talking to an employment agency

[perry]

I submitted my resume over the weekend to an employment agency type setup, and got a call back about an hour ago. (Un)fortunately, I wasn't awake and couldn't get to the phone in time to answer. The guy left a message and simply said he was calling in regards to my resume, nothing else.

Anyone ever talked to these types of companies before? I sure haven't.. It's for an entry level type position in the network engineering / tech support area and don't really know what to expect when I go to talk to the folks, or even over the phone for that matter.

All my previous jobs have been pretty easy to get and I knew at the end of the interview that I had the job, if I even had to interview for the position..

 

[Shack70]

Well if it is an employeement agency, you will prob get a job as a temp. They will send you somewhere to work. The place you work at will pay them and they will then pay you part of what they recieve. It is usually for an agreed amount of time, like a few months. After the agreed time, the company that is paying the agency can offer you a full time job. It's a good way for companys to get new recruits withought haveing to spend the time and resources to interview and test people. The bad thing is sometimes you get real low pay and crapy hours!

 

[CinderElmo]

Those guys usually call to shoot the bull with you to make sure you are serious...then they call you in for an interview just to make sure you know what you say you know. Then, when they are semi-confident you aren't a loser/liability, they will try to find employment for you either through their regular contacts in your area/industry, or they will apply for jobs from 3rd parties using your resume (basically shopping you around).

The pros to them are that the good ones have a lot of contacts and they are motivated to get you in the highest paying job they can find for you.

The con is that they are trying to get you in the highest paying job they can because they usually get a percentage paid by whoever employs you.

Your best job source is usually personal contacts, followed by these recruiters, and finally by online sources and local "help wanted" ads.

At least in my experience...

 

[perry]

The pay ain't too bad really, and the hours I could care less about. I'm not sure it's a temp position. They don't specify that it is, and don't say it's on a contract arrangement (even though contracters make more money, I don't wanna be a contractor -- no mo work, no mo money).

I suppose this company is more of a headhunter type outfit.

edit instead of another reply:


<< Your best job source is usually personal contacts, followed by these recruiters, and finally by online sources and local &quot;help wanted&quot; ads. >>



Heh.. I used up my personal contact for getting a job on my last job.. I was only working part time, they needed someone full time and I wasn't avaliable full time at that time so I was restructured out of a job. So now I'm at step 2 which I found through step 3 (job listing on monster.com).. Help wanted ads will be my last resort.

edit again:
So this phone call will be low pressure, the guy isn't gunna start quizing me how windows registry stuff or whatever...?

 

[Windogg]

Be very careful around these people. They are leeches out to make a quick sales. Me and a few of my friends have been sucked in by these people please don't make the same mistake. The initial call is to get you into the office to fulfill a quota. They will try to be your best friend but don't fall for their talk. Treat them with as you would treat a used carsalesman because they are usually on the same level. These people rarely know enough about technology to get you into the right jobs. They will get you interview with any position they think you are qualified for. This means you will interview with companies that you are vastly overqualified for as well as vastly underqualified. In the worst case your time and the interviewer's time will be wasted for a position that you weren't even looking for. Do not hesitate to play hardball. They will always try to rush things because they only make money if you are placed. It's like an assembly line. If one thing seems out of place, walk out.

Windogg

EDIT: Quiz you on the Windows Registry? These people usually can't even turn on their own PCs let alone as you questions on Registry Keys.

 

[Daniel]

I got really screwed by a headhunter type place awhile back. It was one of those stories that if someone else told it to me I wouldn't believe it or think they misread something but since it happened to me it was all too true. I was just starting in the technical field, my brother worked for a tech place but he was in sales, he put me in contact with his recruiter lady. We all met at a restaurant, this lady, my brother (had to talk to her about work anyway) and myself. She promised me the world, doubled my current salary at the time, full benefits (which I didn't have already), sounded great. This was a Friday afternoon, she wanted me to start on Monday morning, or she said to give my current place a week warning first but they wanted me asap. Well I gave the other place the week and they were cool with it. Every time I tried to get in touch with her there was some problem, this went on for weeks, then over a month, it sounds like a crazy long amount of time but I figured it was ok and just some kinks to work out cause each time it seemed like something legit that was holding it up, and my brother worked there too and he didn't say anything shady and I figured with my new salary I could afford a small break time.
Finally we found out that this woman didn't really have any openings, the people she kept saying that were holding up the process didn't ever even talk to her and didn't have any positions, the fact was that she had done this with a load of people and had them all stringing along that as soon as a position opened she would be the first one to fill it since she already had people ready to work, granted they were unemployed but she just saw them as ready to work. I believe she finally got let go from that place but I'll surely think twice before I meet with a company like that again.
All told, I was out of a job for months, and a good part of that was tracking down what was going on with my &quot;great new position&quot; that I had taken.

 

[perry]

I talked to the guy, and they want someone that is an expert in Access because the job will be doing lots of Access work. I know quite a bit about Access but I told him no thanks because I don't wanna be doing that kinda stuff all day long..

I seem to have found a true headhunter though.. He's trying to place me into an IT staffing/contract company that will put me into a 6 month contract position with good chance of going perm. Very cool, and great salary to boot. Hopefully, after the 6 months, I can go perm and pick up medical benefits n' stuff from the company.. The guy seems to think, via email, that I'll do just fine in the job and looking at the description it sounds like it's right down my alley. Level I Network Engineer is what I'm hoping for. Level II does more in depth stuff with routers -- so hopefully I can pick up some stuff to help out with the CCNA test.

 

[smensch]

I HATE headhunter companies. I dealt with like 7 of them before getting a job, and ironically, I didn't even get my job through them. Sometimes they call you, most of the time, you'll never hear from them again. Actually, hate is probably an understatement of my feelings toward them...

 

[rootaxs]

I guess i was lucky... first job i had here in the US was through a headhunter that i submitted my resume to. I'm not working full-time (for close to a year now) with a pretty good company as a Web Producer.

They were (and still are) pretty friendly btw. Sending me bday cards, xmas greetings and even visited me a month after i started work just to check on me.

 

[matmax]

don't be fooled, all headhunters are the same, some are just better than others. just remember they are not working for you, you are the commodity, the employers are who they are working for. their the ones that pay the comission so they receive top priority. should it ever arise where a headhunter has to show his/her true allegiance believe me it is not going to be in your favor. you can tell you got a good one if you start believing that he/she is working hard for you and that you are their main priority, then you know you got a pro. it's actually kind of funny, once you let it be known that you are aware of your place in their heirarchy of priorities you can almost have a decent relationship with them. good luck and leary of false promises....

 

[perry]

A headhunter that my friend uses calls him every now and then to see if my friend is lookin to change jobs. Best he can figure, the headhunter only starts calling people when he gets behind on his bills and needs to pay some off.. The headhunter has had the bank threatening to take his house back multiple times and he keeps pressuring my friend to take a new job, even though he's been at the same place for 5 years now (that headhunter got him the job there).

Whatever the case may be, it looks like I may have found a decent opportunity. If it doesn't go through, c'est la vie. It's a learning experience for me.. I really never knew that headhunters and employment agencies were out to screw me over (maybe I'm hearing the bad experiences here); I guess I'm too trusting in people.

Thanks for all the advice thus far folks!