I have to admit this – I hate employment agencies, with a passion. They never answer your phone calls and are never straight with you in answering your questions. But, they can be a good way to add another set of eyes so to speak, in helping you find jobs that normally aren’t posted on any job sites. Often, companies strictly work with employment agencies instead of posting jobs on the internet or in newspapers so that these employment agencies will do a lot of the leg work in sorting through good candidates while keeping their identity concealed. I will talk more about employment agencies and their dirty tricks and tactics they use.

Tip: DO NOT – DO NOT, rely strictly on employment agencies to find you a job. Otherwise, you will be dead in the water after spending months waiting to hear from them and then if you don’t hear from them, mainly because they have passed on your resume, you’ll have to start from the beginning in finding a job and you’ll have wasted two months of doing nothing! Apply and register and then act as if you never registered with them.

Make sure when you are trying to find an employment agency to register with, they have some experience in placing people in your line of work. When you register with an employment agency, you’ll have to submit to them your resume and then you will schedule a time to meet with them and take their various tests which include taking a, accounting, excel, and general math and reading aptitude test. Most employment agencies will gladly take your resume and most likely will want to meet with you to put the face to the resume and get an idea of what you are looking for in a job.

Tip: Ask the employment agency before your interview if they validate for parking. If they don’t, then don’t park in their building (unless it’s free), because usually it will cost a premium (due to most employment agencies being located downtown) and typically, the interview and test will last for two in a half to three hours long. Also, don’t park along the road at a meter because they usual expire after two hours. Make sure you dress professionally and guys wear a suit to these interviews. Last, DO NOT USE Google Maps to get directions. Google maps is consistently incorrect with the location and often, it does not reflect current information about a company’s address. I have a personal experience about this that I will share to you later. Your best method to get directions is to speak with the receptionist of the company when you call for directions. Try to also find the building you think the company is in and call the building tenant to verify if that company is in the building.

Here is what you can expect when you interview with the person at the agency. First, you will fill out their application which is about 3-4 pages long with detail questions about every place you work. Tip: on the application itself, it will ask you for how much you make, always fudge this part cause they will never know the truth! This way, it shows how your experience level and it might give you a better pay for your next job.

Next they will have you take an assessment test. The test will be tailored if you are seeking a career in computers, accounting, finance, office clerical, etc. This test takes about an hour so, so that is why you don’t want to be parking at a meter, which is only good for an hour or two.

Last, don’t forget to write an email to your interviewer thanking them for their time and that you are eager to work with them for whatever job position they may have. I have provided some links to some helpful resume resources in writing quality and effective resumes. I have purchase 2 out of the 3 links provided.

Again though, do not put your hopes and dreams on the person you spoke to about helping you land a job. Remember that this person probable gets about 100 resumes a day if not thousands per week. I will discuss further in another posts, the down and dirty secrets of employment agencies.

http://www.yournewcareer09.com

Image taken on 2009-04-16 10:43:08. Image Source. (Used with permission)