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Old 04-17-2008, 08:26 PM
 
746 posts, read 3,718,375 times
Reputation: 257

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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagorecruiter View Post
I work for a staffing company, but as a direct hire recruiter so I don't really work with temporary employees. I know that I personally would only bring someone in if I had a specific job opportunity I was considering them for, but temp is a little different since you do have to have people ready to go on assignments at a moments notice.

I'm surprised to hear about your experience, it does sound like a bad situation but don't give up on temp agencies altogether. Remember, recruiters are no different than any other occupation in the sense that some are really good, some are average and some are bad. Sounds like maybe you just got hooked up with a bad one. Keep trying...I know there is work out there! Good luck to you!
Thanks. I think that direct hire is the way to go, per recruiters, so I'll go that route in the future, and avoid the temp agency body count factory.
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:48 PM
 
440 posts, read 326,983 times
Reputation: 117
Quote:
Originally Posted by scongress1234 View Post
Thanks. I think that direct hire is the way to go, per recruiters, so I'll go that route in the future, and avoid the temp agency body count factory.
There are quite a few horror story based temp/permanent placement agencies. I would stick with those that specialize in your field. As a legal professional I have temped for and been permanently placed by Robert Half. They do both legal and accounting temp/perm placement. They also have a ton of major clients. I highly recommend them, some of the others . . not so much.
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Old 04-19-2008, 12:06 PM
 
Location: In my view finder.....
8,515 posts, read 16,123,811 times
Reputation: 8079
I get calls from them time to time and I always turn them down. As others have stated, they are Bull****ers. If you do talk to an agency, hold your ground and be firm. When they call, YOU INTERVIEW THEM over the phone. Don't let them say anything aobut "coming in the office and we can talk about the position" once they start talking about coming into the office just say you're not interested. They're just resume whores!!!!





Quote:
Originally Posted by crepella4 View Post
Does anyone work at a temp agency and, if so, can you shed some light on my experience. Two points I need clarification on:

1) Many agencies, after registering, suggest I send my friends to them, yet they have not sent me on any interviews. Why would I send my friends to them if they have no jobs for me to even interview for?

2) Paige Personnel called me to schedule an interview for a full-time billing clerk position. When I got there, they told me I had already registered. I said, "Yes, and I was called for an interview for a full-time billing clerk position." To my horror, the rep said, "Oh, well that was just to get you in here." So I took off of my other job for nothing. My question is, do temp agencies routinely post ads that are not real just to get people in their office? And if so, why, if they have no jobs in the first place? Do they get some kind of kickback for just getting applicants into the office?

Thanks
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Old 04-20-2008, 03:31 PM
 
2,141 posts, read 7,842,425 times
Reputation: 1272
Allow me to give you the other side of the story:
Temporary staffing companies provide companies with employees. On any day, a company may call and need a receptionist with Mac experience or 10 inbound customer service reps, etc. Temp agencies are expected to have a database of candidates available on a whim. So when they recruit, it's not always for a specific job that they're attempting to fill today. It's for future assignments that they may or may not obtain. We find many people direct hire positions as well as temp to hire.

Secondly, in order to stay in business, temp agencies need to employ people. They don't make money by running ads and interviewing people. They make money buy getting people employment. Recruiting costs are enormous.

Thirdly, because of their goal of finding people employment, good recruiters will market a handful of candidates to companies and their clients. They don't reactively recruit - they proactively recruit. That's what a good recruit does. They may know that company X hires people with insurance claims experience, for instance. So they'll recruit for several people with that experience and then call companies in an attempt to get an interview for their candidate(s).

I have worked in the industry for 10 years and can assure you that no one gets kick backs, commissions or bonuses simply for recruiting applicants. We have to find those applicants work to earn our living and keep our companies afloat.

Candidates are our inventory. We have to have them on hand all of the time. If you needed to suddenly see a doctor, you'd expect the emergency room to have a doctor there. If you ran to the store for milk, you'd expect to have a cashier there ready to check you out. If my client needs an administrative assistant or an accountant because theirs had an accident and will be off of work beginning today, they expect me to be ready to send them several resumes today; not 2 days from now.

The expectations are set by the clients of the staffing agencies, not the agencies themselves. We spend the bulk of our money and time recruiting. Some candidates get lucky and we find them work in a day. Others we never find work for. The factors that come into play are your skills, your professional references, and how aggressive your recruiter is in trying to find you work, as well as the job climate at the time.

If your expectation is that you will only visit a temporary agency if they have a specific job for you, then you're limiting yourself. We have access to jobs that are never advertised on any website. I have clients that only come to me with their job openings. I may send them 3 resumes for one job. So my candidates have a pretty good chance of landing that 1 job because they're 1 of 3, instead of 1 of 500 that respond to openings on the internet.

If you're not working and don't see the value of spending 2 hours interviewing at a temporary service then you're exactly the type of candidate that we don't want to represent anyway. There are countless others that praise us, that we have helped and that have referred friends to us. In this job tight market, some people recognize the value that we can provide.
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Old 04-23-2008, 06:18 PM
 
35 posts, read 157,087 times
Reputation: 18
But Chinolala,

What I don't understand is why an agency posts false ads everywhere. An agency can post an ad that says, "Hey, we're looking for good workers." They can even post what kind of workers they want. Instead, they post completely false positions. "FT billing clerk position in Northbrook for $32,000/year". Do you know how many of those I've applied for only to find out they are not even real? I've spent hours and hours applying for fake positions! That's what's not fair. How can I tell what's real and what's not? Should I assume all ads posted by placement agencies are then false? After what I've been through I've come to believe I must. An agency can build their pools with all the unemployed. They're's thousands of us. Not with posting fake jobs. By posting fake jobs they do an extremely dishonerable thing. I'm registered with nine agencies. They all post innumerable ads, but when I call them, I get nothing. The ads look all like real jobs with location, hours, salary, etc. but they're COMPLETELY fake. THAT's whats so wrong! It's soooooooooooooo wrong they should be fined by some law on the books. It should be ILLEGAL!
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Old 04-24-2008, 09:17 AM
 
746 posts, read 3,718,375 times
Reputation: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chinolala View Post
Allow me to give you the other side of the story:
Temporary staffing companies provide companies with employees. On any day, a company may call and need a receptionist with Mac experience or 10 inbound customer service reps, etc. Temp agencies are expected to have a database of candidates available on a whim. So when they recruit, it's not always for a specific job that they're attempting to fill today. It's for future assignments that they may or may not obtain. We find many people direct hire positions as well as temp to hire.

Secondly, in order to stay in business, temp agencies need to employ people. They don't make money by running ads and interviewing people. They make money buy getting people employment. Recruiting costs are enormous.

Thirdly, because of their goal of finding people employment, good recruiters will market a handful of candidates to companies and their clients. They don't reactively recruit - they proactively recruit. That's what a good recruit does. They may know that company X hires people with insurance claims experience, for instance. So they'll recruit for several people with that experience and then call companies in an attempt to get an interview for their candidate(s).

I have worked in the industry for 10 years and can assure you that no one gets kick backs, commissions or bonuses simply for recruiting applicants. We have to find those applicants work to earn our living and keep our companies afloat.

Candidates are our inventory. We have to have them on hand all of the time. If you needed to suddenly see a doctor, you'd expect the emergency room to have a doctor there. If you ran to the store for milk, you'd expect to have a cashier there ready to check you out. If my client needs an administrative assistant or an accountant because theirs had an accident and will be off of work beginning today, they expect me to be ready to send them several resumes today; not 2 days from now.

The expectations are set by the clients of the staffing agencies, not the agencies themselves. We spend the bulk of our money and time recruiting. Some candidates get lucky and we find them work in a day. Others we never find work for. The factors that come into play are your skills, your professional references, and how aggressive your recruiter is in trying to find you work, as well as the job climate at the time.

If your expectation is that you will only visit a temporary agency if they have a specific job for you, then you're limiting yourself. We have access to jobs that are never advertised on any website. I have clients that only come to me with their job openings. I may send them 3 resumes for one job. So my candidates have a pretty good chance of landing that 1 job because they're 1 of 3, instead of 1 of 500 that respond to openings on the internet.

If you're not working and don't see the value of spending 2 hours interviewing at a temporary service then you're exactly the type of candidate that we don't want to represent anyway. There are countless others that praise us, that we have helped and that have referred friends to us. In this job tight market, some people recognize the value that we can provide.
Thanks for explaining the other side, but I still feel they take on FAR more people than they can realistically place....as you say, a rainy day fun of sorts. After 2 months, and I have registered with 14 agencies, 2 2-day jobs, an awful educational processing job for 11 an hour, what I made in '93, that was a week long, and my current 11 an hour telemarketing job........the pickings and pay are awful, for those with and without experience......and most agencies say they have a huge supply of candidates.........it is far more advantageous to hit the companies yourself, before they advertise for the job or call agencies, so you are the ONLY candidate they look at and hire. By the time it hits all the agencies and job search sites, hundred of people hear about and want it.....
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Old 04-24-2008, 09:22 AM
 
746 posts, read 3,718,375 times
Reputation: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by crepella4 View Post
But Chinolala,

What I don't understand is why an agency posts false ads everywhere. An agency can post an ad that says, "Hey, we're looking for good workers." They can even post what kind of workers they want. Instead, they post completely false positions. "FT billing clerk position in Northbrook for $32,000/year". Do you know how many of those I've applied for only to find out they are not even real? I've spent hours and hours applying for fake positions! That's what's not fair. How can I tell what's real and what's not? Should I assume all ads posted by placement agencies are then false? After what I've been through I've come to believe I must. An agency can build their pools with all the unemployed. They're's thousands of us. Not with posting fake jobs. By posting fake jobs they do an extremely dishonerable thing. I'm registered with nine agencies. They all post innumerable ads, but when I call them, I get nothing. The ads look all like real jobs with location, hours, salary, etc. but they're COMPLETELY fake. THAT's whats so wrong! It's soooooooooooooo wrong they should be fined by some law on the books. It should be ILLEGAL!
Well, there is a Post office job scheme that has been going around for a few years, and that sounds not unsimilar to that, or bait-and-switch...draw them in with the quasi-fictitious position, and build up the factory body count. I agree. Worse, they tell me about positions in the works that sound great, and then I never hear about it again. They are always "working on it".
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:48 AM
 
35 posts, read 157,087 times
Reputation: 18
I apply for absolutely everything I can. It just kills me that I don't know if it's a real position or a fake one. I assume that I'm applying to a real company, wth a real job, because it lists the position as a real job. Some of the ads even say the company is confidential. I don't just try temp agencies. I try everything. There should be some law and enforcement when placing fake jobs in the paper. It's incredibly cruel and unjust.
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Old 01-25-2009, 03:44 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,282 times
Reputation: 10
Default temp agencies are very flakey!

yea i have registered with alot of them, i think its a number game as well , i see alot of (new jobs ) as they put it, on the websites, but when i call the next day they tell me they dont have anything, i finally said to them, (you know, why dont you guys stop putting freakin lies on your job page, do you all just get off on fu>>>ing with people, we have bills we cant pay, and your probably some person that came from a taco bell drive thru job right? yea she didnt like what i had to say. lol
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Old 01-25-2009, 04:14 PM
 
161 posts, read 409,699 times
Reputation: 28
Default agreed

I not only had three recruiters pitch me the same job. I lost the offer because they tried to compete over who was going to get credit and in the process the company went with someone else! I am not really looking, but it gave me a lot of insight into the game.
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