Part rant, part GQ, part something else, not sure where the best home is for this one so we’ll try here. So I’ve been “between gigs” for a while and in addition to applying for every job I can find I’m registered with several staffing agencies. All of them say to call every week to get on their active placement list and to ask about assignments for the upcoming week. I’m registered for temp, short-term, long-term, temp-to-hire and direct placement for all of them, and for the last month every time I call they have no assignments. Now, I suppose that it could be that I’m such a terrible worker that they won’t place me anywhere (I certainly hope that’s not the case), but assuming that I’m not toxic, what the hell do these people do all day if they have no assignments for people? I envision staffing agency people across the nation sitting in empty offices, doing nothing all day but drinking coffee and telling people like me there’s no work, but that doesn’t strike me as being a very successful business model.
No idea. I’ve registered with a couple, and after an initial phone call from two of them, in which they said I sounded like a good candidate… nothing. WTH? At least call/email me back (I’ve tried following up with them… nothing.) to tell me that there’s nothing available for me. I’d rather have that than have them just ignore me the way they have been. Argh.
I used to be one of these people (for a manual labor kind of placement joint). They spend their day trying to sell people to clients or trying to sell their service to clients. It sucks. I hated that job. I worked on commission. I’ll never do that again.
In my experience, despite spending their days looking at resumes trying to find fits, they know fuck-all about what people actually do, and essentially have to be told by prospective employers whether or not a particular resume is a fit or not.
When Mr. S was working for a temp agency, they called people for work based on seniority with the agency (Adecco). Maybe they have too many people and not enough jobs, and you’re just too far down the list?
The ones I’m registered with assume that you’re not looking for work unless you call them to report your continued availability. In fact I’ve apparently screwed myself with one of them because I registered with them last September, right before taking a long-term assignment through another agency. Now every time I call the one the drone makes me go through the whole story of why I registered in September and am just now calling for placement. Yo, drone, update the damn computer file. Oh, and I find out this morning that another of the agencies has had transposed digits in my phone number since I signed up two months ago, so if they had tried to get in touch with me about a placement they wouldn’t have reached me.
The guy from one of the staffing agency emailed me so I assumed email was an ok form of communication, although we did talk on the phone once. I’ve emailed him back multiple times since then with no response from him at all.
I have never had this problem and they have always placed me promptly. Maybe this was a function of a stronger economy. On the other hand, maybe you have not made a good impression? Maybe one of your references was negative? I am 99% sure that what they do tell people that they have no intention of placing is “sorry, no jobs now.”
One thing you can do is ask if they have any training available that would help make you more marketable. At least around here, a lot of them have e-tutorials that allow you to certify at various levels of software proficiency. Go to their office, show you’re serious about making yourself more marketable to make you and them some money.
There are all kinds of “staffing companies”. When I first dropped out of grad school, I needed a job FAST, like the next day. I called places in Boston, went in, took some tests, and Robert Half Account temps put me in this really posh job in a white shoe trust law firm. The pay was terrible but the job was great (I worked on stock trades) and I stayed there 6 months until I got my first job in IT.
These days I have been working for consulting companies which is really just a name for high paid temps. I worked with one and my contract ended. They tried to find me something else but it bombed.
The one I work for now called me out of the blue and said they had the perfect job for me. Great rate and good company. I got the job after a brief interview and I have been here 5 months. The company is about to hire me and 2 other consultants as soon as the paperwork gets straightened out.
In all that time, I only spoke with the companies on my paycheck a handful of times. I have asked several of them how it works so I will share.
They get a large number of people on one side (people looking for work) and a large number of people on this side (employers that might have a position) and try to match them. They want as many workers in their database that they can get because that doesn’t cost them a lot. If someone doesnt have distinguishable skills, they will probably never get matched or get the crap short-term jobs. The company is only interested in what the client thinks, not you, so they will keep sending out proven workers if they can while you get ignored.
They tend to make good money because they literally have an army of people sending them pay for their work. An $8 an hour worker might get billed at $15 hour to the client. It goes up from there. A consultant like me probably gets billed at $120 an hour or so (you can’t know your own rate) and I only get a fraction of that.
It isn’t completely unfair or wasteful. You can’t really set up those kinds of jobs on your own even if you could find it (the agency takes care of paperwork and legal stuff) and comapnies get short-term labor that they wouldn’t have easy access to otherwise.
I suppose it’s possible that I didn’t make a good impression. None of them asked for references, and AFAIK none of my former employers do anything other than verify employment dates. One of the agencies has placed me in permanent jobs twice before, and the last time I worked with them the VP of the company remembered me from the time before, which was something like five years previously.
Coincidentally that same agency returned my call a couple of hours ago and are telling me they have several possible placements for me. I go in to meet with them Monday to review everything and, one hopes, place me somewhere.
I tried to find work through some agencies in the past with little or no follow-up on their part. Now I work at one, so I see the other side.
This company has clients that it has established through years in the business, contacts, referrals from other clients, etc. They also do some networking & advertising in trade publications to try to attract new clients. But they don’t do cold-calls.
The agency works for the clients, not for the employees (temps). The employees are the “product” that the agency needs to sell, and always needs a supply of good candidates for openings that come up, but they don’t create openings.
Yes, there are certain people who call in available every week like clockwork and have never been placed. They are not told they won’t be placed, because the agency doesn’t want to get sued. But some people don’t test high enough for basic job skills. Some have poor appearance (dress, grooming, etc.) - suggestions are made, but usually that first impression is a killer. Some people have poor people skills or attitude (whiny, too passive, etc.). Some people have get bad references from former employers - and we do check. Some people ask for too much money, won’t work in certain locations, or set other restrictions that brand them “difficult.” I’ve seen too many people that don’t even look the interviewer in the eye, or slouch in her chair - they just don’t make a good impression for whatever reason. We don’t want to be represented to our clients by some of these people!
What do the recruiters do all day? Look at tons & tons of resumes, take calls for openings from clients, make calls to applicants to fill openings, take calls from clients and applicants to answer various questions & concerns, interview new applicants, read trade publications to keep up on the latest trends/issues/regulations in staffing, handle administrative duties (paperwork, data entry, etc.), scan Monster, Craig’s List, etc., for resumes, answer mail, etc., etc. Sure, they have some down time. So do I (I’m here, right? - and I’m accounting, and I’m damned efficient at my job). So do lots of people in other professions.
Employment trends vary by region, industry, and a lot of other factors. Some agencies are better than others. Maybe some do know “fuck-all”, and others (especially those who specialize) know a great deal. YMMV.
Otto - I’m glad things are looking up!
You need to call them at least every other day, not once a week. And ring them - don’t use email.
They’ve advised me that they don’t want calls more than once a week. From what I can gather they go through their listings on Fridays. They’ve said the best time to call is Friday before noon.