I didn't use to feel this way. My previous experiences with two different employment agencies had been great: go in, interview, take a few tests, get submitted for jobs within the week.
But now...
First of all, since I've been unemployed for over a year, they have to do more background/past employment checks than they would otherwise. Ok, I get that. But it takes forever.
Secondly, and this is my main problem, they won't call me back!!
I went to the first one in late December; it's a pain to get to by bus, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. They took my info, set me up with some tests, and told me they'd be sending me some to do at home. Great! I get home, and 2 days later (I'd gone in on Friday), on CHRISTMAS EVE, the agent calls me and asks me to rush through the tests, because she wanted to submit me for a job. I'm not happy about rushing the tests, and didn't do as well as I like on some of the trickier Excel stuff, but still well within competent range.
I hear nothing. I call back, no response. I finally get a call on January 14, as I'm getting on a bus; I let it go to voicemail because I can't hear anything on the bus, plus I don't have anything to write with, and I don't like using my phone in public. I return the agent's call as soon as I get home...nothing.
I proceed to call the agent several times a week for TWO WEEKS, as well as email once or twice, and get no response. I even sent an email to the general office account, asking if something was wrong. No response.
After 2 months, I gave up and contacted a new agency. This one seemed to be going well; my test scores were great (all 90th percentile or above on word processing and Excel), and the agent assured me that working around my lack of car wouldn't be a problem.
But it takes forever for them to contact my former employers. Evil boss (Sorority Girl, from my epic-length thread in MiM) will not respond to them, or to me, and it's only with great effort they can contact my supervisor-before-SG at the same company. They need me to fax in a bunch of unemployment documents to prove how long I've been unemployed, which means borrowing my housemate's car and driving to the Kinko's 20 minutes away.
FINALLY, they tell me I have everything they need, and that my agent will contact me. That was a month ago. My agent won't call me back, and is always busy when I try to call. I'm going to send an email tomorrow, just asking if everything is ok with my information.
What the hell? Have I been blacklisted? Did SG contact them and tell them I was a terrible worker? (I would NOT put it past her.) I can contact another agency, but I've gotten the last of my current unemployment extension funds, and don't know if there are more coming. I'm at my wits' end!
But now...
First of all, since I've been unemployed for over a year, they have to do more background/past employment checks than they would otherwise. Ok, I get that. But it takes forever.
Secondly, and this is my main problem, they won't call me back!!
I went to the first one in late December; it's a pain to get to by bus, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. They took my info, set me up with some tests, and told me they'd be sending me some to do at home. Great! I get home, and 2 days later (I'd gone in on Friday), on CHRISTMAS EVE, the agent calls me and asks me to rush through the tests, because she wanted to submit me for a job. I'm not happy about rushing the tests, and didn't do as well as I like on some of the trickier Excel stuff, but still well within competent range.
I hear nothing. I call back, no response. I finally get a call on January 14, as I'm getting on a bus; I let it go to voicemail because I can't hear anything on the bus, plus I don't have anything to write with, and I don't like using my phone in public. I return the agent's call as soon as I get home...nothing.
I proceed to call the agent several times a week for TWO WEEKS, as well as email once or twice, and get no response. I even sent an email to the general office account, asking if something was wrong. No response.
After 2 months, I gave up and contacted a new agency. This one seemed to be going well; my test scores were great (all 90th percentile or above on word processing and Excel), and the agent assured me that working around my lack of car wouldn't be a problem.
But it takes forever for them to contact my former employers. Evil boss (Sorority Girl, from my epic-length thread in MiM) will not respond to them, or to me, and it's only with great effort they can contact my supervisor-before-SG at the same company. They need me to fax in a bunch of unemployment documents to prove how long I've been unemployed, which means borrowing my housemate's car and driving to the Kinko's 20 minutes away.
FINALLY, they tell me I have everything they need, and that my agent will contact me. That was a month ago. My agent won't call me back, and is always busy when I try to call. I'm going to send an email tomorrow, just asking if everything is ok with my information.
What the hell? Have I been blacklisted? Did SG contact them and tell them I was a terrible worker? (I would NOT put it past her.) I can contact another agency, but I've gotten the last of my current unemployment extension funds, and don't know if there are more coming. I'm at my wits' end!
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