What is your experience working with recruiting agencies?

[Tsveta]

What is your experience working with recruiting agencies?

[Paul]

My experience with recruiters nearly all the time was unpleasant.
First they almost never return phone calls, some of them are very unethical and most of the time I have a feeling they try to make a fool of me and bend me for money.
:rolleyes:

[RSTech]

I've had unsolicited calls from recruiters in the past (at my place of work!) but I have never dealt with one. I'm curious to see the responses to this thread.

[lana]

In my opinion most of the recruiters are very annoying. Sadly almost all the job opportunities go through them. Their attitude towards the job seeker is - you are an idiot and we are trying to help you.

[almo81]

I find the opinions expressed here surprising, actually.

I've found working with Recruiters very helpful -(both as a candidate, and a hiring manager).

As a Candidate - they do most of the work for you: they look for possible positions - often in places you never thought of, give you useful tips for your resume and for the interview, and (esp. the smaller firms), follow up - giving you feedback.

All you have to do is sit back and wait for the damn phone to ring...

Note: my experience is from outside Canada. My experience with Canadian recruiters, so far is limited.

[Ascended]

never had any? good luck with yours!

[amal]

Most of the recruiters never return phone calls. I find this most extraordinary especially when they are in the business of selling other peoples skills....

[almo81]

Don't expect recruiters to call you - they get Thousands of resumes from candidates just like you - every day: Even if they wanted to, they couldn't call everybody.

A Recruiter WILL call you, only if he thinks he has a good match - and some recruiters are better at this then others (the larger agencies generally use computer searches - the smaller ones work manually - which
can be an advantage).

If you want to talk to a recruiter you should call him (don't just leave messages or write emails) - several times until you get him. Remember: It is harder for a person to say no on the phone than through an email.

You should also search the recruiters web-site so you can point out to the recruiter jobs which are a good fit - this WILL improve your chances.


Good luck
Almo

[ibarif1]

Hi Guys,

Here are my experiences working for Federal Government in Ottawa Through staffing agencies.

First, I worked mon contract as Web Developer through Dynamic Personnel. They were taking 40% of my pay check, I was getting $15/h while the client was paying them for the job I was doing $25/h. They didn’t pay me for Christmas and new year (holiday pay). a month before the end of the contract the client said they we finish the work then we let you go. I asked the agency for notice pay, they refuse to pay me.

After that I worked on contract as Help desk officer through Adecco, they were paying me $25/h while the client was paying them $44/h. they paid me for public holidays only after 3 months of work with them. I realised later that we consultants are qualify for public holidays right a way when we start any contract, no need to wait 3 months.

Then, I worked on contract as Web developer through ManPower, I was getting $18/h while the client was paying them at less $27, again they didn’t pay us for pulic holidays.

After that I worked on 2 months contract through Brainhunter. This was my horrible work experience through staffing agency.
I started working before I sign any contract with them, then they send to me a contract to sign. When I read it (over 10 pages contract) I found that Brainhunter is using unfair labour practices, then I didn’t sign the contract. I cannot forget what they did to force me signing contract, and I’m really afraid that they still using the same technique with other consultants. They hold my pay cheque for a month and half. When I went to their office to pick up my pay cheque, the finance manager welcomed me with a contract on the left hand and pay cheque on her right hand saying “sign the contract and I release your pay cheque”. Because I didn’t have any more money in my account and they didn’t want to hear nothing from me, then I sign their contract without agreeing with it. I spend over a month trying to cancel that contract with them and I talked with Brainhunter VP, Account manager, finance VP and even chairman. The more I was dealing with them the more I experienced the violation of my rights. When I said to them that I would like to cancel the contract you forced me to sign, they said”You are just consultant……ok, you want to terminate it, pay use the fees then we will terminate the contract”, I repeated to them more than 5 times, that I’m not talking about a termination of the contract but it is a cancellation of the contract because they forced me to sign it. But they were keeping saying to me “You are just consultant….ok, pay us the fees and we will terminate the contract. At the end of the meeting, the VP said “before you leave, give me your badge”.

I signed a form at the client office and I got the badge from the client not from Brainhunter. When I repeated to a lawyer that the VP asked me to give her my badge, the lawyer said:”she is not supposed to ask you for your badge because it is illegal. If you did give her your badge, after that something happened in the client office you will be the only one who is responsible”.

More and more violation of my rights, each time I tried to solve that issue with them. At the end, I gave up, I finish my contract with them and I didn’t accept the extention.

I was very happy at the client office, all of my co-workers were nice to me and I had a wonderful supervisor, but you know, it is not funny to work for and agency like Brainhunter which has no respect for consultant.

This is only a small part of my bad experience with Brainhunter, I don’t believe that the whole story will fit in the forum space.

Guys, I'm not saying that all agencies are bad, They are a good ones like Calian. But because we consultant don"t know all our rights and we don't work or are not well orginized to keep our rights, then the staffing are taking these opportunities to violate our rights.

Hope it helps, Merry Christmas and Happy new year to all of you.

Regards,

[gnomoney]

dont do it if u have to dont believe what they say they are liars cheaters theives all with a stupid grin on their face
slavery

[walkman]

Overall, my experience has generally been positive; there are a lot of good positions that I wouldn't see otherwise. Years ago, a recruiter placed me in a position that really kicked off my career in a good direction.

Having said that, I get a call every month or so from a recruiter who saw my resume on Monster, but didn't seem to read it. I get calls for positions that I'm not qualified for, which is a huge waste of my time. The recruiters who actually read my resume and suggest positions for which I am qualified are worth my time.

Each agency specializes in a field - do your research if you are approaching an agency.