Smaller Indiana

Making people and ideas findable

ashan jay

Do employment agencies really help people find jobs? anyone here had past experiences ?

I have always heard of employment agencies, but the sound of "agency" got me thinking again of using them. Recently one of my clients referred me these places as a mean of finding contract-base work from other companies. Which, not to mention, got me excited about the possibility before I came across a forum like this one "http://tiny.cc/DeJP3" where the comments relentlessly bombard the uselessness of these employment agencies and how they use your personal information and sell to other companies, which marks as the end of your hope with these agencies.

So I was hoping that I could get some true insight on these employment agencies such as "Manpower, Adecco, Appleone, etc" from you, fellow SI members.

Update: My intentions for using these third parties are, as a mean of finding leads for freelance work, companies that need a freelancer for graphic design, website design, or 3D modeling projects. And I am not looking for full time work or clerical work, at least not through them.

Thank you very much for everyone for sharing their experiences so far. And I would appreciate if your insight from now on, could be more relevant towards finding freelance work through these employment agencies.

Share

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Thanks nicki for that bit of information. By the way how are you doing? I should drop you a email or a IM sometime....

Reply to This

Ashan, I have not had the experience yet, but was wondering the same thing as have recently been laid off as an Admin. Assistant and was entertaining the idea of using an employement agency to help me find another job.
Anxious to read any information on this.

Reply to This

Reviewing earlier posts prompts mine if only to add general agreement to the already stated tone.
I would like to share some of my single experience with a temp "agency." Fairly new to Indy 25 years ago and fresh from an operation as part of a 6-week hospital stay I was desperate for any work to pay rent etc. How about dressed up in a Santa suit and serving spiked eggnog to the clientele of a high-scale ladies fashionware store. Ole Santa must have reached deep into his bag on unending supplies of doctored eggnog because the store was pleased enough the agency owner became impressed enough to hire me fulltime herself!
The honeymoon ended quicker than Obama's lol. Owner loved my workaholic attitude and results of course yet knew I was soon unsupportive of her tactics and was steadfast when declining her invitation to continue my positive results so she could soon make me her general manager and I could again make some "real money."
My point is merely to concur with those seeing these agencies as little more than "traffickers" of warm bodies. If you are listed with us you're not with our competition etc. Basically I seen it as another "game" of numbers...build both your applicant and business lists and hope for some matches. Reps back then were strictly commission so if u gained a job listing and filled it with one of your own applicants you took home all the bacon...filling someone else's job listing with your persons gained a splitting of the % etc.
Though I would hope today's "agencies" are not quite as seedy as experienced 25 years ago though I honestly would doubt that.
My "networking" would likely begin right here within SI as someone might well know of an opportunity through their contacts that could very well match your hopes and job desires. Least I have to believe the integrity within your"support base"is higher here than in the commercial "meatmarket."I

Reply to This

Ashan, I would be happy to tell you some stories via e-mail: mrbizoco76@yahoo.com
I don't feel comfortable doing it on a public forum.

Reply to This

No worries. I will write you a email.

Reply to This

I used temporary and permanent employment agencies quite a bit in the 1980s and 1990s. They were OK for getting temporary manual labor jobs and to let me test my skills on their clerical tests. Eventually I realized that most of the "career counselors" I was talking to were people like me who couldn't get a good job anywhere else. Like many recruiters who come to university job fairs, the non-specialized agencies are for people who don't have well-defined skills or professional training. Once you have specialized training or professional accreditation, you acquire a career focus and you learn how most people get good jobs, by talking to other people in their field.

Reply to This

I think there are certain things you have to do in order for any services to be able to help you. I was a contractor for several years and its absolutely great work. First of all, you have to know where you fit in. A recruiter, no matter how much we like can't perfectly place you if you don't know what you do and don't want. I made it pretty easy on my recruiters because I learned early on every job isnt for me. Even if I were capable, there are many other factors to consider. The second things is patience. That's not just with find the job through an agency because honestly the are fielding other applicants for the same position, but also with the recruiter of that agency. I think it is an oversight to think that they can keep up with as many changes in the IT industry that happen every day, when it can hard for us professionals to keep up. So the patiences comes in where you will have to show your expertise in communication and knowledge of your field to help them understand positions (and your position on those positions) a little better. I find that if you are as helpful in essentially helping yourself, agencies can be a wonderful thing. Now that's not to say I haven't still had some horrible experiences, but more to say I've learned from them, and now I look for the right fit of people I will let represent me. I stick to the same people now...two people who have done really well for me would be Katy Castor and Keisha Cunningham. (Notice I don't name the agency!)

Reply to This

Thank you george for your feedback. Thinking about it; it makes good sense of what you are saying. If you could understand what you are looking for and make it clear for them what you are looking for, the result you could get through these agencies could be enhanced. I think this majorly evolves around finding the right agency that is out there to understand your need and help you without displaying much of their mustered intentions.

Like with most of the previous experiences mentioned in this discussion, they weren't provided with the jobs they were looking for or failed to contact them at all after first consultation, in which case it would become difficult in doing anything.

But thank you for telling me that there is hope out there with some of these agencies.

Reply to This

Having been on both sides of the fence - utilizing services as a job seeker and also being a recruiter it is very interesting to see the discussion posts.

I will have to agree that these "agencies" are just in business to make money, and their recruiters are usually paid based on numbers and traffic flow. Most of the positions that you see posted by them via online are already filled before you even can respond.

Craigslist, a most recent fad has been plagued by fraudlent postings as well. When you send information to the poster (specificially in the help wanted sections) your information is then utilized as a "lead" and sent to other firms who have purchased leads.

I would think your best opportunity might be to make sure to use the social networking sites and professional networking sites and start posting in their forums such as this that you are looking to provide your services. Something you also might try is at the bottom of your posting in a much smaller font type "tags:" and then several key words referencing your post. This will allow your post to POP to someone doing keyword searches in the forums or site. It is a trick that sites like CareerBuilder, and Monster allow recruiters to do with their postings and then they white out the keywords so they are not seen by the job seeker.

Good Luck !

Reply to This

William Thank you very much for that little piece of insight. I would like to get in touch with you and ask some other questions relating to this topic which you seems an experienced at.

_______________________
ashanjaydesigns | website design | graphic design services

Reply to This

I've had some great experiences with Artisan, get a hold of Rachel Grimm if you are a 'creative'.

Reply to This

@Chris: How long did it take you to get somewhere with Artisan? I just talked to Rachel about a week and a half to two weeks ago and haven't heard back.

@ Ashan Jay: The last permanent placement joint I just got a call from out of the blue and they had about 4 interviews lined up in a row within a week or two. It was amazing. Could have just been luck of the day. I don't know how it would work if you go to them. They hunted me down on that but it might be worth a try. They are called Damar Staffing.

But make your job decision wisely. I got kinda screwed on that deal. I do a lot of 3D work which is quite often misunderstood. This was of course the case with the job they staffed me for. I called back that agency and they said the company I worked for claimed I was continually late to work rather than just admitting that they didn't know what they were doing.

I hate to be negative about people simply being naive but in this case it cost me a good relationship with a permanent placement joint that seemed to have some good connections. Now I get the leper treatment from them. Kinda blows that someone would trash your name rather than just admit they were a bit naive about what they were getting into. Luckily most of the people who I actually get to sit down and talk with understand pretty quickly but it is a risk you must take I suppose.

The only other art staffing joint I can think of is Aquent.. I'm not sure they are still around. They have small short contracts. They are usually "art emergency" type jobs but can be good experience. I have made some good friends while on contract with them if nothing else. I'm not sure they are still around but might be worth a look.

Hope this helps!

P.S. I'm hunting in the creative field at the moment myself so if you guys find anything that you're not interested in or is not up your alley. It'd be super cool if you passed the lead my way. I'd owe you one. I'd be happy to do the same for anyone who's interested in sharing those "It's cool, but it's just not me" kinda offers in the creative industry. There is a lot of talent in Indy... gotta be someone in the group who's a fit for just about any of the jobs posted out there... just gotta make those connections!

Best of luck,
Bradley Stone
http://www.bradleystone.com

Reply to This

RSS

Groups

Forum

Justin Brady

Holiday festive fun in Indy 5 Replies

Started by Justin Brady in Non Profit: events, news, ideas. Last reply by Tracey Rollison 1 hour ago.

Amy Stark

Do you have a story about R L Stevens? 5 Replies

Started by Amy Stark in Classifieds - Help Wanted. Last reply by Amy Stark 2 hours ago.

Steph Woodward

What to Put in a Portfolio?

Started by Steph Woodward in Questions and Answers 2 hours ago.

Annie Sever-Dimitri

Boobs-N-Business 103 Replies

Started by Annie Sever-Dimitri in Questions and Answers. Last reply by Mike Magan 3 hours ago.

Pat Coyle

Iranian Governement Shuts Down Internet, but how? Why? 2 Replies

Started by Pat Coyle in Politics. Last reply by Marita Topmiller 3 hours ago.

Will Hardison

New Client Needs Help With Logo Decision 24 Replies

Started by Will Hardison in Questions and Answers. Last reply by Marita Topmiller 3 hours ago.

Will Hardison

Worship Leader Needed at Church

Started by Will Hardison in Classifieds - Help Wanted 3 hours ago.

Loree Everette

Label Printing needed - Realistic Price 1 Reply

Started by Loree Everette in Questions and Answers. Last reply by Emily Myers 4 hours ago.

Will Hardison

Can a Church use Social Media to attract new visitors? 2 Replies

Started by Will Hardison in Questions and Answers. Last reply by Amy Stark 5 hours ago.

Pat Coyle

How will EPA ruling impact America forever? 2 Replies

Started by Pat Coyle in Green Issues & Environment. Last reply by Steve Stuck 17 hours ago.

About

Pat Coyle Pat Coyle created this Ning Network.

Help

A few things to consider before joining Smaller Indiana:
1. Please use your real name (first and last) when you sign up, or we cannot open your account

2. Please do not use logos or commercial images for your profile photo

3. Events should be posted in the events calendar

4. You can post pretty much anything you want on your own personal page (self promotion, etc), and you can change the style of your personal profile page to reflect your corporate identification if you so choose.

5. Please keep all comments civil and polite. It's OK to feel strongly about a subject, and it's OK to be critical of ideas, but please refrain from personal attacks of any kind.

If you witness or experience any issues, please contact admin@smallerindiana.com and we will look into the matter.

6. Smaller Indiana is supported by its members, and by corporate sponsors. If you're interested in learning more about sponsorship, please call Pat Coyle at 317 332 7878.

© 2009   Created by Pat Coyle

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy  |  Terms of Service