Employment agencies

One tool that you can use to help you in your job search is an employment agency. Both private and public employment agencies are there to act as a go between for workers and employers. Here is a look at the types of services that employment agencies have to offer:

• Find jobs for people who are unemployed
• Recruit qualified candidates for companies that are looking for specific qualifications in their employees
• Work with employers to find enough people to staff either full or part time positions

If you plan to use an employment agency to help you get your next job you need to remember that, they are the eyes and ears for potential employers. Therefore, you want to look and act as professionally as possible because you are making your first impression and it is an important one.

Here are some tips that you can follow to make sure you get the most out of an employment agency.

Tip one:
Make sure that you know and understand the differences between employment agencies and outplacement agencies, even though the terms are often used interchangeably. With an outplacement agency, you pay them a fee, or a corporation can pay the fee for you so that you are being sponsored. After they receive the fee, they will conduct job campaigns for you. With an employment agency recruit individuals and then market those individuals to employers who might be able to use their skills. In most cases, the fees are paid by the employer once a full time job has been filled. On occasion fees are sometimes charged to the individuals, usually only when temporary work is involved.

Tip two:
Look closely at the classifieds each week. You want to avoid using an employment agency that is running the same ads week after week. The reason for this is that this shows that the employment agency is simply stockpiling resumes for future use rather than obtaining resumes from clients for immediate job placement.

Tip three:
Watch out for jobs that sound too good to be true, chances are that the job does not exist. Many times employment agencies will use promises that sound good to get people to use their agency; it is just a marketing tactic.

Tip four:
Ask for specific job information. Any reputable company will be able to tell you over the telephone about the location of the job, the skills that are required, how much experience you need, the size of the firm, and the starting salary. Do not expect employment agencies to give you the name of the firm at this point. They will not do this because it protects them from you going and applying for the job without them, which means they will lose money. If the employment agency will not tell you the basics do not waste your time, move on to a different company.

Tip five:
Only go after the jobs that have the fee paid for by the employer. Do not go after the jobs that require you to pay the fee. The reason for this is that you will end up having to pay 15 to 30 percent of your annual salary from the job that you got through them. Moreover, they get that much of your salary for only doing about three hours of work to locate you the job.

Tip six:
Never sign a contract if you have not read everything carefully, including the fine print. The fine print is what is going to say what will happen in certain cases, such as you not liking the job or something else. If you sign the contract without reading the fine print, you are going to be bound by anything that it says. Ask for a copy of the contract so that you can take it to a professional to get their opinion before you sign it, if the agency will not give you one simply takes your business elsewhere.

Tip seven:
Make sure that the job that you originally wanted is still available or that it actually exists. If the agency refuses to verify this information go to another agency. In addition to that, you will also want to file a compliant with your local consumer protection agency.

Tip eight:
Before you go and see an employer for an interview, you need to have detailed information about the job position. This will help you prepare for the interview and not look foolish when the employer asks if you can handle all aspects of the job, including something you were never aware of. No matter what an agency tells you, you have every right to obtain a written copy of the job description.

Tip nine:
Watch out for employment agencies that schedule many interviews for the job seekers. Most of the time what these people are doing is scheduling numerous interviews for the person, regardless of if they have the skills needed or not to do the job. The thought process behind this is that they need to get you a job and any job will do because once they get you a job they will have earned their placement commission.

Tip ten:
Some placement specialists will tell you not to be so fussy when it comes to a job. Alternatively, that in a tough economy any job is better than no job. Do not let them talk you into doing something that you do not want to do. Sure, a job can be a job, but are you looking for anything or are you trying to launch your career? This type of pressure is used just so they can get their commission.

Tip eleven:
Use more than one agency so that you can have access to more roles, and you will be exposed to a broader range of potential employers. When using more than one agency be sure to tell the other agencies that you are working with them. When using multiple agencies make sure that you sign up with at least one local agency. Local agencies have a stronger local network than regionally agencies; they also tend to work harder for their candidates because they usually have less people in their databases.

Tip twelve:
If you are looking for a job in a specific industry, do not limit yourself to only using agencies that specialize in that industry sector. Register with at least one or two generalist agencies. The reason for this is that they might have some local clients within the industry you are looking at. Moreover, generalist agencies charge a smaller fee, so that makes you an even more attractive candidate to a potential employer.

Tip thirteen:
When giving an employment agency your resume or curriculum vita make sure that you proofread it for both spelling and grammar errors. If you hand in one that is full of errors you are sending the message that you do not pay attention to detail, which for potential employers does not look good. Moreover, while the employment agency should not rewrite your resume or curriculum vita they can give you advice on how it can be improved.

Tip fourteen:
Your first interview is going to be with the employment agency and you want to take this interview seriously. The reason for this is that the employment agency is going to be referring you to their clients for a job, so their reputations are on the line. If you blow the interview, they will not refer you to other jobs or they might tell their clients about the reservations that they have of you as an employee. Treat this interview as you would treat a regular job interview, you always want to make a good first impression.

Tip fifteen:
Avoid having to cancel your interview with the employment agency. Doing it once is considered acceptable, but if you cancel the interview, twice you will most likely not get another chance at getting an interview. Employment agencies will keep a record of your interviews for up to one year, so cancelling your interviews can harm your chances of using that agency for a long time. If you do have to cancel make sure you have a great reason.

Tip sixteen:
While employment agencies would love to keep in regular contact with you, the chances are good that the only time they will contact you are when a job opening that suits you comes up. The reason for this is that they have so many other people in their database that it is impossible for them to give you that close of attention. Instead, you need to keep in regular contact with them. All you have to do is email or call the employment agency every week or two. This will let them know that you are still looking for a job, and it keeps you at the front of their minds, which increases the chances of them thinking of you when a job opens up.

Like recruiters employment agencies should only be one of the tools that you are using in your job search. So finding the right employment agency is an important process.