Employment Agencies suck

[mjr]

Personally, I don't know of many temp agencies that actually use 'call centers'. Most deal with employment via their various chain offices.

Well, I'm not sure if a "technical recruiter" counts as a "temp agency" or not.

Those calls you're getting may be for something OTHER than employment. Education and student-loan scams are fairly common, as are 'free cell phone' offers (which are also mostly scams). Setups like these may indeed be profitable to run from a foreign call center.

I've actually gotten both. Though, the ones that seem "outsourced" (let's say) calling about tech jobs haven't gotten calls back.

I have gotten the other type of calls you're talking about. The student loan scam, the education scam, and the personal loan scam.

[stephenr]

I feel your pain when it comes to Temp Agencies. I have worked for the same agency off and on for nearly 3 years. The funny thing was they got upset because a place asked for me by name so they pretty much had to give me to them. Then they had me on a list to a place that relocated and I couldn't travel to due to the fact I don't drive. They get pissed at that fact.

[Bandit]

While I have not used temp agencies, I have used headhunters for a rather specialized and technical field. They have got me the last 5 jobs, including the new one I start next week.

B

[Tama]

At the staffing agency I went to, you sign papers saying that you DO NOT (AKA are not allowed to say) work for the places you are sent to, but rather the agency itself. So I agree with everyone suggesting that you list yourself as being employed only by the agency itself.

[smileyeagle1021]

You have two candidates for a temporary position. One has 8+ years experience doing this job, the other is right out of school. Which one gets the gig?

I've seen it the exact other way around... especially when they know there is no chance of the position ever going perm (which a lot of them don't these days... at least in the accounting field, a lot of the temp work is along the lines of we just had to fire someone because they done screwed up, we already have a replacement, but they can't fix the mess by themselves or the classic tax season or end of year rush), and if you know there is no chance that you are going to lose the person anyway, and people are desperate enough to take whatever wage you're willing to pay, that 8+ year experience candidate that you are now offering a client at straight out of college wages is a big selling point. That and a lot of agencies aren't afraid of people going permanent, because the client company has to pay a very large fee for someone to continue on permanent, plus that person who was found a permanent position is more likely to recommend friends to use that staffing agency which will keep their ranks full.

[Dreamstalker]

Another problem is, I found out that sometimes recruiters at some of these companies will post bogus jobs, just to get resumes!

I dealt with that when I was let go from The Jerk's store; the agency was three letters the first of which is P (those of you around Boston have probably seen their ads everywhere). A few days afterwards, I see what looked (to me) like a perfect position...naive me applies, then gets a call "this position isn't available, but would you come down for an interview anyway?"

The atmosphere of the whole place just struck me as odd (what looked like a mini call center situated right in the front window?!), and the 'interview' was even more awkward. The guy had no clue what I was there for, and it looked like he was reading my resume for the first time in the room.

[eltf177]

Another problem is, I found out that sometimes recruiters at some of these companies will post bogus jobs, just to get resumes!

My friend Kim came up with a term for this - REFISH (short for resume fishing). This is where a company _hopes_ to land a contract and wants people available _if_ they get it or just wants to have good people available if they need them for some reason. The problem is they have to string the victim along since there's no job yet (or maybe none at all), the people they want get tired and end up taking something else instead of waiting around.

His tale of this was pretty odd to say the least...

[mjr]

My friend Kim came up with a term for this - REFISH (short for resume fishing). This is where a company _hopes_ to land a contract and wants people available _if_ they get it or just wants to have good people available if they need them for some reason. The problem is they have to string the victim along since there's no job yet (or maybe none at all), the people they want get tired and end up taking something else instead of waiting around.

His tale of this was pretty odd to say the least...

The way I found out about it is because I applied for a job that seemed promising, and would have been a fairly high jump in salary. I basically got it out of the recruiter (after meeting with him) that the job didn't exist, and that sometimes they'll put up bogus job postings "just to get resumes".

[stephenr]

At the staffing agency I went to, you sign papers saying that you DO NOT (AKA are not allowed to say) work for the places you are sent to, but rather the agency itself. So I agree with everyone suggesting that you list yourself as being employed only by the agency itself.

My agency does that too. They also used to tell us to call them and only them when we were gonna be out. They stopped doing that when the assignment I was going to started ending assignments because people were not calling them when they were gonna be out. Besides, The agency isn't open when I am working. I work third shift.

[NorthernZel]

The way I found out about it is because I applied for a job that seemed promising, and would have been a fairly high jump in salary. I basically got it out of the recruiter (after meeting with him) that the job didn't exist, and that sometimes they'll put up bogus job postings "just to get resumes".

A company over here did that, they got caught and ratted out in the media. Surprisingly enough, I don't see many postings from that company anymore....

[cinema guy]

Another problem is, I found out that sometimes recruiters at some of these companies will post bogus jobs, just to get resumes!

I applied for a office job through a recruitment website via agency A, got a call to go for an interview. When I went for the interview it turned out to be Agency B recruiting for ongoing temporary work at a variety of warehouses. The staff at Agency B were suprised that I turned down a job which was a long way to travel, not guaranteed work after the first week and not the job I had applied for in the first place!

So it turns out that major companies recruit temporary staff through agency B who use Agency A to advertise on a well know recruiting website. What the heck?

[mhkohne]

The way I found out about it is because I applied for a job that seemed promising, and would have been a fairly high jump in salary. I basically got it out of the recruiter (after meeting with him) that the job didn't exist, and that sometimes they'll put up bogus job postings "just to get resumes".

I once had a recruiter contact me with a 'job' that happened to perfectly match my resume. Too bad approximately no one except my previous employer ever combined the 68030 and the TMS34020 in the same design. Oh yea, and the 34020 was out of production by then.

Funny how they could read my resume well enough to gather keywords, but not figure out that I wasn't stupid.

[Dreamstalker]

The keywords are parsed by a computer, which is (usually) only as smart as its user. The person doesn't have to actually understand what X really means/entails, only that one of their clients wants it. This can lead to some strange interpretations of X ('hardware support' on my resume does not mean I can write code for said hardware...).

[Josh]

some pointers:

background: I have been in Retail many years and have gone through many hats. These are some quick things I look for

It is not necessary to list every single job you have ever had in your CV
focus on those that have relevance to the position you're applying for

List the name of the employment agency as the employer, not every assignment; do list relevant jobs that tie in to the job you're applying for as a a description of duties performed.

When hiring someone, yes you do need to meet them, as you want to hire someone that will fit with the dynamics already in place.

If you're referring someone (an employment agency is referring you), yes you do need to meet them, as you're basing your reputation with that employer that you're sending them someone you're confident will fit and fulfill the clients needs.

Attitude does matter. keep your attitude and values in check. you don't have to do anything you don't want to, but don't argue or try to convert someone to your views. i.e. I can't clean toilets due to cleaning product allergies, what other positions do you have available? end of story, no follow up about pathogens, pooh symmetry, how filthy people are, etc.

Dress to impress or to the mold. How do the employees dress? how do applicants dress? If I go in dirty jeans, dirty nails, unkempt hair and unshaven and ask for an office position, I'm not getting it, qualifications are moot.

Update the resume to the position you're applying for. focus on the skills the employer is looking for or are complementary to the position.
i.e.
sales in a dept store: I don't really need/want to know how fast you can cook, mention instead how you focused on making the meal to the ticket specifications to ensure the customer got exactly what they ordered, and when a customer was dissatisfied with a meal how you took ownership and you took care of the customer right away.
office job: don't even mention you skinned goats in the farm.

Don't piss off the gatekeepers or staff. It's surprising how someone will call on the phone demanding to be transferred to the Manager 'right away' and then just hearing the tone drop as they hear that they are talking to the manager, or just being plain rude on the floor during the transaction and then having the nerve to ask if we are hiring.

[ADeMartino]

and a lot of agencies aren't afraid of people going permanent, because the client company has to pay a very large fee for someone to continue on permanent, plus that person who was found a permanent position is more likely to recommend friends to use that staffing agency which will keep their ranks full.

The agencies I've dealt with impose a contract period on any temp they send to a client - typically this is 90 days, but depending on the agency and assignment can vary anywhere from two months to a year, sometimes even longer). During this time, if the client wishes to hire-on the temp they've been sent, the agency will hit them with a fat fee - on some occasions, I've seen where the temp himself/herself gets hit with a fee also. However, once the contract term expires, the client can hire the temp on without any further fees. Indeed, legally, once out of contract, the agency can NOT prevent the client from hiring the temp.

However, I've seen agencies 'bump' a temp off a job and replace him/her with another just before the contract term expires in an end-run around their own rules. And what's messed up is, in that stack of papers the temp signs there's usually an 'at-will' article which gives the agency the right to do so without giving an explanation or reason of any kind - to either the temp or their client.