those job agencies.. grrr

[NMH]

In a same boat here.
Went to the agencies, and signed on with several - telling them that basically the one thing I don't want to do is cold-calling telemarketting.

What do they ONLY feckin send me out on? Crap telemarketting, that's RIGHT!
Minimum wage crap too, and for a couple of days here and there. Which boils down to about the same as dole money, so it's like working for nothing!

England is crap for work now, they've got everyone on hamster-wheels running to stay where they are. I thought slavery was outlawed?

 

[Bad Ash]

Well, that's a sales lead. Recruitment is a sales business and your employer has a need. The recruiter is only offering a service that might be required. Is that so bad

Sure, I understand it's a great sales oppertunity but I'd have preferred them to give it a bit more time before calling as I'd litterally only given him the (shock) news minutes beforehand.

When you are selling a person rather than a product/service/etc it becomes more, well, personal. So the distain which many people hold for salespeople is even moreso for recruitment consultants.

 

[Skaville]

Sure, I understand it's a great sales oppertunity but I'd have preferred them to give it a bit more time before calling as I'd litterally only given him the (shock) news minutes beforehand.

When you are selling a person rather than a product/service/etc it becomes more, well, personal. So the distain which many people hold for salespeople is even moreso for recruitment consultants.

You may find your boss would prefer to deal with it immediately. he has a need NOW. Once your four weeks are up he has an empty desk and will have to do your work himself or give it to someone else. You seem a bit sentimental about the whole thing. Is leaving this employer what you really want?

When I deal with a client I go and meet them, discuss their requirements at length (hence the word consultancy), advise on the current job market and propose a solution (type of person, attraction strategy etc). I then go off and find them the best person for the job and manage the hiring process for them. That, my friend, is a service. I don't "sell people", I build a process that will eventually lead to them hiring someone that will excel in the job.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Recruitment Consultants are salespeople... but as anyone who is in sales would know, the best are those who do give a shit about their customers. A good recruitment consultant will care about the candidate & the organisation as neither would come back again

 

[Skaville]

Recruitment Consultants are salespeople... but as anyone who is in sales would know, the best are those who do give a shit about their customers. A good recruitment consultant will care about the candidate & the organisation as neither would come back again

Business basics my friend, business basics. I wouldn't go back to a plumber who overcharged me or gave a shit service but a plumber wouldn't be considered a sales person.

 

[desprateseagull]

final thought.. are the 'permanent' jobs that agencies get tasked to fill get converted to temp/perm, so that 2 lots of commission can be earnt? and how come the person who actually getsthe job doenst have a kickback on this?

for a few phonecalls, it seems easy (i could well be very wrong..) so watch out for the despratejobs agency, coming soon!

 

[Bad Ash]

final thought.. are the 'permanent' jobs that agencies get tasked to fill get converted to temp/perm, so that 2 lots of commission can be earnt? and how come the person who actually getsthe job doenst have a kickback on this?

for a few phonecalls, it seems easy (i could well be very wrong..) so watch out for the despratejobs agency, coming soon!

I've been told that once you have been temping somewhere for 13 weeks then the company can takew you on perminantly without paying any further commission. I'm not sure if this is specific to certain agencies or contracts however.

Setting up a job agency has crossed my mind too on more than one occassion when finding out the commission they were making from me

 

[Bad Ash]

You may find your boss would prefer to deal with it immediately. he has a need NOW. Once your four weeks are up he has an empty desk and will have to do your work himself or give it to someone else. You seem a bit sentimental about the whole thing. Is leaving this employer what you really want?

I think they could have left it until the next day as I'd done it last thing in the afternoon.

Yes I did feel some guilt for letting down the company, boss and colleagues I was leaving (I was on a training contract which I guess they would have been expecting me to complete with them) but I guess that's what seperates me from a cold-blooded salesman

 

[Bluejuice]

Sorry, nothing personal but I don't like salespeople full stop. And those in recruitment seem to be amongst the lowest of a bad bunch.

Perhaps there are some out there with honest motives, but the fact that the staff turnaround in all the traditional agencies is so rapid does make you think it takes a special sort of person to deal with the role.

You can tell a recruitment consultant from a mile off, and I've yet to meet one I'd willingly spend time with.

Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong....

 

[Skaville]

You can tell a recruitment consultant from a mile off, and I've yet to meet one I'd willingly spend time with.

How exactly? Do you sit at Witdean going "hmmm that ones a fireman. The woman next to him must be a lawyer. That bloke is clearly a dustman..." You sir, are clearly a twat of the highest order

"Nothing personal" but

 

[Skaville]

Sorry, nothing personal but I don't like salespeople full stop. And those in recruitment seem to be amongst the lowest of a bad bunch.

Perhaps there are some out there with honest motives, but the fact that the staff turnaround in all the traditional agencies is so rapid does make you think it takes a special sort of person to deal with the role.

You can tell a recruitment consultant from a mile off, and I've yet to meet one I'd willingly spend time with.

Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong....

Actually, I've realised something. You clearly have an immense talent for judging character. Perhaps you should be a recruitment consultant...

 

[Bry Nylon]

How exactly? Do you sit at Witdean going "hmmm that ones a fireman..."

Perhaps I should stop wearing my helmet to games

Ps - why are all the recruitment consultants so uptight? It's just a job

 

[Skaville]

for a few phonecalls, it seems easy (i could well be very wrong..)

Yep, you're wrong... again

 

[Skaville]

Ps - why are all the recruitment consultants so uptight? It's just a job

Well, I can't speak for The Grub, or Stumpy Tim but I'm uptight because I work f***ing hard. Yeah, i make good commission but I did 49 hours last week. I constantly try to the right thing by people and I strongly believe that I do a bloody good job (backed up by plenty of positive feedback from my candidates and repeat business clients) only to read that I am only fit to eat out of a dustbin etc etc. You just get bored of the sweeping generalisations that idiots like Bluejuice make who have no idea who I am and what I stand for as a person. It's just f***ing idiotic bigotry basically and I shouldn't rise to tiny minded people like him, but heh...

 

[Bry Nylon]

Well, I can't speak for The Grub, or Stumpy Tim but I'm uptight because I work f***ing hard. Yeah, i make good commission but I did 49 hours last week. I constantly try to the right thing by people and I strongly believe that I do a bloody good job (backed up by plenty of positive feedback from my candidates and repeat business clients) only to read that I am only fit to eat out of a dustbin etc etc. You just get bored of the sweeping generalisations that idiots like Bluejuice make who have no idea who I am and what I stand for as a person. It's just f***ing idiotic bigotry basically and I shouldn't rise to tiny minded people like him, but heh...

I get bottles thrown at me. Oh, and air guns. Wankers!

 

[Kylies Stunt Arse]

Well, I can't speak for The Grub, or Stumpy Tim but I'm uptight because I work f***ing hard. Yeah, i make good commission but I did 49 hours last week. I constantly try to the right thing by people and I strongly believe that I do a bloody good job (backed up by plenty of positive feedback from my candidates and repeat business clients) only to read that I am only fit to eat out of a dustbin etc etc. You just get bored of the sweeping generalisations that idiots like Bluejuice make who have no idea who I am and what I stand for as a person. It's just f***ing idiotic bigotry basically and I shouldn't rise to tiny minded people like him, but heh...

I'd say that maybe you, and The Grub maybe (they haven't had a lot to say on the matter), might be the exception rather than the rule.

I've had to deal with several agencies in the past few years, both looking for work myself and recruiting for positions for the companies I've worked for and very often the "consultants" I've met have been disinterested wasters only interested in making the quickest bit of commission possible.

Recently I went into an agency looking for work, was interviewed and put through the testing process, then told about a position coming available in 3 weeks time. I told the consultant I didn't want a temp role, especially not a long term temp role when the company concerned have put a company wide ban on employing people permanently. I also told them what money I was looking for. I was offered a long term temp role, at shit money, way below my experience. The consultant then decided that I would take that role and did not pass my details on to her colleague who worked on the permanent side. I only registered through her as she was the only one in at the time. So all in all I wasted 3 weeks as this agency weren't even looking for a role for me, she admitted that when she rang me to see if I was going to interview for her role or not.

Other agencies either gave me a business card and told me to register online, took a CV without reading it and told me they'd call (they haven't), or just ignored me for 20 minutes while I was standing in their offices, preferring instead to sit and chat to a colleague.

Well f*** that, especially when they then make a shitload of money if they do happen to pull their heads out of their arses long enough to place me somewhere.

On the whole I'm with Juicy. Most, but not all, recruitment people I've dealt with have been f***ing useless. Many of them haven't even been able to describe roles to me, that's if they can even be arsed to call at all.