Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I worked for one agency at 1-month assignment for a client. The client hired me and I worked there for 3 years. I never spoke to that agency again.
At another agency, they gave a 2-3 day assignment for a client. Then, the agency had me in a permanent position in a different area for the same client. I was hired and collected checks from the new employer for the next 3-4 years. I never spoke to the agency again.
I don't understand the difference between temporary firms and permanent placement firms, since I got a temp assignment and a permanent placement from the same firm on 2 different occasions.
A permanent placement firm deals with that. The job is not temp to perm, you are never the employee of my firm, you never fill out any of the employment paperwork, etc with us. You work for the new employer.
Temp firms hire you and pay you until the new company decided to keep you.
Kelly actually had me black listed and due to the bogus form email they sent me a month ago in my new city stating that I didn't have the skills they were looking for in a temp, I'd say I'm still black listed. (Apparently, 70wpm and 10K ksph along with customer service and computer skills isn't enough.) I only applied to them and others, once again, as I'm desperate for income. But as I've said for a long time... you're the ***** and they're the pimp.
I was an employee of the agency and then the client both times.
I had a 1 month only temp assignment and collected checks from the Agency and turned in a time card that was signed by the client. Client hired me permanently from the agency. I filled out paperwork with client and the agency let me go. They no longer needed my timesheets.
The next time, I was working on assignments. The agency called me up, their temp had failed to come in for the client's mailroom. They needed somebody to come in immediately. I showed up and worked 2-3 days. I turned in my timesheet to the agency. I was at home for the next week with no assignments. Agency called me back and asked me to interview for a perm position for the same client. I passed the paperwork and screening and was hired by the client. I no longer filled out timesheets for the agency.
I just found a great job through a recruiting company, it really just depends.
Depending on your industry there are specialized recruiters who find you jobs in your industry.
I went through Aerotek they found me nothing, but they found my husband something. He didn't stay long though, he found a FABULOUS job after 2 months somewhere else.
It just all depends I guess.
The problem with working through an agency is that you never know if the job(s) you're interested in even exist. Lots of agencies post fake jobs to lure people in to up their "employee headcount." Once you're there and have filled out all the paperwork and taken all the tests, you're told that the job you had inquired about originally either has been withdrawn or filled by the company. The agencies will post the same jobs day after day, week after week, but those jobs do not exist.
Temp agencies aren't like they used to be 20 - 25 years ago. Two of the best jobs on my resume were the result of being placed there as a temp. That's the way it was then. There were no 2 or 3 pre-placement interviews to work a temp job. You were assigned there and you showed up. Folks who are out of work generally don't have the luxury to be able to wait through 2 or 3 interviews to find out if they got the job or not. I registered with one agency right after I lost my job in September 2012, and not only did I never hear back from them, the recruiter wouldn't return any of my calls or emails.
Agencies are a scheming racket. They play way too many games in these times we live in. Do your research, make your own client list and offer your services as a temp without the client fee. Don't know what else to say.
Agencies are a scheming racket. They play way too many games in these times we live in. Do your research, make your own client list and offer your services as a temp without the client fee. Don't know what else to say.
Yep, cut out the middle man!
That's all staffing agencies are, blood-sucking intermediaries. All they've ever done is waste my time and harass my references trying to get them to buy their "services."
I've never gotten a job through a staffing agency, and I won't ever use one again in the future unless I'm desperate.
The problem with working through an agency is that you never know if the job(s) you're interested in even exist. Lots of agencies post fake jobs to lure people in to up their "employee headcount." Once you're there and have filled out all the paperwork and taken all the tests, you're told that the job you had inquired about originally either has been withdrawn or filled by the company. The agencies will post the same jobs day after day, week after week, but those jobs do not exist.
Temp agencies aren't like they used to be 20 - 25 years ago. Two of the best jobs on my resume were the result of being placed there as a temp. That's the way it was then. There were no 2 or 3 pre-placement interviews to work a temp job. You were assigned there and you showed up. Folks who are out of work generally don't have the luxury to be able to wait through 2 or 3 interviews to find out if they got the job or not. I registered with one agency right after I lost my job in September 2012, and not only did I never hear back from them, the recruiter wouldn't return any of my calls or emails.
Your post is so true and has been my experience. Back in the mid 90's as a young 20 something it was easy with my legal skills to go to a placement or temp agency one day and be sitting at a desk in a law office or corporate office the next day. Like you, two of my best jobs on my resume were placements that went permanent. When I moved to my current city back in 2003 I started getting jaded with agencies mostly because of all the jobs they had in the paper which never amounted to anything. They'd call me in, I'd have to go through two hours of testing and talking up of the agency (while asking if I had any other friends who were looking for work). I did get my long term job through a legal temp agency. Actually I should say I got a temp job through that agency and through word of mouth from inside the law firm, I was offered a full time job.
Now the last two years with the economy, I've seen how agencies don't care where they place you, or what atmosphere they place you in. Now they guilt you if you say you don't fit well with the company (I was sent to a company 50 miles away for a temporary interview, and when I told the recruiter that I was leery about making that drive 5 days a week in a 12 year old jeep she told me to 'suck it up and stop complaining.' Well I did need the job, and I ended up taking it but that was the worst experience that lasted 3 months because she wouldn't place me anywhere else (and the experience wasn't my driving it was actually the management at the firm)). I would have been better just telling her to stuff it and not take the assignment.
You can't think of agencies as your end all be all. They have to be just one avenue for jobs, and in my opinion, the lowest avenue. I get calls all the time now that I'm at a full time job, from agencies all over the state for jobs I don't even qualify for, but for some reason they still like to waste a phone call to talk to my answering machine.
I refuse to even go in and test for two hours, because I know they don't have any work. I work event security to supplement my SS, but right now it's the off season until spring, so there isn't much work, but that doesn't bother me, because I make provisions for it. I also do mystery shops for extra money.
Temp agencies should be the LAST RESORT and only used in case of a dire $$$ emergency, which is exactly why I am working a temp job right now through an agency. I registered with the agency on 9/28/12 and they placed me on 11/28/12. While I found that completely laughable that it took them two months to place me in a semi-long-term temp job, all the while they continued to post jobs that I would have REALLY like to have been considered for. Which solidifies the "fake jobs" theory. When this job ends, I'll be out of work again unless one of the MANY resumes that I've sent out over the past 3 months gets a hit.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
