Employment agencies (Portland: to rent, home, contractors)

[heatherinaustin]

Any referrals for employment agencies? I know in prior threads I have been warned that the temp agencies are oversaturated but it can't hurt for me to make contact with a few employment agencies. I have some specific questions about my fields of employment/licensing/areas to learn, etc so I'd like an agency or recruiters who can I can get actual guidance from.

Any licensed investigators on this board?

I also need this info for my husband, who is a CNC machinist that specialized in medical manufacturing.

I appreciate any referrals!

[heatherinaustin]

One more thing, I know networking is the best way to get a job. I'm doing that as well as just job searching on the internet the good "old fashioned" way. I've been successful in the past using recruiter firms and employment agencies so I didn't want to rule them out. Can't hurt to cover all my bases!

[wanderbygrace]

My experience with employment agencies hasn't been good, that's for sure. Most of the ones I've tried to contact don't pick up the phone, so you either have to leave a voicemail or email, and in the vast majority of the cases, they're never returned, despite me having a solid background & resume. I've even tried following up, multiple times, on each of them with no luck.

I'm guessing that there are two big reasons for this - (1) I'm from out of town, and most companies prefer locals, and (2) the recruiters are oversaturated w/resumes as you said. Thus, unless you have services that fit a particular niche, you're probably going to have issues finding something.

[philwithbeard]

FYI:
Since you are out of state, I just wanted to add my $0.02 cents for the State of Oregon's Employment web based services. It ain't all that bad.

You want to use the iMatchSkills services. (Right hand side of link page, is another link)
State of Oregon: Employment Department

There is a somewhat long questionnaire about your job skills, background, and education that you have to go through. As I recall from when I first arrived in Portland, it took about 2.5 hours to finish the registration process and the long questionnaire. In my case, once I hit the magic number, I retired, so I wasn't successful with this service; but I was impressed by the number of employers that choose to have any job listing remain hidden from the general public unless they got a very high job skill match / employment history and such from an applicant on that iMatchSkills web sit.

There is a phone number for help with the registration process. I do not know about registration with iMatchSkills process from out of state, and then changing it once you find a home in Portland.

[Nell Plotts]

Reality check here...

Just because employers list with the State Employment Service doesn't mean they REALLY use it. Federal contractors are required to list with the SES (technically with the Vet's Rep which as a practical matter puts the job in the entire system). Some of those listings may require the applicant to utilize the employer's application process as the next step.

Many employers are using temporary services as a 'try before you buy' where both the temp service client and the employee have a chance to check each other out. When the employer is ready to fill the job it may be listed with the SES and the temp employee required to go through the application process but the temp is usually a shoe-in because they have been doing the job. I don't know who are the large Portland Metro temp services any more but those are the places to go as they probably have contracts with major employers. There are some temp services that specialize in a skill (or lack of) set. Make sure they have call for the type of job you are seeking.

Employers who post their openings on the inter-net really use that applicant pool. Don't brush off that process.

Pay attention to the listing's skill description. Many employers do not look at or consider applications that don't match because of the number of applications. Taylor your resume to each job.

With respect to medical manufacturing your husband should know the industry well enough to find them. The only one that I am specifically aware of is a CastParts business unit.

[wanderbygrace]

I agree about using the State of Oregon and it's iMatch. I've had some minor success with that. I've had a couple phone interviews from Craigslist, but none have worked out.

I also wholeheartedly agree to tailoring the resume to the job applied for. Most agencies and even a number of companies use a matching database to look for key words on your resume compared against the job. The more words you have in your resume that match, the better your chances of getting at least a phone interview from what I understand.

Make sure you know exactly what kind of minimum income you need to make. I put together a proposed and detailed Oregon household budget to see what my wife and I really needed to earn to get by on the lifestyle we desire (aka the same as we have here). After checking into rent, utilities, state income taxes (its 9% in Oregon - egad!) and such, I found that we'll likely need about 10% more of income in Oregon than here in Ohio, because our cost of living in Ohio is one of the lowest in the country.

[Minervah]

The only employment agency I ever went to was Boley Welch for paralegal work. They were the nastiest people ever. I won't go into detail but they showed blatant age discrimination and were extremely rude. I think it's partly because the paralegal profession is especially over-saturated but still they could have been nicer. I have heard the same stories from other older folks who tried to sign up with them. But you are probably younger, so you may have a chance with them.

Volt Temporary Employment Agency always sent stellar people to the last company I was working for. I don't know how they are to deal with from a job seeker's point of view though.

I was in on the hiring process for my department and I can tell you while it was wonderful to have Volt screen people for us, it was still a very difficult task to choose the right person because there were so many good applicants. I think you have to figure out what the potential employer is up against and looking for and adjust your resume and interview accordingly.

It has been mentioned but I will say it again, networking is the best way to go. Employers really seem to like referrals. I know the ones I worked for did. Out of the 10 or so jobs I have had in Portland, eight of them were through referrals.

I think the State is the biggest user of referrals. I was once offered a job through a sister of a good friend who had worked for the State for many years. This job was never posted but would have been even if I had accepted it for whatever regulations they have to follow in job postings. So I would take those with a grain of salt when looking online for State jobs.

This is my limited experience. My best advice is to listen to Nell. She is a wealth of information on this subject with first-hand knowledge.

[Nell Plotts]

Any resume overly-rich in key words smells to high heaven. Again, tailor your application to the SPECIFIC opening, focus on the employer's needs.

Volt is well regarded by employers, however, I would apply at several.

I recall you have children. Sign them up for activities, and accompany them, as soon as you have a place to live. Discretely let the other parents know you are looking for employment. Start to build a network.

[wanderbygrace]

Originally Posted by Nell Plotts

Any resume overly-rich in key words smells to high heaven. Again, tailor your application to the SPECIFIC opening, focus on the employer's needs.

Wouldn't that kind of be the same thing?

I'm talking about looking at exactly what that specific job description is saying and put as many things on your resume that match (using the words the job description uses) that truly do match. Don't use other ways of describing the same thing - use the same key word or words that the job description uses on your resume.

Perhaps we're sayin the same thing, just in two different ways?

[Nell Plotts]

Ah, you haven't seen as many resumes as I. Some are key word dumps to make the first automated screening but don't do a good job discussing the job at hand.