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Staffing Agency Monogamy?
Thanatos
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I'm job-hunting, and I threw my resume up at Monster.com. I've gotten a few companies calling me for specific positions, and a few others who are calling me just to want me to staff for one of their clients in the future (I have pretty marketable skills). Is it considered a faux pas for me to go to more than one of these agencies? Are they expecting me to stick to just them? Or am I fine for basically calling back every one that sounds promising?
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In my experience, some staffing agencies will have a clause in their contract that states that you can't be "employed" by another staffing agency. You should probably check with each if this is the case when calling them back. If that's the case with most or all of them, you'll have to pick the one that you think will give you the best shot at getting a good job.
Is it considered a faux pas for me to go to more than one of these agencies?
It is expected that you will likely apply to more than one agency.
Are they expecting me to stick to just them? Or am I fine for basically calling back every one that sounds promising?
Until you accept an assignment from one of them, feel free to play the field. However, they will expect you to complete an assignment for the agreed upon term.
The one that ended up being really awesome called me at like 8:00am one morning and the convo went something like this:
Agency: "Hi, we saw your resume on Monster.com and we were wondering if you would like to come in and have an interview with us!"
Me: "Um... sure. But I'm kind of already interviewing with another."
Agency: "Oh, that's fine! We actually suggest that people use at least three different agencies during their job search!"
They ended up getting me an interview with a company within a week and I was hired by that company a few days later. Hell, the agency even redid my resume for me.
So feel free to shop around. But remember that you should call back at least once a week to remind them that you are still looking. And when you find a job, just make sure to let them know. Some places take you off their "actively searching" list if they don't hear from you in a week. Others keep you on the list until they hear otherwise.
I strongly recommend not only using more than one, but using as many as is humanly possible. Approach the process like you are a customer, and they are "selling jobs". Make them give you a range so you can choose. Make it clear that if they can't find exactly what you want, you have interviews at three other agencies that day and five more tomorrow.
P.S. I have a fucking fantastic job now.
And as far as I can tell they cannot tell if you do.
It's definitely ok to be working with multiple staffing agencies. That same agency is usually submitting 2-10 other people (depending on the job and how many people the end company want to talk to) for that same job along with you. You'll also find at times they'll be trying to sell you on the job as much as you are trying to find a job.
After you take a job they'll tell you that you're expected to work the full term of the contract. In reality, you don't have to, but depending on the situation you're usually better off doing so. A short term contract it's usually best to wait out even if you don't like it. At the same time the better recruiters realize that you can't turn down a full time direct hire position which will keep you stably employed for years just to finish out your temporary contract. The general attitude towards this situation that I've had and have seen from recruiters is "Don't actively look for something new until close to the end of the contract, but if someone happens to call you with an offer anyway, go for it." And the ones who don't understand that? Well, fuck them.
Many times they are also open ended, long term, contracts. I've done a few of these. One of them lasted just over 2 years at which point the company decided to end all open ended contracts and go to 1 year contracts and let a ton of people go. The second was around 1 1/2 years and I left because I had been offered a direct hire position. I basically treat these open ended contracts like a normal job. Go in, work as usual, but if things start going downhill I start looking elsewhere. These companies can and will get rid of you at any time that it's a better benefit for them to do so than keep you so treat them the same.
I've found that the smaller firms are usually better in terms of how they treat you on both a personal level and as an employee. They also tend to have fewer jobs as they are smaller and frequently are primarily higher level positions (although it sounds like that may not be a problem for you). There are bigger national chains such as Tek Systems, Apex Systems, etc. These places frequently have a ton of positions covering a wide range of skill and experience levels, which is nice, but I find they frequently also don't give a shit about you. They'll get you in the first job they can for as cheap as they can even if it's a job you'll hate so that they can start billing the company asap. The benefits usually suck, you have to fight tooth and nail for raises on long term contracts, and the recruiters are frequently no better than the stereotypical used car salesman. That's not always the case, I've worked with a couple recruiters at the large chains who are excellent, but I've worked with more who just wanted to toss me in the first phone support job that came along because I had years of phone support and was pretty much guaranteed the job as long as I watered down my last few jobs to sound less technical (yes, they asked me to do that).
Keep in mind that the recruiters will also have varying knowledge to be able to judge your ability to do a job. I've worked with recruiters who were ex-IT people who went to being a recruiter for more money, I've met IT recruiters who were still interested in IT and even took some one off networking and programming classes so that they'd have a clue, and I've worked with recruiters who "specialized" in back end web development positions who didn't know what CGI was when they saw it on my resume.
I'd say submit your info to as many as possible, and then you ought to have multiple assignments being offered to you, and you can pick the best one.
One made me sign that I wouldn't go to another agency.
Of course, I did anyway.
Fire you from the work they aren't giving you?
I worked for one too - This is the way it is. And... actually... no thats it. I'm sure they'll make you feel bad about it - but thats the game you play.