Recruitment agents - friend or foe?

Hhmm - I am not entirely sure on the response to this question but currently am veering towards the foe sided response.

Having just completed week 3 of my hunt for work, I have seen more recruitment agents than you can shake a stick at. Looking for potential roles in marketing role (where I have traditionally worked) and ones in charity fundraising (a potential career I would like to move into) - I have 2 CV's. This means that I have to post applications to 2 sets of recruitment agents.

Not being wet behind the ears, I fully appreciate that agents ultimately need strong candidates to field to their employers and they earn lots of dosh for placing you in the process.

What I have learnt about recruiters?

Just because they call you in all excited to "come in for a chat", it doesn't actually mean that they have a potential role for you.

A few have actually interviewed me and then said "we have no roles for you. However, can you name your old employers competitors and then I can approach them on your behalf?". This line has happened quite a few times and worries me immensely as follows:

1. As a specialist recruiter in professional services I would expect you to know my previous firms competitors - esp as they were a large well established firm.
2. If you don't know that part of the market, you obviously would not have firmly established contacts in that firm. Where exactly would you be adding value to my job search? I am happy for them to approach competitors where they do have established relationships though as it may be beneficial. But I do object to them wanting to use my CV as a way to get their foot into new potential hirers. This smacks of them being desperate for new jobs and using any means they deem necessary to find new contacts in a fiercely competitive market place.
   
3. As a seasoned marketer I would hope that I had the skills and capabilities to approach the immediate competitor firms directly, if it's something that I want to explore.

Don't get me wrong there have been some lovely knowledgeable ones along the way who I am keeping in touch with on a regular basis. They give constructive feedback about your CV, know the market and understand what it is that I am really after. They're the ones who I am happy to put me forward for roles. Also, they're the ones that I will go to when I do have a job and am looking to hire new staff.

Are Job centres the most depressing place on earth?

The answer is yes they are. The fact that entering a new job centre now feels as if you're entering a closely guarded fortress doesn't do much to enhance the user experience.

It's been 2 full weeks since I have been officially looking for a job. One thing for sure is that it is a lot harder than it seems. There are still jobs out there but competition is fierce and it really is a case of having to put the hours in.

The last time I had the pleasure of signing on was 8 years ago when I was a young fresh faced marketing grad looking for her first proper job. It would have been nice to say that in those 8 intermittent years that our job centre service had grown and continuously developed but that would be lying. What we have, in the main, is a creaking system that is quite frankly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people now looking for work and a series of people who are just there to tick boxes. My first time of signing on was on Weds and I obviously didn't know what to do. Was there anyone to help me - oh no. So I ended up standing around like a lemon for quite some time until the man behind the desk told me that I was supposed to put my signing on book onto his desk.

In the end I waited around for half an hour to be seen. The man behind the desk had been quite rude to most people prior to me but when I got there he began to flirt with me. I was slightly taken aback, "where's your name from?" - he enquired. He even made a joke about the date being 2010 then called me "sharp" when I said "I think you mean it's 2009!". Anyway, I signed and left as soon as I could. Till next time.

Why Am I Here?

As a recently made redundant marketeer, I've kicked off my search for work this week. Yippeee - at least the sun is out so I can hang out in my garden too. I figured this blog would be good way to chronicle my steps towards finding that all important next role. Why am I doing this you may ask? Well it's a way to keep my mind entertained - being unemployed can get rather boring rather quickly plus I figure there are many others out there in a similar predicament so it'll be reassurring to know that you're not alone.