The problem with recruitment agencies
Posted by podit on October 10, 2007
Many people I talk to find dealing with recruitment agencies very frustrating. Some horror stories as well. Just like real estate agents they seem to charge the earth but deliver very little. Let me caveat my last statement with that there are good agencies out there. But in general the reputation isn’t that hot.
Anyway the main dissatisfaction that I hear out there is that the quality of the candidates sent through don’t seem to be high enough. In some instances people get the impression that they are just firing anyone that answers the ad. If this is the case why do you bother with the agency in the first place?
The main reason for the lower quality is that in general the agencies don’t get the best people on their books. They get people looking for jobs but not the best people looking for jobs. Here is my reasoning.
If you rated candidates from 1 – 100 in a recruitment drive the results would look something like this
The top 1-10 candidates don’t use recruitment agencies, they network. These people are the cream. The next 11-20 candidates are the best candidates that the recruitment agencies can attract. These are the ones that get sent for interviews. Followed by 21-40 candidates, you may get some of these if none of the 11-20 candidates applied. The agency doesn’t come back and say no one suitable they just go down the list. finally 41 -100 candidates. You should never see these candidates but it has happened. Sometimes the odd one will slip through on their personality sales
So the main problem is that in general agencies can’t attract the cream. That is why the frustration creeps in. And of course the worse the agency, the worse the candidates, and the worse your problem becomes.
Sarah Fraser said
I dont understand the point in agencies, they are just a waste of time. I am saying this from an employers point of view, they dont deilver and they are expensive. They do not know what employers are looking for, they just think they do.
Tumas Doherty said
This is fairly generalised. The good recruiters do get the top 10%. These are people who know how to network and don’t just wait for responses to advertsing. I have worked with a number of recruitment consultants that really do know their markets well. Recruitment is a competetive business and if you aren’t good, you don’t stay around for long. Saying that I have worked with some cowboys, who really don’t have a clue and they scarcely stay at the same place for an extended peroid of time. Of course if we could all do our own recruitment and save money we would, but the fact of the matter is that recruiters do have a place in the market.
Michael Davenport said
From a job seekers point of view agencies are extremely annoying, if you are looking for job security dont use an Agency because in a matter of weeks maybe months due to no fault of your own you could be waiting for the Agency to re-deploy in another role, and this will continue to happen. I just dont understand why companies cant just hire people. I am sick of this whole “well you work for us, but you also work for the agency, you follow the agencies rules and ours but I dont know what they are your best off asking the agency” cant I just work for permantley for the company I am working for the agency get a sum for finding me and then leave me alone.
Luiz De Assis said
I am not sure the posting addresses the main flaw with recruitment agencies – have recruiters with the right skill set to find the right candidates for their clients. That said, my experience with those agencies has been poor at best. I just cannot believe how unprofessional some of those recruiters are. Not to mention that they hardly ever give you any feedback, or updates after an interview. I must agree with Sarah when she says that companies — their HR departments – should be the ones searching for the best candidates rather than overpaying those agencies. We all know that there’s a pretty huge pool of good and experienced professionals out there, not to mention that companies can use their own employees as references. Last year, to my total shock, I got a contract position with a company in Colorado through Kelly Services which has been pretty good so far. Although it’s an employer’s market, most of the recruiters I’ve talked to seem to lack the passion and the realization that treating people – read candidates – with respect can only help them create a stronger relationship with their clients.
Anonymous said
From a jobseekers point of view I feel that someone needs to investigate the unscrupulous practices of agencies. It’s annoying that a number of jobs advertised on the Guardian and Jobcentre Plus websites are agencies. Many of these are bogus positions and are just a ploy for the agencies to fill their books with clients or to try and steal contracts from other agencies.
I had experience of this awhile back when I applied for a role that was advertised on the Guardian site by an agency. This same role was advertised on various other media job sites with different salaries. In any case I submitted an application and followed it up with a call a few days later as I had not received an acknowledgment. The Consultant dealing with the post could not find my application but offered to send out the job description and advised me to email my application directly to him, which I did.
It was strange that the email he sent containing the Job Description also disclosed the name of the recruiter which was unusual as most agencies do not give their client’s name out. I think this was sent in error. He called to say he had received my application and that he would let me know the outcome. A week went by and I didn’t hear anything so I called him to find out the progress of my application and he informed me that he was still waiting to hear back from the client.
I thought this was strange considering he had stated initially that they were looking to employ someone for the role quickly. So I decided to do some investigating as I felt that he was just another time waster.
I looked at the email with the recruiter details and searched their website for a number. I called to speak to the HR or person that was dealing with the role. I was eventually put through to the HR person who informed me that they were not taking direct applications and the recruitment was being handled exclusively by one agency (not the one I applied to).
I informed her that the role had been advertised by other agencies on various sites including the Guardian to which she was both surprised and annoyed to hear. She asked me if I wouldn’t mind telling her which site and which agencies. I told her as I think it is ridiculous that people are putting time and effort into applications (in the middle of a recession) that are not going anywhere. I called the Consultant again and he was still fobbing me off with the story that he was waiting to hear back from the client!!!
I have also mentioned my concern about agencies to the Job Centre and they informed me that they are not happy about allowing agencies to advertise on their website but they cannot stop them as it will break Equal Opportunities regulations!!
However, there are some genuinely good agencies out there like the one I use to find me contract when I am not doing my freelance work. They are brilliant and are so professional in that they only call when they have a role that fits my skills and I have got all those roles on being interviewed by the recruiter. Unlike a lot of agencies that will register you and call you up about jobs that don’t even exist!!
I think the comment about the best people or the ‘cream’ not bothering with agencies and choose to network instead is unfair. I consider myself to be a highly skilled professional. I work in Media and while networking is great for building contacts and partnerships it doesn’t guarantee work particularly in this current climate when everyone is downsizing. The Guardian is a reputable website and many professionals will search for jobs there and be faced with agency jobs, not by choice. But when you have financial commitments to meet you can’t be picky about which resources you use to find work!!
Barry Proffitt said
Speaking as an owner of a small recruitment agency it’s always good to listen and read constructive criticism whenever and wherever I find it. Much of what has been written here is true of some agencies and some is surprisingly bad.
That said please do not “tar us all with the same brush.” There are many good reasons to register with a good agency. We trade in the temporary market and manage to place many candidates who are simply looking for a job.
I personally see a wide variety of candidates ranging from capable hard workers to downright lazy individuals who meander from one agency to next. We actively promote the hard workers and try to steer clear of the lazy ones.
Many of the hard working candidates use this opportunity to show a potential employer what they can do in their working environment and go on to secure long term or permanent contracts with our client’s who employ our ability simply because they haven’t the time to receive hundreds of applicants.
They do their job very well and we do ours very well. It simply works depending on all understanding the rules of the game and that’s where candidates are sometimes neglected. As a point we respond to almost (we are not perfect) all enquiries and never promise to call anyone back to “update,” them because we just don’t have the time. We don’t randomly send out CV’s and we pay our staff on time.
I also have friends who work in the Perms market and they earn their percentage finding very specific candidates who often remain elusive to many an employer. They do from time to time head hunt candidates which is something employers simply don’t do.
We are like many industries with our good and bad representatives but we are not all bad and I believe we are here to stay.
Anonymous said
The recruitment agencies are a big problem; I am surprise why companies can’t understand that they can’t find the right person the job. From the companies eye they just look like a second hand car salesmen (but they will eventually cave in to the second hand car salesmen recruitment agencies).
I understand it may be a good idea to use them if you want find stuff for short periods, but be aware when you ask for stuff member/worker for short period you get exactly that or worse(you get some one who do not care about the company always guarantee ).
Another big problem is that recruitment agents can’t understand what are the right skills for the job (skills matching).for example- my area is in electronic engineering I have seen too often that they do not have a clue what company talking about. They try to match words in my resume to word in the job description. Last week agent interviewed me he ask me questions like “if I say FPGA is that make sense” and my favorite “my client is looking for a good engineer are you?” so my answer start with “yap”.
I normally record all the interviews I go to so later on I can see what I did or didn’t do (I advice every one to record their interviews so you can improve your self). Or some times you and your friends can have a good laugh. Let me assure you that most of the recruitment agent’s records telephone interview without asking you anyway.
So my humble advice is that try avoid recruitment agents if you can. That goes to employer too.
Thanks
Re
If I offend any one in recruitment industry, I am sorry.
Kev said
The main problems from a job seekers perspective is that agencies:
1. Advertise jobs that don’t exist.
2. Won’t tell you in the advert, or even on the phone, who the end client is. This means that the job seeker can waste a lot of time applying for jobs that they don’t want. It deliberately puts the seeker at an information disadvantage allowing the agency to ask questions prior to knowing the context of those questions.
Finally employers need to stop complaining about skills shortages and open their minds to people who can adapt from other specialist areas. The salary increases over the last ten years do not indicate skills shortages. Of course this means that the agency won’t get a clearly defined remit. However that should not be the job seekers problem.
Harry B said
Some Recruitment Agencies can be a nightmare..
I discovered it recently and left me in a turmoil ….
After a cold call formn the recruitment agency and desire to look for a new challenge and 3 successful interviews with a blue chip company, they verbally offered the role.
Recruitment agency sent me an email confirmation to start which was within a month, by that time I have given my notice to leave the current company I was working for after 6 years and received a good reference.
I constantly chased the recruitment agency and blue chip company for the employment contract, and kept stating ” It’s in process, should receive it soon”.
On my very last week, received a call from the agency, the Blue chip company decided not to progress with my application any more due to budget reasons….which left me very frustated. I have already resigned from my current employer, and could not retrieve my resignation. To re-apply for my poisition again, it will take over 6 months.
I called the hiring manager directly of the blue chip comapny, he aplogised but offered the position to some one else, as they could not agree with the rates and the terms of my recruitment agency, who were a new supplier.
This really made me furious…I called the agency, whereas the Account Manager was refusing to take my calls, complained to the MD, and all he offered was a sympathy. Contacted my Citizen Advice Bureau to take legal action, in terms of compensation….and awaitng further advices while hunting aroud for other suitable position, which is quite tough in the current climate and now been off work without pay for 2 months…
Searching hard now for any role coming up …..
Louise said
I hate Employment Agencies and I disagree with your comment. I have applied for a large amount of positions that I have been more than capable of doing and I never get short listed.
An example is I use to work for a college; I worked in the CIS department who dealt with basically everything from securing funding to invigilating exams. I applied for a position which involved invigilating exams and issuing results. This of course was with an employment agency.
I covered in my application all the points listed in their personal specification and a day later I received an email saying that I haven’t been short listed for the position as my skills didnt match the criteria?? When I contacted the agency for feedback, the receptionist said that they never give feedback due to the high volume of applications.
Now I would personally love to know who secured that position, my guess is some graduate who has never invigilated an exam but has been sitting exams for the pass month so is an expert and due to their ‘high calibre’ of education they are more then perfect for the job?
Agencies are a waste of money and shouldn’t be able to operate the way they do, especially in todays climate!!
Margaret Rose said
I took a job through a supposedly top rate recruitment agency, their specialty being the placement of physicians and Nurse Practitioners. The agent lied to me, and left out critical information, which left me in a completely vulnerable position. I was not able to get credentialed in the State I moved to, the relocation money arrived the day before I moved, and I did not have enough money to get my furniture out of storage, so now I am faced with possible auction of all I have in the world. I will be devasated, but my son more so. I have been out of work for two months, while I wait to get credentialed in another State. I paid a deposit on a house, and when i was not able to work, the homeowner lost his (me) leasee, and now is financially in serious condition, and may have to file bankruptcy. The recruiter lied, and told me he was paid hourly, therefore he “could be neutral”. When all of this came to the fore, he told me he couldn’t help me, because he his loyalites were to the employer. Now my life is in a State of catastrophe. I don’t even have the funds to hire an attorney.
shrikanth said
As we all know that their are two major pain points in Recruitment :
1. Mapping between Job requirement and Candidate’s skills.
2. Lot of Manual process , like sending mail to client , sending mail to Applicant and following up for the same..
Actually i cam across a HR solution company called http://www.roosterhr.com... they have an excellent solution called “R-lite” which simplifies the entire recruitment process to a great extent by making the all the activities involved automated … In case if u want a try this solution kindly visit :www.r-lite.com as they offer a 1 month free trial….
Regards
shrikanth
Barry Proffitt said
Nice bit of advertising there shrikanth, way to go!
katarangi Asaph kaburura said
recruitment challenges will never be overcomed only using outsourcing which may likely have little interference of the applicant but at times they are also bribed to offer opportunities.
aditya said
Hi,
Pl.send me the organisation name and address who solve the dispute or conflict between company (who want candidates) and recruitor company(who supply candidates)
pl.repl.urg
thanx
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ccappellar said
Hi guys, I run an agency. The problems you are real however please remember there are three parties to the process the candidate the agent and our client.
We often seem unprofessional due to the fact that we do not give feed back to all our candidates. So here are some facts from our side.
1) I personnel receive over 500 applicants a week. Most of which are not qualified for the job advertised. so in this week is it possible to read about 2000 pages and regret everyone personally. No.
2) Sadly enough most clients request people urgently then take often a month or two or never to respond to our applicants. We are then left not being able to give our candidates any feedback.
3) Often clients ask us for cv’s to see who is out there to compare with a candidate they are already considering.
4) Clients often cancel Job orders. We cant help this.
5) We only get paid per placement made.
6) Why dont we tell you the clients name? Cause when we do you apply directly and we don’t get paid.
7) Before you complain about recruiters, try for one second to imagine how candidate waste our time. Ie not pitching, false information, taking the job then leaving in a month, not supplying us with info, applying for jobs they don’t qualify for, Just using our offers to get a counter offer from the current employer.
Yup didn’t think of it that way did you.
Emma said
I agree with the above comment! Also a Recruiter.
Valaki said
All recruiter should be banned. They are rather a barrier between companies and job seekers than a link. I never succeeded through agency. But the biggest problem is that there’s not many company advertises their vacancies anymore (in my profession), so the jobs are hidden in the recruiters’ draws. Therefore I cannot apply for a job that I don’t know is existing. And the agent can’t find me because I don’t apply for a job that doesn’t exist. Even if I am on their list they don’t know WHEN I am looking for a job. As the recruiter said above: too many applicants. Why not leave it with us then? We are adult beings and are capable to look for a job ourselves. On the other hand I think the companies would find the right person sooner if they advertised their vacancies straight to the public.