...in thinking that recruitment consultants

[TheUsefulSuspect]

are all twats?

Got to be the most pathetic useless, unhelpful cretins to walk the face of the earth?

Oh dear, sounds like they have given you a hard time. Can you elaborate?

Chris Evans once said they were "vermin".

I was one at the time. Would never go back to it. Very hard people. You are just a commodity to them.

as a former rec cons myself, i feel qualified to say that YANBU!

Not me of course, i was wonderful, but the arses you're describing are the reason i'm a 'former'!!!!

i've met (and worked) for some nice ones and some not so nice ones.

tis true steelfairy, tis the work of satan's spawn.. Hateful job! :-)

As another former, I'm guessing they either haven't got you a job, have told you they won't even try to get you a job, or have tried to persuade you to take one for less than you think you're worth?

I used to be a recruitment consultant, and hated myself for the whole time I was one (which wasn't very long). YANBU.

most of them do not get paid

A few months after leaving my job as a Rec Cons I signed up with another agency to find temp work as I was leaving the city quite soon. The manager asked me to come to work for her as a consultant and almost bit me when I said I didn't want to ever do recruitment consulting again. She was just so incredibly aggressive and having worked at a number of agencies I would say that she was representative of the majority of managers of recruitment agencies. Horrible, horrible job.

The ones I have encountered are such bullsh*tters and some of their recruit,ment methods are questionable ...

I don't know if this is relevant, but it has usually been in spite of the recruiters that I have got work ...

Details please, groundhogs.

And how do you tell a good recruitment consultant from a crap one?

I am currently look for a job, I just get the impression that they would rather sit in a quiet office all day and do sod all rather than do the job they are paid to do.

I appreciate the job market isn't the best at the moment, but I have a lot of skills from previous roles.

I have said I am not overly fussed regarding money, location or hours, just looking to get back to work.

Truth be told I am just bored of being at home!!

or get a really crappy basic salary so have to be very cold and aggressive to make commission.

They are without principle. eg when I moved jobs when working in the City - asked the recruitment consultant not to send my CV to certain banks and he promised he wouldn't. Got a call a few days later from a friend who worked at one of those banks and had seen my CV being passed around....

Never trust one. (And never trust a journalist either - you are not a person you are a potential story.

I have been one and indeed am one (own business).

So erm, YABU!

That said, in certain sectors they are more cutthroat than others and any that are sat on their arse not trying to get commission are obviously paid too high a basic salary or simply jaded.

Could be that you just need a bit more work to find the right role and they just want to make a quick buck (know of lots of ex-colleagues/competitors who are facing redundancy).

What do you mean Angryfrom Manchester that most of them do not get paid? Most of them get paid VERY well. I have worked for a recruitment consultancy before, though chose not to take the rec con role itself.

It's a sales job at the end of the day, not a job for people who love the nice fuzzy feeling they get when finding someone a new job.

I have been a travel agent, travel agents are nastier than recruitment consultants, much nastier.

A necessary evil mostly.

One once sent me the cv of a girl who was working for me at the time. How incompetent can you get? Fortunately I knew she was looking elsewhere, we had a good relationship, but imagine if I didn't and we didn't!

I now feel guilty having posted that they are a necessary evil. I have actually known and worked with several very nice helpful ones, as a client employer though rather than a candidate.

well they only get paid commission

or my freelance friend does (and she is lovely)

YABU - Estate Agents are the most pathetic useless, unhelpful cretins to walk the face of the earth.....closely followed by recruitment consultants!!

All Zoo Keepers are into Bestiality

All Secretaries want to shag their bosses

The above sweeping statements are obviously false and ridiculous.

But hey, keep on, thanks a lot

I am a rec cons and I hope that my clients and candidates don't think I am a useless cretin

I also accept that there are many cowboys out there and many high street agencies giving us a bad name.

The pay they get is usually a very low basic, so it's in their interest to place as many people as possible so as to earn commision.

I suspect it applies even more now than in my day, but clients don't expect to pay a fee for the privilege of sifting through hundreds of cvs from people who 'just want a job' - they can use the local press for that.
In fact, they often see the use of an agency as a chance to be ever more picky, even down to seemingly ridiculous things such as experience of specific software.

A good consultant will talk the client around this, but only if she has someone she absolutely knows to be the A1 candidate for the job - it's her neck on the line if she cocks up.

This candidate might be you one day, but if you don't have recent and relevant experience backed up by references it's unlikely to be.

So I think yabu, but maybe at the moment an agency is the wrong route for you.

Lizzylou

can I have a job at your firm please.