cool_archie

I really want to know from the ppl who have experience with the Recruitment Agencies,
A lot of Recruitment Agencies tell me that they would like to meet me in person and discuss my skills as soon as I arrive in AUS, (by the way I am into IT)
I just want to know how much shud I trust these Recruitment Agencies, are they serious or will they just ignore me when I get to AUS

Regards,

aussiedreamz

Are you into IT or are qualified in IT, if you don't have qualifications and plenty of experience you will struggle to get any kind of work at all and recruitment agencies in Australia are a waste of time, they never call you back and never have jobs to offer I just think they get paid for having you on their books but they do nothing about finding work for you, total waste of time as far as I am concerned...

The Woodcutter

With respect it really depends on what you can offer. To be clinical about this - you are just a product to recruitment agencies and if they think they can "sell" you to a company they will. Recruitment agencies are not interested in you as a person - rather than your marketability. So really it is a question of you marketing yourself to recruitment agencies - and to do that effectively you need to have a skill which fills a gap in the labour market.

You need to demonstrate:

1. you can do the job
2. you will fit in to the organisation
3. you will add value to the organisation

You also need to fit in realistically with the market rate for that particular skill.

I suggest that you research the particular labour market and identify specific IT opportunities, then match your skills to those opportunities. You will not get far if you just send your resume ad infinitum to recruitment agencies then sit back and expect a job to fall into your lap.

sasbear

Agreed

I work in the IT recruitment sector and we really are doing a job and not just providing a service. We need to make money as anyone else does.

steve99

Very well put, its odd how you tend to always here negative things about recruitment agency's from people that generally either arent the best in their field...or dont really understand the recruitment process from any other perspective than their own.

Good candidates with good skills that have taken the time to understand the process and the different ways organisations like to do things generally have a much more positive view on recruiters and therefore get given a much better service in return.

As Sasbear says, this is someone's job and in the current market its a pretty demanding role with very little reward.

As you say the candidate is a product and a pretty volatile and inconsistent product at that(especially when there IT related).

cool_archie

If the Recuritment Agencies think that I am not Marketable or unable to bring value to the Organization or if I dont have the required skills, would they even bother to reply to me. I am not taking abt a generic reply.

Shud I assume that they are replying to me because they think I am Marketable and I have the required skills.

Regards,

jond

I really want to know from the ppl who have experience with the Recruitment Agencies,
A lot of Recruitment Agencies tell me that they would like to meet me in person and discuss my skills as soon as I arrive in AUS, (by the way I am into IT)
I just want to know how much shud I trust these Recruitment Agencies, are they serious or will they just ignore me when I get to AUS







Just my opinion from past experience.

They should all be rounded up, whipped with a cat o nine tails, tarred and feathered then hung drawn and quartered and then fed to a pack of wild dogs and hope the RSPCA don't charge me with animal cruelty

Those that survive can then undergo a lie detector test and if they pass I might think about using them.

John

bigAPE

Sounds to me that they are after you for your spelling

The general consensus is that these "agencies" are on a par with those in the Real Estate market when it comes to reliability and honesty. Ask yourself this, would you stick your todger in a guillotine and hand them the rope ? If not, they might not be the ones for you.

Damson

They should all be rounded up, whipped with a cat o nine tails, tarred and feathered then hung drawn and quartered and then fed to a pack of wild dogs and hope the RSPCA don't charge me with animal cruelty

Those that survive can then undergo a lie detector test and if they pass I might think about using them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, I'm with John. We run a small business (just 3 of us) and we have in the past tried to recruit with agencies. Each time we have taken the trouble to prepare a 3 page resume of what our company does (it's a bit of a niche market, hence it's quite tricky to explain the work we do) and what skills we require of any potential applicant. We also ask for a report from the candidate giving an introduction of themselves and what they can bring to the company (as an aside at this point, it is rare for candidates to actually take the trouble to prepare such a report, but that is the idea as it helps us weed out the really serious candidates). So what happens? We have had people time and time again sent to us who weren't even given the resume and don't have the appropriate experience. On top of this we are then charged £1000's in 'introduction' fees by the agency, for what? Pressing 'Print' on the applicant's cv. My advice would be by all means to register with agencies but also to approach companies direct and sell yourself (and also pointing out that they will be saving agency fees by employing you direct!) Employers really do welcome someone with a bit of get up and go and initiative.
Good luck
Lorraine

Dorutland

Whilst I have a lot of sympathy with some of the comments written, having used agencies for about 10 years, I will defend Hays in Sydney and Perth.

Sent my cv to them. Had them on the phone at a reasonable time to talk it through. Was sent to a company, interviewed within 48hrs and offer followed very quickly. Now, there is a significant element of being the right person in the right place at the right time but Hays have been very efficient and had a good handle on what was going on in the market. Were also able to provide significant backup as to risks with company making offer, workload etc. which I was able to validate through others.

As with so many things, there are some staff at some agencies that don't need whipping and feeding to wild animals - although they are the minority!!

cool_archie

[QUOTE=bigAPE;7292729]Sounds to me that they are after you for your spelling

Well Recruitment was a typo, but abt for about and Shud for Should were used on purpose.

bigAPE

Why ? Is it TXT speak ?

Sherro

Lets be really clear about this, Recruitment Consultants are the same as the rest of us and they get into recruitment generally for one reason. It is an industry that, requires NO HR or counciling background, OR formal qualifications. if you work hard and to some degree get lucky with a decent patch/desk you can make lots of money.

They are NOT and DO NOT get into recruitment because they want to help people.

Unfortunately the industry leaders and people who try to market the industry would have us believe that of course a recruitment consultant has much more of an interest in your life than the reality. Why they do is anyones guess because it doesnt help you and gets consultants grief by people who really truly believe recruiters were put on this earth to help them find a dream career.

Simply this.

When it is a candidate driven market (i.e lots and lots of jobs and not many candidates) then they are your best friend, they will make you feel a million bucks, they will make you feel like you are numero uno, and massage your ego nicely. They will protect your interests and make you feel like they are getting you the best deal with the best company.

When it is a job scarce hence Client driven market then they immediately switch into a different service level where they try to make their clients feel like a million dollars and really couldnt care less about the majority of applications they do a 20 second scan over whilst having a morning coffee.

SO, look at the market - it is a CLIENT DRIVEN MARKET

There are half as many jobs and their inboxes are over flowing with CV's of which many could do the job and just as many couldnt and have applied from India, UK, Malaysia, Pakistan etc in the hope they will be only applicant.

So, unless you are a nurse, doctor, legal specialist or engineering specialist then you need to do the following.

1. DONT BOTHER sending your CV until you are in country, available to interview, you are just setting yourself up to be demotivated when you hear nothing.

2. When you arrive, use SEEK, My Career and Career One as your first port of call for a role as that is where most jobs are advertised.

3. Understand the market, take a deep breath, and dont get discouraged you will get picked up eventually but DONT take a punt if you only have 30% of the skills required as it is people like you who are filling up the inboxes and wasting everyones time.

How do I know this? Well I was the Sales Manager for SEEK for 4 years and worked with all the major recruiters managing their accounts.

They are by and large good people but they are SALES PEOPLE 99% of the way and the ones who arent, in this market have already been made redundant. They care as much about you as you do them once you have started a role and forgotten who made the introduction.

Wait till you get to Aussie, do you research and only apply for roles you really truly believe hand on heart you could do, or face frustration on garganutam proportions.

In a candidate driven market, candidates can be absolute fu**ers and treat recruiters with contempt and in some cases cost them a world of stress.

In a client driven market tables are turned.

They are a necessary evil, but treat them as sales people who happen to know of jobs you might be interested in and not career specialists who want to pander to you and spend days working on you.

Dorutland

Brilliant reply!!!!

Petals

Real Estate Agents, Financial Planners, HR all the same plastic people who some think are their friends but they are not a friend they are acting a part and doing a job.

Unfortunately most large firms and gov departments use these agencies so just go with the flow. If they can sell us they will if they can't then its time for a new agency.

I think its best to go do the interviews with them even though there may be no job at least you are on the books and have done the interview which can be time consuming.