Tempo agencies are a scam, don't waste your time (profit, temporary, company)
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On the way home, I left a voicemail for the recruiter and told him I had left the job and that I was owed a paycheck. He called me back, calling me names, telling me I was unprofessional, a liar, a scoundrel, that I was absolutely done with Robert Half forever etc etc etc. I just brushed him off, telling him that we're all employees at will and that I am still owed a paycheck.
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I've heard the same rant from temp agencies. To them, anyone who leaves a job, even giving fair notice, is a liar, scoundrel, thief, con man, etc.
These days, temp agencies will have a worker sign a document stating their pay will drop to minimum wage if they leave an assignment without giving notice. So they have some new tricks up their sleeve. Still, I'd be willing to accept a drop in my final paycheck if I was moving on to something better.
For many years I submitted my resume to Robert Half for countless IT support jobs posted in various job boards and their own site as well. The same story as many others reported here... come in for a face to face, dress professionally, copy of driver's license and work authorization/passport then pointless conversations which go absolutely nowhere. I kept going to these "meetings" but i gave up on the professional attire thing. Jeans and a t-shirt are perfectly acceptable for me if you aren't going to do a damn to help me out.
After a few years of not even a phone interview, out of the blue, someone I had met with a few months before calls me for a job that they thought I'd be perfect for. No matter that all the jobs I had applied for over the years I would also have been perfect for...
He sets me up for a phone interview with the local manager then another phone interview with the IT director. All is great, they make an offer. It's a contract to hire, which I was aware of. But the salary upon conversion was 12k less than the recruiter had promised. Initial promise was 80k, new salary was 68k. I couldn't believe it! The recruiter made it seem that this was the company that changed the salary, they're to blame, that he was on my side etc etc. I refused to take the job, so the recruiter went back to the manager asking for more money, and then there was the promise of relocation to an office 10 minutes from my house etc etc...
He comes back with 71k. And he knew that my temp assignment was going to end very soon and, as far as he knew, I had nothing waiting in the wings. While he was right about the lack of other offers, I had interviewed with another company, for a long term (2 yrs) contract for a significantly higher pay but no offer had come yet. Upon me having accepted the initial contract period (3 months) he asked me to take down my resume from all job boards. When I didn't, he called me out on it and said that I would not get the job unless I did that. So I complied. Again, I was in a bind. The prospect of being unemployed isn't very appealing.
First day of work. I show up, my new manager doesn't. I wait at the reception for about 1.5 hours until he showed up at 10 AM. He then takes me to the desk. No sorry... no desk. I was asked to sit at the joint between 2 desks with an air vent literally above my head. Nothing was set up for me, no computer, no phone, not even an account. There was no training. They threw me on the floor to assist the staff pretty much immediately. Needless to say, I absolutely hated hated it.
Next day, IT manager asked me to lunch. We had lunch, then right after I excused myself to run a quick errand. While on that, I get a phone call. The 2 yr contract job had made an offer. I accepted on the spot. Then, I went back to the now old job, contemplating whether I should finish out my day... well, the vent above my head made the decision for me. I picked up my stuff and walked out. Did not say a word to anyone.
On the way home, I left a voicemail for the recruiter and told him I had left the job and that I was owed a paycheck. He called me back, calling me names, telling me I was unprofessional, a liar, a scoundrel, that I was absolutely done with Robert Half forever etc etc etc. I just brushed him off, telling him that we're all employees at will and that I am still owed a paycheck.
That was in 2013.
Today Robert Half, after a 5 year absence, emails me about a job I'd be perfect for.
The cycle begins again...
Ugh, whose the scoundrel when you really think about it: Low ball you for 10k, no training, no schedule, your desk isn't ready, etc. etc. I guess these dumb hiring managers will continue making the same mistakes and wondering why they can't retain anybody and cry "There's no good worker's available!!!"
These days, temp agencies will have a worker sign a document stating their pay will drop to minimum wage if they leave an assignment without giving notice. So they have some new tricks up their sleeve. Still, I'd be willing to accept a drop in my final paycheck if I was moving on to something better.
I doubt that is legal. They cannot retroactively reduce your pay. However that doesn't stop agencies. The agency I worked for tried to declare me 1099 as a Chemist. I reported them to the IRS via form ss-8 and the IRS slapped them down (though I was long gone by then).
These days, temp agencies will have a worker sign a document stating their pay will drop to minimum wage if they leave an assignment without giving notice..
Never had to sign such, mostly because they don't pay too high above it anyway.
I current co-worker of mine worked out a pretty good contract with a Staffing Agency called TekSystems, it was for an 18 month assignment and he was to get a raise every 3 months. After the first 3 months, they refused to honor the contract agreement. They said it was make by a recruiter that no longer works for the company, and they weren't giving him a raise, despite he had it in black and white in a contract. He could have sued, but left for greener pastures. Staffing agencies are like a bad slot machine, even when you work out a decent deal with them, they still refuse to pay out.
Being a young engineer out of college, temp agencies are how I found all of my jobs. And most of the jobs were at big companies who did not post their job listing on a site, they just went through a recruiting agency. They are not blowing smoke IMO, at least not in NYC.
Just job employers are very picky, you will find that out once you start applying to companies and directly and release they are full of broken promises also. Or will just disappear when they say they are going to call you back.
Any recruiter who approaches me with empty hands will leave disappointed.
You got an actual job for me? Sure, I'll submit my resume.
Let me know the client name so there is no double submittal. You need information? Sure, here it is.
But if a recruiter is empty-handed, I'm not going to drive an hour to the local office. You want my references? Nope. Last 4 of SSN? LOL.
Not really. They help you find a job. They get their cut. True, a lot of the "jobs" they send you to are not very good.
Last one started me out $10 an hour but now I'm all the way up to $18/hr now at this one factory. It's worked out grreattt.
Are you still there now?
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