I’m looking for a new job at the moment and keep coming across jobs posted by recruitment agencies on behalf of companies and keep thinking who actually benefits from them?
They always conceal the name of the company and the location which is one of the most important aspects for me as I’m a chemist and labs can either be in a city centre or literally in the middle of nowhere. I also can’t search them on Glassdoor to find a wage as they also never post that. Also, who am I giving all my information to? How do I know this is a real company and not someone stealing my information?
Times where I have been able to work out the company based on their niche product/service, I’ve applied and either been told the job is gone but ‘oh we have this job’ that is completely irrelevant to the other role, or they call and ask to discuss my experience further but it’s always questions that are already on my CV and cover letter.
More often than not if a job is listed through a recruitment agency it completely puts me off from applying.
I’d love to hear insight from either side of the hiring process.
Edit: there seems to be a difference of opinion depending on the type of recruitment agency – I’m talking about those that advertise jobs for a company on normal job boards like indeed, LinkedIn, Reed etc and you complete an application that will be sent to the company, not the ones you sign up for them to find you a job. A lot of people seem to have ok experiences with the latter, but are in the same position as me with the former.
Also, thank you for the suggestions on getting a new job but I already have some interviews lined up, I was just curious as I was also getting calls from recruiters that I never signed up for.
29 comments
It’s easier to have an agency handle the process of selecting CVs for interview.
Also, they’ll be able to cast a wider net and will hopefully already have a couple of suitable candidates on the books from the start.
I signed up to a recruitment agency when I was looking for work and they found me like three jobs within a couple of days. The one I ended up going for I am still at 8 years later
Sweet talk them until they send you the details/company name.
Email them directly with your CV. They avoid fees, you avoid bullshit.
I have a disability, dyspraxia
Some have been better than others, the independent one branch ones tend work better, than the agencies which have branches across the country
I have had short term agency work doing data entry which suits my disability well.
Usually all the agency work is minimum wage or a few pence above minimum wage, as the agency takes a cut
With agency work you can be let go at any time, there were 15 of us temps, and 10 were let go, and only 4 was kept for the last week to finished off the last bits.
My experience has been that my type of job is exclusively through agencies. Apply, await the phone call, tell them what you’re looking for and where, if it doesn’t fit ask them to keep you in mind if something similar comes up.
As with all things everywhere there’s a lot of pretty rubbish ones just trying to do numbers, and others that are great and will go the extra mile. They’re working on behalf of the company and their commission, but that means they have to find a good candidate – that could be you.
As for trying to circumvent them, good luck with that. Most are doing it this way to save time and effort, but if you do find out the company, maybe use LinkedIn connections to get an introduction and split the finders fee. It’s not something I’d do, you might need them further down the line. Good luck!
Bullshit ads for roles that don’t exist just to get you on file and pump their numbers.
Recruitment agencies are useful in a way, employment agencies are awful.
It’s how I got my current job (they approached me).
I’ve used recruitment agencies when ever I’m down on my luck. It seems, in general, quicker than applying directly at the company – usually because the recruitment agency has some one “selling” you to the company.
Once I’m in, I Badger the manager to get on the payroll proper.
Worked 3/4 times so far.
They do that to stop you tracking them down. Just speak to a Recruiter and be specific about what you want.
I would be careful in that I’ve been in the other side and had recruiters try asking for much more money for an applicant and nearly ruined the offer.
Absolutely useless. They seem to get paid to tie you up on the phone and never bother to check if the job is actually suitable for you. I’ve dealt with quite a few and always a waste of time.
Many of the jobs available through recruiters are for companies that are desperate because they’re awful places to work. Or they can’t find and keep employees because the wages are low.
Getting a job through people you know is always preferable if possible.
I have mixed opinions.
The first time I got involved with a recruitment agency, I approached them first and they were very supportive and even gave me tips on how to improve my CV. At the time, I was in a really difficult place and even though I ended up finding a job on my own, the help I received helped boost my confidence a lot.
Every experience after that however has been as you described, when you’re looking for work and agencies have posted the listing but give you almost no details besides what the job entails. Why can’t I know the company? Why so secretive? The few times I’ve applied for one of these roles, I’ve either never heard back or I’ve been called and told ‘hey that role you applied for isn’t available anymore – but check out this much lower paid one instead’. I just don’t bother applying to those now.
I’ve never got a job through a recruiter. I’ve tried using them before, but they’ve generally a pain in the arse. Thankfully, my job type is in demand, so I can just send my CV out to multiple companies if I need more work. I wouldn’t rule them out completely though. Don’t cut your nose off, so to speak…
My current job is through a recruitment agent, you just need to apply by send your CV and ask for job description and company details.
Be straight up and ask their pay range, if they ask for your pay expectation go slightly above that you see as max on glassdoors. If theres no glassdoor entry then ask 5k more than industry standard. When they say its too high then reply with lets go through with the process we can always talk about pay later on.
Last part only applys if the pay is they are offering isnt low balling you, in that case just be honest that the pay is too low for the JD
Remember worst that can happen is that you lose the job you never had to begin with.
I’ve only ever had good experiences but that might be just luck! Every job I’ve had post uni has come through a recruitment agency and I’m now fairly senior at a large professional services firm.
Would say however that LinkedIn/a relatively niche field has been a key part of it also.
Terrible, just middle men and scroungers.
Like I need those sausages to apply for a job on my behalf. That’s what I wrote my C.V and covering letter for.
Necessary evil. In some areas they are effectively outsourced recruitment/HR for a company so that even if you approach directly, they push you through the recruiter.
That said, some of the niche ones are in fact pretty good
I got my last 2 jobs via recruiters on LinkedIn and honestly it was a great experience
One job I applied for you had to do a presentation on a past project. The recruiter sent me over presentations made by previous successful candidates and reviewed mind before I did it
The last one the recruiter phoned the interviewers for feedback after every step and was really helpful. He also spoke to my team lead a month after I started to get me more feedback which was a nice bonus
In both cases the recruiter helped with Salary negotiations and got me more than I asked for
I’ve never progressed past the first conversation without being told the name of the company & role I’m applying for.
I’ve found that having a recruiter who chases the company helps move through the interview steps quicker.
If the salary is hidden it’s almost always at the hiring company’s request. Agencies would generally rather post the salary info because it saves a lot of ballache down the line.
Incredibly
Useless
I mean do it, but you’ll get a load of shit passed your way.
For instance, my bro is a joiner, so he gets opportunities for welding….
I’m a network tech, so I get calls for social media, and recruitment jobs.
The good ones are very useful but most are complete chancers.
If you work in a niche industry they can be very helpful. I’ve had a few jobs through one, I have the same recruiter and she contacts me about new jobs that I would be a good match for, usually considerable pay jumps each time. The only issue I have is I get contacted every six months or so asking if I want to move to somewhere else. I’ve done it a couple of times but it’s hard to get settled when you’re constantly being tempted by new shinier jobs with eye watering salaries.
There are worse problems to have I suppose.
Good ones are good, useless ones are useless. With that said, I think I have more chances getting a job though a recruiter more than going direct. Perfect example….
I applied for a reasonably large accounting company that had an office in my town. I previously was doing sales for a much larger accountancy company for a similar product. I was local to the area, experienced and had a good reputation so thought I would at least get an interview. Nope, got an email telling me they were not going ahead with the application due to my experience, skill set etc.
Coincidentally, a recruiter I knew called me for the exact same role a week or so later. I got the interview straight away, killed it but ultimately ended up turning down the role. They spent the next year seeing how. I was going in my then current role, coffee chats every 3 months or so etc.
They eventually gave up but this was a company that was begging me to join them but turned me down when I applied directly.
Make an account on Reed
Upload your CV and make it visible to recruiters
Wait for recruiters to call you, let them leave a message* and then call them back to find out about what jobs they want to put you forward for
Log into Reed once a day to go to the top of some list of active jobseekers that gets sent to recruiter accounts by Reed
*you do this because shitty scam call centres scrape phone numbers and email addresses off Reed as well. Just something to be aware of while you are using it.
I actively avoid them. You described exactly my experience. They don’t care about you nor the role and will say whatever to get you to accept. That said, I’ve come across ones that seemed good and I also know people that have had good experiences with them.
But for me personally, direct apply FTW.
My experience with recruitment agencies have been positive.
In a professional services sector, applying through a couple of recruitment agencies means that they have me on record and are trying to secure me a job. A lot of the time they’ll just arrange interviews for me even after speaking to them just once.
They do a lot of the legwork for you and the employer pays their fees.
From the employers point of view, it takes the stress away from needing to find appropriate candidates, screen them etc.
Having a recruiter interested in you is like going to a party and being chatted up by plan B. Better than nothing, but not really what you wanted.
Adecco got me some pretty good interviews back in the day, even though I ended up going with a different job I’d applied for separately. They also gave me some good tips for my CV and advised me I was undervaluing myself as far as salary expectations went, that was quite nice.