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Author Topic: Parasite Recruitment Agencies are killing the construction industry  (Read 16104 times)

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BobTB

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The first question to ask yourself is: What do recruitment agencies actually do?
That is, apart from taking an unbelievably high fee for very little and helping create an unstable employment environment.

If you have ever wondered why your new home has been badly built or why construction projects are rarely completed on time and on budget, by all means blame the companies concerned.  They have probably all used the dubious services of recruitment agencies (RAs) to recruit key managers in critical positions, as a result more experienced better-qualified people are often excluded during the process. In addition, many really capable and motivated managers may not apply because the fees charged by the RA adversely affect the stated salary on offer.

In this highly competitive market sector, nearly every recruitment agency (RA) will resort to underhand and unethical methods to obtain business for their firm. They act as parasites, a flea on the back of a flea, scavenging off each other and fleecing a construction industry they purport to service. Like seagulls on a rubbish tip fighting over scraps, they call each company every few days seeking out vacancies and exclusive deals. Use them once and they and others will keep coming back for more.

When will building companies and their shareholders wake up to the vast sums paid out in fees unnecessarily to the numerous RAs that claim to specialise in the construction sector? The RA's business must depend on their knowledge of the needs of their client's business and the skills and experience of the staff they are seeking to employ. Why do they send lists of CVs of QSs when what is needed is a capable site manager? Why do they apparently have difficulty with spelling and grammar? "If this candidate can be of assistants..." The RA consultant's knowledge of construction is scant at best, picked up 'on the hoof' over a period of time. It is a rarity if they have ever worked in the building industry and as such, they cannot have any detailed understanding of the requirements of each job discipline and the precise, specialist experience and key strengths that are required.

Anyone looking for work in the building industry should be aware of the many underhand methods currently being used by RAs.

Information is power
RAs only call you to find out information. They may say they have a job that may interest you but within a week the vacancy will suddenly be put "on hold" or "filled internally".

Requests for references: RAs do not need these. Indeed, if every RA took up a candidate's references their referees would soon get fed up. The reason they ask for references is because the RA want to know the names and phone numbers of your old bosses so they can cold call them. They also say, "who did you work for at Persimmon was it John Brown?" You say, "No it was Chris Knowle".  Now they have the name of the contact at your old company.

The RA will ask you about companies your CV has been sent to under the pretence that they don't want to send the CV again and "annoy the client". If you tell the RA they will then know who is looking for staff and they will be able to put their own candidates forward in competition to you. They will ask you if you have had any interviews and with which company for the similar reasons. They want leads!

Vacancies that do not exist
RAs frequently place jobs that don't exist on online job boards such as Total Jobs. They are only seeking to get extra CVs to increase their own database. After you have applied and they have your CV you will never hear from them. If you contact them (and they reply - a rarity) they will just say that the job has gone. CVs have a value and are often traded. Your CV will contain a lot of personal information about you. Be very selective where you send it. The more experienced job seeker will be able to spot the same fake job being posted by different RAs over a number of months.

Vacancies that are not in the stated location
It is usual for agencies to be vague about exactly where the job is based. This means the RA's "Vacancy" will be seen in more searches if they put "South East" rather than just "London" or even Luton for that matter.

Exaggerated salary
The stated salaries are always on the top end of reality. If the RA state £40k to £45k for example you may later discover this includes essential benefits such as company car or car allowance. You may even be told that the job board's system didn't allow the RA to state the correct salary being offered. The larger the salary range stated the more often the "vacancy" will come up in job seeker's searches.

Interviews
Even if you are lucky enough to get an interview through an RA it does not necessarily mean the job exists now.  You may be invited so the employer can see "who's out there" as they are hopeful of winning contracts in a few months time. Indeed the "vacancy" could even be a temporary position working via the RA and not permanent employment at all. You could also find that your salary requirements and experience are more than the vacancy requires. In all these cases you will have wasted your time and expense.

Never call the RA after an interview; wait for them to call you. They will be eager to learn "how it went". After speaking to you they will call the employer. If you have been successful the RA will then try and broker a job offer acting as a middleman between you and the employer, trying to get you to accept the lowest possible salary. The RA can then justify their fees to the employer, the RA's client. If you have been unsuccessful you will never hear from the RA again.
When you are unsuccessful after an interview that the RA arranged, they will say they'll look for other jobs for you, but they won't. RAs don't like people who don't succeed at interviews for them.

Churning
RAs love churning.  This is where a vacancy is filled at client A by someone leaving client B.  The RA fills a vacancy that then creates another vacancy and so on. This means that RAs will always give preference to those currently employed - it creates business. The RA will then be in pole position to advertise and fill the vacancy they have created at client B. It has even been known for RAs to contact the successful candidate at his new job after six months and encourage him to apply for other jobs.

Anyone who is currently out of work perhaps through redundancy, has no chance of finding a job via an RA with the exception of immediate requirements or temporary freelancing.

There may be one or two good RAs serving the construction industry. In 35 years experience as both client and candidate, I have not found any. The RAs give their own industry a bad name, spoil their relationship with house builders and contractors, and conduct their business through underhand methods. Is it not time general contractors and house builders in particular, stopped using RAs and started to use their own HR departments, after all isn't recruitment one of their main functions?

Luckily for the RAs genuine vacancies hardly ever get onto the employer's own website. With the use of corporate entertainment and expense account long lunches, the RAs get to know about any vacancy at a very early stage. They promise to help their client - often a management-deficient, easily flattered, ex-trades inexperienced construction manager, find the "best candidate" saving him time and all the trouble of dealing with 100's of applications in return for a fee. After all, in a construction downturn and the worst recession in a generation, these "busy" managers have so much to do, we can only wonder how they managed in the boom years!

As one RA consultant once said, "it is a good job those in the building industry are inherently lazy, otherwise we wouldn't have a business"

The Site Manager's View


Philofacts

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Re: Parasite Recruitment Agencies are killing the construction industry
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2012, 10:59:05 am »
I share your views Bob regarding recruitment agencies in house building and construction.
Basically I believe the problem is there are just too many. 
It is also too easy for someone to set up on their own after working for a large agency - all that is needed is a website a spare room and the database!
It is always better to avoid the smaller agencies, those that have the name or initials of the agency firm the same as the contact name.
Better still apply direct to the house builders. If you do get the job it may have a higher salary as no agency fees are involved.

It is great to have an insight into the murky world of Recruitment Agencies!
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Losttheplot

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Re: Parasite Recruitment Agencies are killing the construction industry
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2012, 08:26:05 am »
All recruitment agencies take money out of any company that uses them.
This will either result in reduced profits or increased prices.
I have also long suspected that the salaries offred to those who do manage to get a job via an agency are lower than they would have been had it been filled in a traditional way.
The agency's huge fee is considered when deciding on the salary offered.