I was close to tears at that point.
Recruitment agencies are absolutely useless!!!!! Excuse the rant. Unfortunately they are sometimes necessary, but you're much better off going to companies directly.

Piggy.
 
Piggy,

I agree.....I hold two degrees (in Biology and IT) and have been working in consulting for over three years now. I have done development, design, training, lots of business analysis work, support etc. so like you, I have a broad based background. I would like to move into the pharma/food sector and work in IT there but in a role that is similar to what I do in consulting....on project related work (I know this is probably difficult to find)

When I have sent my CV to recruitment agencies in the past they just seem to look at the individual's development skills. They want to know what languages you can program in, how many years experience and what versions you have used. They never seem to look at the overall picture of a person's CV and career to date. I find this extremely frustrating .... like you!

However, there must be agencies out there that can be recommended. Even if you have to pay a fee.... I really need to change my job!! ;-)
 
The air-heads are multiplying at a rapid rate.

This is an entirely unrelated story but is similar in ways.
I was purchasing a new house about 10 years ago and visited the sales office of a well know estate agency in Dublin to get details of these new houses for sale. An article had appeared in the Irish Times about these new houses. I liked them so much I decided there and then that I was going to buy one. I spent some time looking at the site map etc and choose the house I wanted. The lady dealing with me was delighted. My name was put on the master plan over the house that I had chosen as sold. As I needed a £5k deposit there and then I had to drive back home to get my cheque book. It took less than an hour to return to the estate agents. Why I arrived back the lady who had been dealing with me less than an hour previously didn't even recognise me!!!. Also another purchasers initials had been placed alongside mine to make matters worse. She had this stupid air head look on her face as I was speaking to her. In the end I got her boss to sort it out. I live in the house now.
On a regular basis this lady's name appears in the social columns of one newspaper as a lady about town.
Unfortunately in life you have to trust others to know what they are doing but generally if I can do things myself I only have myself to blame.
 
Career Counsellors/Advisors

On a further note (and because of the negative views on recruitment agencies!), does anybody know of any good career counsellors/advisors that could help you target certain companies?
 
Still looking for list of agencies

Hi,
I am currently looking at returning to Ireland and hope to work within IT/Management and wondering if anyone has a list of recruitment agencies...good, bad awful the whole lot..I would be grateful if someone who has been on the job hunt in Ireland could submit this infor.
Thanks in advance,
Go on gis a job !!
 
good agencies

I could write a book on agencies.
Being involved in the whole IT world and looking for a job for 6 months last year gave me far too much exposure to the recruitment agencies. Alot of them are subhuman.
I had to travel to Dublin from limerick to do interviews. I would turn up and find out that the job was completely different to what the recruiter described. They didn't give a damn if they completely mess with you. And when i did do a interview for a job the agency would never bother telling you you didn't get the job. They would also call my mother and tell her that they had a job for me, all i had to do was turn up! i had to explain to my mother that they were liars and subhuman. but she couldn't understand why they would ring all the time telling lies. she now knows they are scum, and i mean no disrespect to scum by associating them with recruiters.
i also have one guy who is comical, he rings up all the time telling me im his buddy. what a loon. the funny thing is when i got a job 2 of the guys i work with had similar circumstances and had exactly the same dealings with the same morons.
anyway i am still looking for a job and still dealing with them, i just look forward to the day when i don't need them anymore.
 
Re: good agencies

But you don't really need them!
I've never used a recruitment agency and never will.
(I am sure there are some good recruitment agencies but it is hard to tell which -- I'd look at what Brendan Burgess does for a living before tarring them all with the same brush. But the vast majority whore your CV and over expose you with poorly prepared and badly targeted bumph. IMHO!)

Especially in today's economic climate, very few companies are i) advertising positions ii) willing to pay recruitment agency fees for those positions they do have.

Most jobs are "hidden". You can find them by
- networking/contacts
- canvassing likely companies
- ring up, find out the names of managers with
authority to hire, send a letter + targeted CV
to that person
- visit company websites, they may list open positions
- spend your time reworking your CV
- I highly recommend [broken link removed]

Good luck!
 
Re: good agencies

Hi Mugsgame - I agree with all of your suggestions as possible methods of finding a new job, but I disagree with your absolute ruling out of the agencies. I've had six career moves in my working life & two out the six came via agencies.

I also disagree with your conclusion that the current tough economic times has driven companies to recruit directly. In some cases, as a result of cutbacks in HR, companies are actually driven to further usage of recruitment agencies.

I can relate to many of the criticisms about agencies in this thread. My own experiences have shown the the results relate more to the quality of the individual recruiter than the agency.

I would recommend that any job-seeker uses recruitment agencies with caution - to rule them out completely may well be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 
Re: good agencies

rainyday -- I didn't rule them out completely. I just think they're not for me, and that nobody strictly needs them.

As you say the problem is determining which recruiters are the good ones, but while doing that you may waste valuable time. It is only with experience that you might find recruiters you can trust, by which time you quite possibly won't need them!

To be fair to the agencies -- I think many candidates expect them to work wonders. If you don't have a clear grasp of yourself, your aptitudes, and where you think you fit, then a recruitment agent, no matter how genuine, is unlikely to be able to help you. But IMHO candidates who know all this are unlikely to need the agencies.

I should add that my experience may be biased by only working in (relatively) small companies, where the hiring process tends to be less formal.
 
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