Employment Agencies – How Effective Are They?

Employment Agencies – how effective are they? (Article published in Today’s Voices – 12 June)

Written By: Gilbert Goh

I have seeked out employment agency’s services for jobs but so far they are disappointing to say the least. Some who bothered to respond always ask you to lower your salary range to ridiculous level or check whether you are willing to do something totally different. Most offered part time clerical work at around $5.00 an hour at that time. Many simply do not respond to you at all after asking you to send your resume. Even if you attend their interviews, many simply do not get back to you unless necessary. To me, employment agencies here all lack the personal touch and professionalism. They merely are interested to get the sales done up oblivious to the feelings of the jobseekers. As employment agencies are all very hung up on sales many employment consultants move on when they could not cope with the sales target and there is also no continuity of service here. One can often get a few consultants serving us over a short period of three to four months.

In Australia, employment agencies all operate very differently. They will email you back if you have any enquiry and will keep you updated on anything that matters to you.  They will also call you back if you have left behind a message on their answering machine. Their service is top notch and very personalised. I feel that they have my interest at heart. The same can’t be said of our own agencies.

The recruitment consultants here are mostly in their 20s and could hardly empathisize with those jobless workers who are in their middle-aged. They also could not understand the struggles a middle-aged worker has and could be insensitive when they coerce someone to go for another field of work totally different from his experience. AS their salary is tied to the correct matching of a potential jobseeker to company’s staffing, it is not surprising to see that a jobseeker is being treated as a figure rather than a person. Maybe there are too many jobseekers then and too few jobs available for matching. I am not sure but so far I do not have good impression of recruitment agents.

A majority of them also do not bother to reply or respond to your email and you are often left wondering whether you are being selected or not for any job interview. Messages are also left unanswered on the answering message. There is simply no service or lousy service if any.

It is timely perhaps for employment agencies to provide a more professional service to prospective job seekers out there. For starter, a formatted response should be provided for each email to any job opening. This is only rightful and is pure simple professional courtesy. Most simply do not respond and you wonder whether your email to job openings are received or not. After a few months, I have given up totally on relying on employment agencies for jobs.

Some recruiters who asked me into their office for interviews also were distasteful and unprofessional. They were dressed shabbily and some even in jeans. With the mushrooming of small recruitment agencies in town area, this industry certainly needs a shaking up so that job seekers do not waste time sending emails and going for unfruitful interview.

However there was one positive experience I had with a lady recruiter from a small recruitment company. Not only did she exhibited understanding and provided encouragement to me, she also took time to go through my resume and suggested some changes to it so that it appeared more professional in outlook. Though she did not managed to get me a job, I remembered her after all these years as she is the rare few that stood out from the many recruiters who did their job stoically but bereft of any emotions and compassion.

As I wrote all this based on my personal experience, some people out there may have a more positive experience from recruitment agencies than me. I am also not here to run down all employment agencies. I am sure some are well run and are professional in how they discharge their duties. I urge all job seekers to try all resources before they decide which ones are the more reliable vehicles for them to use when they job search. Remember to spread your resources around so that you can reap from several job search vehicles.

When you look back at the anguish, suffering, and traumas in your life, you will see that these are the periods of biggest growth. Many years later, you will be able to look back and see the positive things – togetherness in your family and faith that came out of your pain. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

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