Recruitment Agencies

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Spinal

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I'm considering my career paths at the moment, and amongst those I'm considering contacting a recruitment agency...

What are your views on these?

The way I see it, as they charge 10-20% of your salary, this would mean they have your salary in mind when placing you...

But I've never used one... so any advice would be appreciated!

M.
 
I would say permanent... but if the right contract comes along, I may consider contracting again...

but really, permanent (ideally in a company that does contracting work... like Accenture, Deloitte, etc... (and yes, I have contacted these... as of last night :p))

M.
 
I think they charge the company the commission, if you then get taken on they get another fee on top. this can discourage companies from taking you on permenantly.
 
Never pay a recruitment agency yourself!!

Any reputable agency will take their fee from the company with whom you are placed. An agency asking you for money is likely to take your money and do nothing.
 
Some corporates only work with agencies on a preferred supplier basis. As a result less well-known boutique or specialist recruitment consultancies may not have access to large companies. I'd ask a possible agency who they have placed applicants with (not just who they claim to be working with).

When you meet with a recruitment consultant, it's not unusual to be asked what vacancies you have applied for already. It's not unusual for those companies to then be approached and offered candidates by the same agency.

I would ask the agency how they will handle your CV and personal information both internally and externally.

A good agency will check with you first before sending your CV to a possible employer, and if your searching with help from more than agency, you might not want the risk of your CV being sent to the same company from two agencies, or having your salary details sent without your consent.

It's my view that some recruitment consultants do not view candidates as their customer, but instead the employer, who is paying the fee. I've always kept this in mind when looking. HD
 
Yeah the agency charges the company - not you.. this can have an effect on whether the company is willing to pay the commission or not - depending on the salary that you're asking for.
For example
if you're asking for 20k and the commssion charge is say 5k - the company will have to fork out 25k..

if they use a different agency who charges far less then they could get someone more experienced and pay them a higher salary 24k and only have to pay the agent 1k (yes this is unrealistic, but a possibility) .

I've recently recruited for my company using agencies and I negotiated a reduction in their normal placement fees, none were happy about it but agreed in the end because it serves everyone's best interest.

Just to recap - you don't pay a penny.. the employer does.
 
For permy position you have nothing to loose, they charge the company, you get the wage you have applied for... wheres the negative?

big companies normally have a handfull of approved agencies they use, id say go for it
 
Next matter... what agency would you recomend? Is it a case of spread betting or are there one or two you would recomend?
 
Because of an agency I got work 4 weeks after losing my job, and they placed me in the company I am in now where I was hired permanently.

Agency takes nothing off you, and if worth their salt, will sit down with you and discuss companies they work for, what qualities to bring out in your CV, interview and likely questions, assessments etc, suitable roles. And before they send off your CV they should always call you.
 
Hi Spinal, It's interesting to hear everyone's views on recruitment consultants and their firms, as I am a recruitment consultant - well the posh type, a headhunter
slayer.gif

The main things you should consider are 1) targetting the most appropriate recruitment company for your sector, make sure they are specialists in your area, that way they will have a strong portfolio of good client companies and possible prospects for you 2) enlist the advice of the recruitment governing body R.E.C. (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) for a list of the most respected and relevant recruitment firms that can help you 3) make sure the recruitment consultant meets with you, if they don't, how are they going to best represent you? 4) depending on your salary bracket, you should decide whether to approach contingent recruitment firms or for the higher pay scale (ie £70k +) the executive search firms.
Let me know if you need any further tips. :thumb:
 
Thanks to all the great advice!

enlist the advice of the recruitment governing body R.E.C. (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) for a list of the most respected and relevant recruitment firms that can help you

How would I do that? Is there a list somewhere?

I'm not out of a job yet, but my company is going through the legal hoops of closing its consulting department worldwide... so my guess is around 2000 people will be losing their jobs... and most importantly, I'm not interested in transitioning to their sales team!

As such - I still have time. My guess is another 3-4 months before I become desperate and jobless.

I'm not in the higher price bracket, being totally candid, I'm aiming for the £30k-£40 bracket as I am currently a junior consultant. (that said, I probably wouldn't turn down an offer for more than that :p)

Also, do you have any names of reputable firms that deal with IT recruitment?

M.
 
2) enlist the advice of the recruitment governing body R.E.C. (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) for a list of the most respected and relevant recruitment firms that can help you

With respect, whilst it will give you a list of recruitment firms to call, I wouldn't rely on REC membership necessarily offering you a cast-iron guarantee of professionalism. Anyone can join the REC if they are willing to pay the subs and stick to a very loose conduct of practice. Keep your options open and register with as many as you can.....you'll know, once you've met the consultants, who will be truly working hard on your behalf.....after all, it's a people business and one that could do with returning back to being regulated ;)
 
Some corporates only work with agencies on a preferred supplier basis. As a result less well-known boutique or specialist recruitment consultancies may not have access to large companies. I'd ask a possible agency who they have placed applicants with (not just who they claim to be working with).

When you meet with a recruitment consultant, it's not unusual to be asked what vacancies you have applied for already. It's not unusual for those companies to then be approached and offered candidates by the same agency.

I would ask the agency how they will handle your CV and personal information both internally and externally.

A good agency will check with you first before sending your CV to a possible employer, and if your searching with help from more than agency, you might not want the risk of your CV being sent to the same company from two agencies, or having your salary details sent without your consent.

It's my view that some recruitment consultants do not view candidates as their customer, but instead the employer, who is paying the fee. I've always kept this in mind when looking. HD


Not true - only a shockingly bad agency would submit a CV without approval. It's legislation. I do know what you mean but dont be fooled that they're good because they do this.

I also do recruitment but in the Rec 2 Rec sector which means I recruit consultants for agencies (for those not aware).

I would also disagree that smaller, niche agencies may not be on preferred supplier lists. I deal with many smaller businesses and they are very succesful with PSL agreements with clients of all sizes. I would look at your local job boards and research the roles being advertised. You could also submit your details to JobSite as they offer cv alerts to consultants when a new cv is posted. You may get a phone call the same day.

You have to be impressed by your consultant, remember that he's working for you and their client and ultimately making money from you. Why give business to a schmuk, and there's a few out there.

Happy to offer any advice if you pm me.
 
Rec 2 Rec? Recruiment to recruitment?

Also, I'm not a big fan of jobsites where you upload a CV... I did that last time (monster if I remember well) and ended up getting calls at all times of the day (and night) asking to attend interviews with random companies I wasn't vaguely interested in... Most of these from random recruitment firms ranther than the companies...

M.
 
I would look at the recruitment web-sites if only to gain information that would be useful on your CV, plus different companies use different job titles for the same role :doh:
 
I would look at the recruitment web-sites if only to gain information that would be useful on your CV, plus different companies use different job titles for the same role :doh:

The one I work for uses different titles for the same role within the company! They use one title internally, one title externally and if you're lucky, another on your business cards...

M.
 
Not true - only a shockingly bad agency would submit a CV without approval. It's legislation. I do know what you mean but dont be fooled that they're good because they do this.

I would also disagree that smaller, niche agencies may not be on preferred supplier lists. I deal with many smaller businesses and they are very succesful with PSL agreements with clients of all sizes.

I didnt write that an agency was good because they dont submit CV's without approval. What part of what I wrote was not true?

And, it is a statement of fact that smaller niche agencies may not be on preferred supplier lists for large corporates (I did not write would not be, I wrote may not be).

HD
 

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