How to find a job when most jobs are through agencies?

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They do for contract role (where a ongoing percentage cut is the norm) but not for permie roles (where 15-30% of first year salary one-off fee is the norm).

While it is in the agencies interest to get the candidate a higher salary, it's even more in their interest to close the deal quickly and move on to the next candidate. Spending time negotiating salary increases the risk the candidate might take an offer elsewhere plus reduces the time the recruiter can spend on other candidates (and the marginal return from a salary increase is negligible compared to the return on spending time for other candidates)

Hiya.

Maybe we work different to other agencies. We always put people over at a salary they would like to earn - so we ask the applicant what they want to confirm - then send them over at that so we're wasting no-one's time. If the candidate gets a higher offer from someone else then we would have wasted all our time.

Responding to some other posts on this board - generally if someone is a good, promising match for the role I generally make a point to ask them to tweak their CV to get them a better chance of interview - if you ask the agency to send you the spec and then tailor your CV to highlight what you've done, it can only help.

Original post by Sephiroth

Every agency I've used has done no preparing. I've applied for the job and they decide I'm either too retarded to apply for jobs I have a chance with or they send off my CV. Hardly much effort on their part. Unfortunately a lot of agencies will wrongfully put you in the first list. Surely I know what jobs are suitable for me better than any agency will and that's where they fail.

To be fair - its either us screening CVs or the company - and a company inundated with CVs from people who believe they are perfect when they aren't pretty much leads to the existence of agencies to handle it for them. Do you tailor your CVs to jobs? There is a reason an agency is screening you out. In other words - what is the reason agencies aren't putting you forward? Don't be scared to ring them up and find out what's going on.

Additionally I think the fact agencies are a big business, and the fact me and one other colleague focus a lot of our time on placing graduates what say we didn't fail :wink:

Reply 21

Frogsofhope

I learnt to play the game to an extent.

Applying directly to an employer and getting agencies attention are two totally different ball games.

My problem is I can get non stop jobs through agencies and tons of calls and interviews I amaze at, but once I am in the job, they seem to only have me on a short contract and not renew it :\.

With agencies fill your C.V with key words, everything should be a skill, keep signs of personality to a minimum. Cliches are good here.
Every careful considerationfor a real job throw out the window, they don't have time to read between the lines. Be bold, dont be subtle, don't even really give examples of how you have the skill, just list it then have a list of past employment. You can expand when they call you.
Sound amazing and big yourself up and when they ring you sound keen, enthusiastic, really thankful and that you are available immediately and will do any paperwork and meetups they require, nothing is a problem.

Keep refreshing your profile on the job sites so it bounces up the top as a new candidate.

They don't care about covering letters, a generic really short crap one will do if anything, they just want a C.V full of key skills and useful sounding experience, where as real employers read the covering letter and personality bits a lot more closely.

Make every job sound like you were practically running the shop, don't ever lie but use artistic spin and technical terms.

Sign up to job alerts and spam your C.V to anything and everything you could vaguely have a hope of doing.

Reply 22

PitchYourCase

It would be an idea to delete yyour CV off some of the sites, then update your CV or make it more appealing and re submit it, this will bring your CV to their attention again and hopefully you will get some responses.

Also when you are aplyign for jobs, tailor your CV to that specific job, it is time consuming but will be worth it in the end.

Reply 23

theprinter

I have found agencies in the very same manner . A complete waste of time. Even a a lot of the job centre jobs are also agenciy...heres a quick story...I went to the job centre and saw a job advertised. It was through an agency just down the street. I called in and a woman got the file out and left it on the desk. I quickly saw the employer name. I decided to apply through the agency (do it right I thought)
After a long time filling in forms and phoning the agency and being fobbed off I phoned the company myself and spoke to the MD. I told him my story and he was shocked. He said he'd used them 5 years before but hadn't a job to offer anyone in the last 5 years and they'd just wanted my details..the government should stamp these methods out

Reply 24

Sephiroth

Why bump a 5 year old thread?

I've been working for almost four years now.

My experience with agencies is simply that they have no interest if you have never worked. I had **** all from them before my first job, just lots of time wasted. When it came to looking for my second job with three years experience the agencies couldn't stop asking me to go to interviews and I found a new job pretty quickly with +£6k salary over my first job. I probably could have applied for the job direct too but the agency was very good throughout the process and it's likely I wouldn't have gotten it without them selling me as a good candidate etc.

Like most jobs that work on commission, they go for the easy pickings - in this case people who are easy to place in jobs due to their experience.

Reply 25

jacktrex

Original post by Sephiroth

My experience is that literally any job that isn't a top graduate scheme is through an agency. I started applying and I was getting phone calls from random other agencies saying they have jobs to offer me etc. After a while applying ( i would apply in bursts e.g. applying for a few jobs one day then nothing for 3 weeks) i got an email from one recruiter telling me my CV isn't up to scratch and what he needs to know about projects etc i've done. So I completely redid my CV sent it back to him, he then sent that off to the company. There was like a small minor assessment day the company organised though it was only a small company with 5 of us and i managed to beat out the other candidates and secure the job. So recruiters aren't all bad especially when they give you feedback like in this one instance. Anyway what were/are you earning? I want to make sure i'm not being underpaid!

Reply 26

Six-God

Tldr: graduate with no real world experience expects finding a first job to be easier and squares the blame on recruitment consultants... He/she expects the moon on a stick but won't go out there and build up experience by applying for internships to make her CV look good.

You've got a degree and as you said not even a year experience what kind of ****ing result are you expecting?! To get noticed by on having a sexy name?

Reply 27

username1799249

Original post by Six-God

If you are going to launch a tirade at someone, at least do it in a timely manner. This thread is now 5 years old! And getting a job through an agent is not straightforward if you take the view that agents work to normal social conventions or decency and honesty - which they do not.

Reply 28

elfreda69

Original post by Sephiroth

This great- almost like a movie. I love the fact that you have come back and updated us. It's great because anyone going through similar struggles can see that there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Its a difficult lesson for young graduates to learn: real life can be pretty tough and simply working hard on your degree does not always land you the perfect job straightaway.
Well done on securing your first job and your subsequent career progression!

Reply 29

Rubyredshoes57

Totally agree , it's so depressing - AND they want you to join their agency , so frustrating.

Reply 30

Pogsy

I think you are spot on, my experience with agencies, is they are staffed by dishonourable bull ******** kids.So if you are 59 like me, the farcical experience goes off the scale.

Reply 31

JP Numan

Fully back you up on this one. I've been out of work since 7th March and every job has been through waste of time agency's who do not match your skills to your CV or even for that matter read it properly. Some only telephone you to take information from you just to contact your last employers I learn't my lesson the hard way on that one. Then find after applying for one job that another agency tries to offer the same job. They are all sharks and I have also noticed now that alot of agencys have star ratings and most are very low all saying the same thing as what I have just written. Wasting my time I am.

Reply 32

Pogsy

Original post by JP Numan

I am still in the same boat, and have decided to go self employed, once I get the “new enterprise allowance” set up.
I have had all my suspicions confirmed, about the agencies, the recruiters are mainly late twenties, so 59 years olds are completely wasting their time.
Good luck to you.

Reply 33

JP Numan

Original post by Pogsy

I'm 52 and fast starting to give up seriously looking at moving out of the Midlands sick of looking at the same jobs and being sent on fools errands all through agencies.

Reply 34

mehedimasud

Never reply through agency, Always aim to apply direct, you get far more luck than using this middle men/women to waste your time. Of course you have to know whether they are hiring. You check theyr website direct, one by one. I know its time consuming but much better than using those scumbags.

Reply 35

TokyoJam

when you go for specific roles you have thousands of applicants using one click applies and have no chance of employers seeing your CV no matter how qualified you are. Making an effort and showing willing is an important part of the job application process and that goes out the window when you have hundreds of applicants daily applying using one click. Get back little more than an automated rejection at best. IF they see your CV at all. It's a problem in busy places like London.

Reply 36

Saw3

Agencies are just like the parasites on the back of people, put your hand and work something *******s

Reply 37

stettafire

Original post by Sephiroth

I feel like I'm wasting my time applying for jobs because like 95% of the jobs I find are through agencies. I get the feeling they aren't even sending my applications to the companies because I'll get maybe one e-mail a month telling me my application has been passed on. I apply for 5-10 jobs per week.

I don't believe it's an issue with my CV or cover letters because I have a fairly good success rate at getting interviews when I apply directly to a company.

So what to do when like 95% of IT jobs are through agencies? Limiting myself to the 5% which aren't would mean applying to like one job a week, which is no good.

It really irritates me that you have to apply to apply for a job these days. Not to mention your reward for this annoyance is that the agency gets to take part of your salary when you do find a job.

Keep applying. Both through agencies and direct. Take advantage of every platform you can get your paws on. LinkedIn, Jobsites, Social media you name it. If you really want a job in the industry you need to keep pushing for it. Eventually, you'll break through. But also you N.E.E.D a protfolio. Keep working on improving your skills and portfolio.

Reply 38

Ititrefen

I worked 23 years for a bank and they put me on night shift just after I graduated so I still needed the money. I left in disgust with the regime which was trying close supervision with ill-qualified supervisors and I told them so, on my 65th birthday. I took agency jobs for 1 year and nine months respectively and it looked like a rough ride but a fairly lucrative one, when an industrial accident resulted in my workplace becoming inoperable. I'd taken engineering, chemical and physical and electrical certificates, playing the game, when they took the carpet away, so to speak, and started me on a job recently where I was supposed to run around whilst these people got to go early to catch their bus and it's on and off and I don't know anymore whether I'm working. On top of that half of them are now foreign and speaking their own language and the rest are openly ageist all because of the agency carrying on a supply and demand pathway which doesn't take workers' quality of life into account. I speak as a BSc in Social Science who is getting politicised by this experience although I also have a pension which cushions me from the effects of not working to some extent. The workers need to mobilise about this agency structure which is insidious and also is run by foreigners, and I'm an expert in this area.