lokum

Hi all,
I recently arrived in Melbourne and I'm currently looking for a job (related to finance and accounting). Most of the jobs that I have seen online are advertised through recruiting agencies, and the consulants told me that if I have been represented to hiring companies by other agents (or even if I have applied directly on the hiring company's website) then the consultants can not represent me at the hiring company? How does this work? So I can not work with multiple agents? Because I just don't want to sit back and just wait for the agent to call back. I want to be proactive and keep applying to relevant jobs at different agencies/companies (especially with the current negative sentiment of the economy). Any insights/experiences on how these agencies actually work?

Sherro

You can work with as many agencies as you like. The market is such they currently have many applications for each role and Australian recruiters are IMO are some of the worst for providing feedback, i.e if you arent exactly what they want, you wont hear from them at all, even if you think you are perfect for role, they can be lazy and make you feel like you are not marketable, but dont take it personally, thousands complain.

If you speak to recruiter A and he puts you forward for a role to a company then Recruiter B cant represent you to that same role in that part of the company. However Recruiter B can put you forward to any other role within that company or elsewhere, just not the same position otherwise client doesnt know who to go through process with and it causes rows over fee's.

In this market you need to spread the net as wide as you can, especially with Finance and accounting as it wont be as bouyant as usual due to Recession.

seayork2002

I won't say what I think about recruitment agents incase I offend someone but I would look for jobs independant of them as well

RCoight

This is spot on, based on my recent experiences recruiting finance and accounting professionals in Melbourne.

The sort of timelines a recruitment consultant told me before christmas are:

Temp - 3+ weeks to get a good role
Perm - 3+ months to get a good role

Be persistent with your consultants: ring them 3 times a week if you have to. Check their websites daily and ring them about anything which crops up. Be as open as you can to role, location and salary; don't be too proud to go a bit under your initial salary expectations if it gets you a foot in the door.