For those of you out there with experience with temping agencies… I got placed via an agency this time last year. Quit the job 30 days later. Not without discussing it ad naseum with my rep. I am again looking for a job. Can I go back there? Or would that just be a waste of my time? Did I screw them? Beyond this very unfortunate experience, I really liked them.
(I’ve been on a long-term temp assignment with another agency since then.)
Also, if anyone would like to recommend a good temp/placement agency in Chicago for admins, that would be great. I know of a few good ones, but any recommendations you have would be excelente.
Yeah, but I’m pretty sure that the fee was refunded because I was there only 30 days. So that’s my concern, or why I think I may have inadvertently screwed them.
The way I read the OP, niblet_head was working at the company as a temp. If this assumption is correct, and you gave proper notice prior to leaving - no harm done. If you didn’t give proper notice, then you damaged your own reputation both with the agency and the client.
If you were paced there as a perm employee by the agency, they would have received a flat placement fee from the client for their service. Depending upon their contractual agreement, they may have had to refund the fee, or the client may have just gotten folked. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t expect a very warm reception on trying to return.
As for agency recommendations, I’m not that familiar with the administrative/clerical agencies. The ones I have experience with were technical.
In my opinion, the temp service will blacklist you. Now, if you have some specialized skills and they’re trying to find someone with those skills, you’ll be ok. Otherwise, I’d try another agency. During times of higher unemployment, temp services will blacklist people for any reason they can.
You probably screwed yourself, but you can go back and put your name in.
It depends, did you do a lot of other work for the agency? Were you generally dependable, well qualified and clients liked you? A track record and only one screw up might keep you from being blacklisted, especially if you have a good excuse for no notice.
Or you might get lucky and the temp agency may have never made a note in your file and no one will remember.
Not exactly true. Blacklisting candidates is not a legal practice. What is legal for the agency to do is make note in the employee’s file of any problems that happened and then make future employment decisions based on past results. While they don’t “look for any reason they can” you certainly can’t blame them for not wanting to put a problem or high maintenance case back out on a job.
Temp agencies change personnel often too. I have found after a year or so you can go back and things will be rosy, as long as they think they can place you somewhere. If you screw them over 2 or 3 times, then yeah, you probably need to look elsewhere.
It really depends on the agency. I don’t hesitate to test the waters with an agency I have “left” before. If they give you the cold shoulder, or play smart-ass about things (as some are known to do, seeing how these temp agencies hire a lot of “used car salesmen” types), then just look elsewhere.
Well, they did permanently place me. At a job that was well-known for running thru admins because the boss was Satan Himself.
Before I resigned, I talked to my rep at the agency about it multiple times along with trying very hard to work things out at the co. I did give two weeks notice (so actually, I was there 6 weeks altogether). Since then I’ve been in a long-term assignment with another agency. I’m certainly not high-maintenance!
