Job hunting; recruitment agency or direct?

B

buffalo

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Good afternoon all

I'm coming to the end of a 3-year contract and am starting to look for a new job (science related). I'm wondering whether to sign on with a few recruitment agencies or whether to try find a position myself through journals/newspapers/homepages etc. I have a few months left so it's not a last minute rush. Will applying directly to a company make my application more attractive (they save fees) or is this a cost they've already written off while looking for an employee? Perhaps the fee saved could be negotiated towards higher compensation? Does a potential employee look more desperate for a job when their CV arrives via a number of agencies? If anybody has any experience recruiting for a company out there I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts on this!

Thanks

Bill
 
the agencies should contact you and ask if you're happy to be put forward to such and such a company and be represented by them. this means only one agency should be putting your cv in to any particular company.

on the other question, given you have time still, I'd contact the HR departments of any companies that you're interested in directly, though this may have more success if you're going for a perm job.
Definitely worth a try.

To help with any negotitations, at a close guess I think agents take about 10 -20 % of daily rates, and to about 10% of an annual salary for a perm role.
 
I tend to deal with agencies when job hunting. I find they usually have the better jobs for me and can portray my cv in a better light. There are good and bad agencies out there just as the agents can vary within agencies. Try and get a recommendation from friends or colleagues if possible.

I always stipulate that my cv is not to be sent to any company without my permission. This way if I have applied for a particular job with one agency I tell the other I'm not interested. It has happened a few times that my cv has been sent without my permission, usually by smaller agencies so I never deal with them again and warn others against using them.

Another tip (given to me by my SIL who worked in recruitement) is to give the agency no information about other agencies you have registered with or details of any interviews you have been sent for via another agency or you have applied to directly. Its a dog eat dog world and as soon as your out the door from agency B they'll be sending the cvs of any suitable candidates they have over to the company who agency A sent your cv to, therefore diluting your chances of getting that job. If they don't have any suitable candidates they will advertise the job as if they are recruiting for it,in order to get cv's in.

I'd also apply directly if I saw a suitable position advertised.

Agencies charge the employer based on that salary paid to the candidate...up to 20% of the annual salary.
 
Thanks for the info Guys

Looks like I`ll go the direct approach for the time being. I can always register later if I`m having no success. I wonder how long companies keep your CV on file for? Chances are they`ll have mine on file even if they receive it again later from an agency.

On a separate issue...can CV scanning programs search pdf files? I would like to send my CV as a pdf document so the format doesn`t get messed around if somebody views it on a different system. However, I`m a bit worried that it might be passed over when they do a scan of their CV database to call suitable candidates.
 
buffalo said:
On a separate issue...can CV scanning programs search pdf files? I would like to send my CV as a pdf document so the format doesn`t get messed around if somebody views it on a different system. However, I`m a bit worried that it might be passed over when they do a scan of their CV database to call suitable candidates.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the cv scanning, but I'd think not. As for sending pdf format cv at all, I wouldn't. You can't be guaranteed that the people you're sending the cv to will even have acrobat to read the thing in the first place, never mind scan it.

If your cv is so intricate that the format is of concern to you, then simplify the cv. The simpler the cv, the better. Front page with summary of everything you want people to know about you, with subsequent pages, no more than 1 or 2 more, with the details.
 
RainyDay said:
Why do you need to make an either/or decision? Why not try both routes?
Click to expand...

Point taken but a friend has had some bad experiences with a couple of agencies sending his CV without authorisation to companies he`d already approached directly. Am just wondering what HR people think of receiving multiple copies of the same CV.


ronan_d_john said:
You can't be guaranteed that the people you're sending the cv to will even have acrobat to read the thing...
Click to expand...

I`d have thought acrobat reader was ubiquitous by now but you`re dead right; keep it simple.
 
Having had 7 jobs in 10 years (I move around alot!) I've found going through retruitment companies a necessary evil. Expect them to contact you regarding jobs that you are over/under/not qualified for and in the wrong location. (I'm always tough with them from the beginning to nip it in the bud) Also, some of them will expect you to have a registration interview with them - annoying if you have applied for 10 jobs on a website for example, and 5 of the recruitment agencies ask you to come in for a meeting - and nothing is guaranteed to come of it.

IMHO, It's always worth emailing friends and people you used to work with to find out if there's anything available at their places of work. Companies are delighted to get recommendations from their employees. Saves them money on recruitment agency fees anyway!

And it's always a good idea to send out CVs to companies even if you don't know they are looking. I found my present job that way, and it's a contract role. They'll keep your CV on file anyway if there isn't anything available immediately, so it could benefit you in the future.

Best of luck with your search.
 
Thanks y_reilly. Wow, 7 jobs in 10 years makes you an old hand at this! I`ve already asked my friends to keep an eye open in their areas for me. I`m working abroad at the moment so realistically, I can only attend interviews where there`s a reasonable chance I might land the job. Hopefully a phone interview will suffice for agency registration interviews.
 
y_reilly said:
Also, some of them will expect you to have a registration interview with them - annoying if you have applied for 10 jobs on a website for example, and 5 of the recruitment agencies ask you to come in for a meeting - and nothing is guaranteed to come of it.
Click to expand...

This isn't really a registration interview. If they could get you a job without meeting you, it'd be less work for them, and they wouldn't bother meeting you at all.

The reason for the meeting is so that when they're pitching your cv that they can say to their client, the employer, that they've met you, spoken to you about your skills, and have come to the conclusion that you're a great match for their open position.

That, and some recruitment companies pay monthly bonuses based on how many candidates they've dragged into their offices to meet during the month.
 
I work in the online recruitment industry so know agencies quite well.

While there are a (small) number of decent agencies, you should be aware of the following -

1. Most agency job adverts are for phantom jobs. They just want CVs.
2. The majority of agency jobs which are not phantom are actually just a case of "I see X is hiring. I'll fire off your CV to them." Of course, if you also know X is hiring you can send the CV yourself.

From talking to employers, they've told me that if the right CV comes along, they will interview the person whether or not they came through an agency. So I don't think applying for jobs via agencies will lesson your chance of finding employment. But dealing with agencies will mean a lot of frustration and time wasting on your part.

Saying all this, you're still increasing your chance of finding a job if you go both routes (agency and direct.)

A tool which you might find helpful in your job hunting is http://www.dole.ie. It's every job from all the main jobsites.
 
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