I was sitting here today thinking about some positions that I had applied for. I told myself a while back that I would only apply to companies directly, avoiding the middle man. However, when desperation sets in, I look at a job posting that I think it sounds great. Then I notice it's with a staffing agency and say to myself, what harm can it cause? Then after I have applied and I come to my senses, I "google" that staffing agency with the word "scam" after it. Lo and behold, hundreds of disgruntled people complaining about these agencies.
Here is what I discovered.
A lot of you will not know that recruitment is sales driven, where YOUR resume is just a tool to be used to fill their databases. I can list all the agencies to stay away from, but that would take up a lot of time so I’ll just say stay away from all of them. There are a few amazing ones, but for every good story to be told there are at least 10 bad ones. It's sad but true...
So what am I getting at? My gripe is that recruitment is run a bit like car sales. Most consultants no nothing of the industry they are recruiting for. Less than 100% of the agencies you will deal with all have sales people dealing with your application.
They really don’t care if you get a job or not. If you do that's great, but they're more interested in that financial threshold they need per month so they can earn commission. You're just a number on the books, you're a meal ticket if you like!
Here is a bit of free advice. Don’t ever list your references on any application. This is used (or rather misused) as a contact into YOUR business, and they will call them. Only after you interviewed with a potential employer should you need to provide reference information.
Job boards like “Careerbuilder” are looked at by millions of potential employers apparently (yeah right!). Rather, it’s looked at by millions of staffing agencies trying to find companies to call so they can get vacancies to chase. They're just sharks on a feeding frenzy.
There, I feel better now.
Optimist eh? Your current post is a bit pessimistic, but I do understand your pain. All painters are drunks, all lawyers eh...mmmmm well you know, etc, etc... In that I am a recruiter I stand in defense of my recruiting brothers and sisters, :*).
ReplyDeleteI've had many discussions this week with agencies that "churn and burn" they are lucky if they have five minutes per phone interview. They need to fill pipelines for corporate recruiters, basically reading lots of resumes and doing a very quick screen, where do you live, etc..... The recruiting process is being cut up into pieces and being outsourced to agencies.
Hang in there. Remember it only takes one good recruiter and you may have a job for life!Like when you buy a bag of beans, my mom always taught us to clean out and look for stones in the beans, you'll find a good one, just keep at it!
Good luck in your search!
Joe
Thanks Joe for your feeback and wisdom. There is good in everything. Sometimes its just hidden and we have to search it out to find the it. Thanks for all your great advice and your excellent listening skills. Maybe someday we will be able to see each other as employeed colleagues. Happy Hunting.
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