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I know that I can google this or search these forums but I want to know what everyones experience is with staffing agencies. They seem perfect, but I am sure they aren't
If you have a choice of working for a staffing company or selling your soul to the devil, pick the devil, you'll come out ahead. The one I currently work for Sucks, they charge the client $50 an hour and pay me $20 without benefits. They do offer benefits but they Suck, I'm currently under Cobra, and although it cost me, it actually covers something. The only staffing companies I would consider working for again would be government contractors like Lockheed Martin or SAIC. They are decent places to work for, places like Teksystems, COMSYS, etc, low ball you on compensation and once you sign the contract, you can forget about future raises.
If you have a choice of working for a staffing company or selling your soul to the devil, pick the devil, you'll come out ahead. The one I currently work for Sucks, they charge the client $50 an hour and pay me $20 without benefits. They do offer benefits but they Suck, I'm currently under Cobra, and although it cost me, it actually covers something. The only staffing companies I would consider working for again would be government contractors like Lockheed Martin or SAIC. They are decent places to work for, places like Teksystems, COMSYS, etc, low ball you on compensation and once you sign the contract, you can forget about future raises.
So, forgive me for asking this, why aren't you looking for a new job while temping? I always got the feeling that a staffing agency was a stopgap solution, not a permanent one.
This is my experience this year 2014 at this moment. I was residing in Florida. I lost my job back in April 2013 company terminated majority of employees including management. However, last December my daughter moved to Maryland since she got married and her hubby is from there. She went to a staffing company on one of her visits to Maryland and they hired her on the spot. She had to call back to employer in Florida to give notice. She called me said the agency can help me get a job too. Go online apply for 'clerical' positions.
Well I did and the staffing agency called me the next day. They said they could help me and asked when will be coming to Maryland. At that time I was not sure as I was not ready to move until April 2014. But my daughter had to come back to Florida to get her belongings so I went back with her end of January. The staffing agency said to call them as soon as I get in Maryland. Now I know the same job would not be available but I was led to believe that's not a problem. I contacted the agency upon my arrival here; an interview was set up. I was told to bring 3 references all from previous employers (preferably supervisors). Okay, after that interview and references contacted ( I know because I spoke to one of them). I did not here back from the agency.
Now mind you I do not know anyone here in Maryland, no money, no job. Because after all I thought I would be getting a job. To top this off the government stop federal unemployment. So I am really in bad place (to put it mildly). My daughter and her new hubby could not accommodate me since they had someone already staying with them. (But they did pay for me a hotel for 2 weeks, money that they did not have). I end up staying with someone who out of the kindness of her heart said you're welcome to stay with me as long as you need. My nerves is shot, I'm emotional wreck. But thankful and appreciative none the less.
I contacted the agency to inquire about the position. I was told it’s not available but that I should do my own job reach to not rely on them. I had already been doing my own research anyway. But I told the agent I came from another state because I was led to believe that I could get a job here through the agency. Well she quickly brushed me off on someone else voicemail (even though she was the one I interviewed with). After a week I got a phone call from their partnering agency of a job that required I get my fingerprints taken. I would be working in a bank. The job description I really liked. I went on Thursday of the same week, called them on Monday.
The agent said everything came back good, but the position is no longer available. I was livid. He said not to worry they get those job types all the time. That was in February and this end of June. Over the past few months I have been contacted by two other agencies with job promises that pan out. Just this week I was called to resend my test results via email because the hiring manager never forward the results to the employer; she is now on vacation. And she was supposed to have done that over a month ago. I am so ready to go back to Florida. I came here in the dead of winter and Marylander's are not the nicest of people. But I’ll save that for another thread. Temp/Staffing agencies lie to earn your credentials to solicit your former employers for client potential. My reference said she asked if her company need help hiring people.
So, forgive me for asking this, why aren't you looking for a new job while temping? I always got the feeling that a staffing agency was a stopgap solution, not a permanent one.
I only took a job at a staffing company out of desperation, my unemployment insurance was due to run out in 6 weeks and despite searching for another job for over 6 months, I couldn’t find anything. I was hired by the staffing company for a client’s project that was scheduled to last a few months at one site and the job could potentially last a total of 8 months if I was willing to travel to the clients other sites. After a few months working at the clients first site, they wanted to hire me directly, but due to contract restrictions the staffing company has in place, they will only allow the client to hire me directly after working three more months for them. So in roughly two months from now if everything goes well, I’ll get a full time offer to work directly with the client with benefits. I’m hesitant to identify the staffing company or the client until after I get hired, don’t need anything screwing this up for me. So I will be one of the lucky few that do get hired by the client. The staffing company I work for sucks, but I can say this much, without them I would have never made the contacts I did and get a (pending) offer of a full time position with good salary and great benefits.
I only took a job at a staffing company out of desperation, my unemployment insurance was due to run out in 6 weeks and despite searching for another job for over 6 months, I couldn’t find anything. I was hired by the staffing company for a client’s project that was scheduled to last a few months at one site and the job could potentially last a total of 8 months if I was willing to travel to the clients other sites. After a few months working at the clients first site, they wanted to hire me directly, but due to contract restrictions the staffing company has in place, they will only allow the client to hire me directly after working three more months for them. So in roughly two months from now if everything goes well, I’ll get a full time offer to work directly with the client with benefits. I’m hesitant to identify the staffing company or the client until after I get hired, don’t need anything screwing this up for me. So I will be one of the lucky few that do get hired by the client. The staffing company I work for sucks, but I can say this much, without them I would have never made the contacts I did and get a (pending) offer of a full time position with good salary and great benefits.
So let me get this straight:
The staffing agency got you a job, in a temp-to-perm role, in a job that you had to take out of necessity, but everything is going well and you hope to get a good job in two months with good salary and benefits?
The staffing agency got you a job, in a temp-to-perm role, in a job that you had to take out of necessity, but everything is going well and you hope to get a good job in two months with good salary and benefits?
I am having a hard time seeing what the issue is.
I earned this. I developed the contacts within the company to get hired. The staffing agency did nothing for me, except take the lion share of the contract rate the client is paying. It's not like they did anything to get me this job. The new job is not even doing anything remotely related to what the project was. The job I took with the staffing company wasn't a temp-to-perm postion, it's an entirely different postion within the same client company.
I have read some posts saying staffing agencies are wonderful and it lead them to jobs. Some of them even good ones. My take on those comments, I actually do believe some of them. An anecdotal comparison is how people say career fairs are useless. I generally agree, but I did find a job through one. However, my observations are that most of them aren't worth the office space they occupy, the air they breathe, and the electricity they use.
They remind me of those exercise machines and equipment they advertise on TV and wherever else. You see a man in his 30s to 50s with a 6-pack, or a woman of similar age range with a very well toned, in shape, but still feminine body. The problem is, there's no way to know whether if they got that way using the stuff they're advertising. Even if it is possible, there are always alternatives. With staffing agencies, my metric was I got more jobs interviews on my own then any of them ever did, which is direct proof that I was much better off on my own.
What many of them end up doing is ask me to come in, ask about my career aspirations and goals (sounds very similar to those MLM schemes doesn't it ), 0) take your resume, 1) ask you your previous salary, 2) ask you for your references, and 3) ask you where you've applied.
1) Even though any employer can look this up by calling them up their HR department, I won't give them this anymore. If you really want to know this, do your own due diligence. I've had it giving these guys so much information and literally getting nothing in return. I just tell them I'm flexible in my new position
2) I now tell them I only provide work references after I've completed 1 interview with the hiring company. My references have told me they were called discussing matters not related to me getting a job or about myself. Otherwise, they hound your references trying to dig up more job leads
3) As they've produced 0 interviews for me, I'm not going to give my laundry list of companies, only for them to use that list as leads for themselves. I now tell them if you have a company in mind, I'll let you know if I've applied there. If I ever speak to a new one of them again, I'm tempted to just be frank and say I don't expect any results out of you, so don't expect any from me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TechGromit
If you have a choice of working for a staffing company or selling your soul to the devil, pick the devil, you'll come out ahead. The one I currently work for Sucks, they charge the client $50 an hour and pay me $20 without benefits. They do offer benefits but they Suck, I'm currently under Cobra, and although it cost me, it actually covers something. The only staffing companies I would consider working for again would be government contractors like Lockheed Martin or SAIC. They are decent places to work for, places like Teksystems, COMSYS, etc, low ball you on compensation and once you sign the contract, you can forget about future raises.
Martin Lockheed ended up taking over a contract and relocating everyone on a project I was on way out of state. Many folks just found jobs locally, and one person who was interested who wasn't aware of the transfer at the time declined right away since she had family and owned a house in the area.
That seems to be the deal with SAIC... they're not a bad place to work when you're fresh out of college or as an earlier stepping stone. Otherwise, many I know of ended up jumping ship for the better, as the raises are only 3% to 6% a year, if even that, so you're hosed if your starting salary was lowballed. The only way to get an large increase is to do something drastic like bring significant business to the company. The folks who are making it big at SAIC are the ones who purchased company stock back in the 80s and made a killing on that. Also, they split the company into Leidos and SAIC now
Heard of another story where someone who got a warehouse job through a temp agency was making $10 an hour. The other workers made $20/hr, and also got PTO. He brought this up to his temp agent, where the temp agent was very adamant about staying on, finishing with "I guess you better show up to work on Monday". He declined, was fired, and countered saying he quits [shrug]. Luckily, he was living with his parents and didn't need the money right away. He could afford to take time to find something better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich_CD
2. If they won't tell you who the hiring company is right up front don't bother with them.
How legit is this for the job seeker? Aren't they afraid that you'll just circumvent the recruiter and then just directly apply to the job yourself, cutting out the middleman? What kind of rebuttal can you provide against this?
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), 0) take your resume, 1) ask you your previous salary, 2) ask you for your references, and 3) ask you where you've applied.
