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Like many people out of work at the moment I'm spending quite a bit of time contacting temporary recruitment agencies in an attempt to secure some temporary work to bring in a bit of cash to make it through the hard times. whilst the response isn't overwhelming and I don't expect a job straight away, I have found a disparate level of common courtesy and professionalism displayed by these agencies.
This isn't the first time I have required to find a bit of temp work to make ends meet, the last time was back in around 2002. We weren't in a recession then and the attitudes of employment agency staff was considerably different to what I have experienced in the last week. I know this doesn't apply to all recruitment agencies and the people who work there. Many of you may well be very helpful and perhaps it is just the area where I live where the employment situation is dire.
For example when I came out of one recruitment office I visited recently, I felt like a piece of dirt on the bottom of someones shoes. I walked in and politely enquired about temporary work only to be told by the young girl to "Just add my name to the bottom of the list." It wasn't what she said, it was the way she said it. A polite "sorry, we've nothing available, but we'll take your details" would have been welcome. Instead I felt like I was an intruder and just getting in the way as I added my name to that very long list. I was then instructed to fill in the the "Type of work" column with something other than "Anything". She was clearly fed up with people not specifying what they wanted to do. Was there that much choice of work at the moment? Somehow I doubted that. Besides, wouldn't it make more sense to have a column where the job seeker could just list their relevant experience? The sad fact is that a great number of experienced people are capable and willing to actually do anything for the minimum wage at the moment. I am one of these people.
Most of my experience is IT based and I once earned a very good wage. Things are a little different now, my skills aren't as current as they could be and there is a lot of competition from younger, more ambitious people. Why wouldn't an employer take on a young bright spark rather than yesterdays high mileage version? Silicon soup kitchen may yet become a reality, but I'm rather hoping that the job market may pick up again by the end of the year and it won't come to that.
agencies - they say they'll call you back and then they don't
In the meantime though, I still have my pride and prefer to work for a living rather than survive on handouts. Actually, I avoid mentioning anything to do with IT now because of the negative reaction it seems to get. There's always that look of 'What are you doing here then?', and you just know that you've been filed somewhere to the bottom of the list because they just can't believe you'd be prepared to take on a minimum wage job.
Another thing that bugs me about recruitment agencies is when they say they'll call you back and then they don't. If you say you're going to call someone back then you should do that. If you have no intention of calling back just ask them to ring you in the morning or later on in the week to see what the situation is. Don't say "I think we've got something, I'll just check and call you back shortly." You're just wasting my time and getting my hopes up unnecessarily!
I'm sure at the moment temporary recruitment agencies are quite a bit busier than they were say twelve months ago, but the people who work there should not forget that the ones on the other side of the desk seeking work are in fact real people with feelings. If you're working in recruitment right now (temporary or otherwise), perhaps you should consider yourself very lucky indeed. You have a job and an income.
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At the moment I'm working as a self-employed agency worker ie they take a payroll company to do my wages and I pay less tax but pay £20 per week to them just to get my own money. This is becoming more common among agency jobs.
Luckily I've been working at the same job since last June.
But there's no holiday pay like a PAYE member would get as I did when working for another agency just prior to this position.
I went up to Stratford in East London earlier to visit an agency I'd registered with a few months back re: cleaning jobs on the London Underground and had never been given any work despite a 2 hour session of paperwork English and maths tests and all my references past work history etc.
I was told back then that I would have to pay money towards uniform cvosts as they buy the hi-vis vests and boots etc from the company who we will be sent to but that this would be deducted from wages. That was what the order form for uniforms actually said.
I did not mind if they did that as at least I would be working for them already if they did that but no, apparently they want various money for hi-vis jacket £12 which I paid today, plus there's a requirement that safety boots have a number inside saying S3 and you would be sent home if your own boots did not hence they would charge you £15 for a pair supplied by them. Its a joke.
Nearly everywhere I work has always given me these things if I turned up on site without. Saying that they have to pay for them doesn't cut it.
Employers are still required to supply workers with essential safety gear.
i agree with your comments. already posted my situation on another thread on this site, so not twice but i will say this:
1. Job Centre (JC from now) expect you to apply for any and every job that they can force you to. regardless of costs to you in rent travel to work, bills etc.
2. Agencies never seem to have anything despite advertising in windows
3. They never call you so you have to pop your head in to keep your face known or call them if you live too far to do that
4. they pay rubbish compared to permanent worker at the places they send you.
5. there's never a permanent job at these companies as they only use agencies to save cash and employees rights as proper staff would get.
add your own points please people theres more than ive time to write.
Just thought I should pass this on to lighten the mood a little when I went to an agency in Christchurch last year I introduced myself to the lady at the front desk as a plumber new to the area looking for temporary work do you have any plumbing jobs at the moment
She replied "No."
After a short silence I realised no more info was to come I asked. "Er.. OK any suggestions where I could try?"
I then got this pearl of wisdom. "Don't bother with agencies they'll take too much money."
All joking aside, I left that office wondering how or where could I find a job if that was the professionals' opinion.
They really should be more monitored and should have to say that they are an agency on the posting of the job. Like EG.
Admin post and job description, and next to the post maybe in brackets, (we are an employment agency) dont you all agree? at least that way people know that they are not the actual employer and then they can decide whether they really want to go through the agency or not.
I guess they would not say at the begin they are an agency as no one would then bother.
Then agency will ask you when you ring them, oh can you send me your updated CV, which really means, we have lost your CV so can you send another one. How can I have updated my CV if I am still out of work and they know this, I would not be ringing them if I was working would I.
I told one that for religious reasons I didnt want to do any job involving meat or alcohol - ie no butchers or threashers wine stores. I get looked at like I was bin laden or something by the overmade up lady with an annoyingly loud voice and brash manners, who seemed to have skipped the training on manners, and told theyll call me.
About two days later I hear nothing, then get a call asking if id be interested in a wine tasting jb that was nearly two hours away from me !!
When I call them they act as if I am harrasing them, yet out of the blue I get bombarded by calls from agencies who dont seem to get the message that I have a job, or expect me to go register with them, in full business dress in the middle of London, or who harrass me with emails for months on end. its a total farce.
It makes you wonder why they exist? They do not have a good continuity record and waste people's time and companies time too.
He had placed workers in temporary employment and then invoiced the company concerned for the hours they had done from his own agency using a similar named notepaper and banked the cheque and paid the worker concerned.
anyway that shoows the type of people who work in these places, one tactic I was taught whilst working there was what is known as THE TRAWL, a company contacts the agency with a request for a worker with a particular qualification, the company doesnt have anybody to match the criteria but informs the enquirer that all people they have with the qualification are employed and not available until 2 weeks time, the agency then places an ad in the job centre using the specification supplied by the company promising full time permanent work, when they get replies to the ad they inform the respondent that the job has gone but if they come in and leave their details they will be informed when something comes in. This tactic fills the job centre website with non existant jobs, so the Govt has the data to prove there is work out there, it fills the agencies databank with names and specific qualifications, And it shafts the unemployed as they spend time and money on trying to find work that doesnt exist
Shurl77