Job Hunting - Should I Use an Employment Agency?
By Marie Duffoo
Having owned an employment agency (South FLA Staffing and National
Affordable Staffing) and a nanny agency (Sitters to Go) for years (up till
2007), I can say first hand that many agencies provide some valuable
services to job seekers of all levels and qualifications. Usually.
However, as the economy goes bottoms up, many things occur. Employment
agencies frequently suffer. Many go out of business and others become so
inundated with resumes and applications that they can't keep up with the
work load. Their reputations suffer, and applicants are happy to complain at
the poor service or lack of response of any kind.
Using an agency will have different results in different economies for
different people, as we shall learn here.
For the larger well established agencies, regular clients who are in a
position to hire will usually choose to use an agency for one major reason:
they know that every job opening will result in hundreds of applications
from mostly unqualified applicants. They prefer to spend the money on an
agency fee in exchange for the agency handling all applicants, interviews,
screening, interview scheduling, vetting, etc.
Job markets have bear economies and bull economies. Staffing agencies go
with the flow. When there are many jobs and fewer applicants, agencies will
try to force you into interviewing for jobs you aren't interested in and
really aren't qualified for. They are doing everything possible to fill the
job orders they have and get paid. In that type of environment, their major
concern is satisfying the client and making money. The applicants are
nothing more than a means to an end. Collateral.
In an economy where there are more applicants than jobs, agencies are pretty
useless. They are probably understaffed and can't handle the influx of
candidates submitting applications and resumes for jobs that are advertised,
and even worse - just blindly emailing, faxing and submitting via websites,
resumes in the hopes that there might be jobs in the future.
Have you wondered why you aren't getting responses to even jobs that exist?
They are either too busy, or worse case, your resume is poorly presented and
/ or your cover letter doesn't provide enough beneficial information to
entice someone to call you back.
When the average response rate is 1 out of 100 for who gets responses, it
should be obvious fairly quickly that employment agencies work in their best
interests, not yours. Don't put your faith in an agency when you know there
are few jobs.
Even when you are responding to a particular position an agency has
advertised, companies have their pick. It's like the lobster tank at Red
Lobster - it's tough to choose the one to best fit your needs. So what
happens? Probably nothing. Is the best candidate always hired? Probably not.
In today's economy, unless you see a particular job posted by a well known
agency, and you are more than 100% certain you possess all the
qualifications to be considered, and you honestly believe your resume and
cover letter are perfect, only then should you submit your information to
the agency, and reasonably wait for a response.
Competition is fierce. Do not waste someone's time asking them to review
your qualifications when you know you don't have what the company is looking
for. This is actually for your own good, for two reasons: you aren't setting
yourself up for disappointment, and you aren't waiting needlessly for a
response you'll probably never receive.
As the saying goes, "Every man for himself..." Contact companies that are
hiring and ignore the middle man. At least for now.
URL:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2711817/job_hunting_should_i_use_an _employment.
html?cat=31
