What do you expect from your recruitment agency?

[galletti]

I hope someone can help here. DH has recently been made redundant, and trying very hard to get a job. He is a chartered accountant, was for many years a partner in an accountants, and for the last two years in private industry as a finance director.

Has hooked up with many agencies, mostly on-line, cos that seems to be the way now, and has had some meetings, after mild insistence from him with them. All the agencies seem very keen when he sends the CV, he has asked if it needs to be changed in any way - they say no, tell him he should have no problem getting a good job, contracting etc. 'Putting you forward for jobs etc'

And then, nothing - no feedback, no returned calls, nothing. Today he has called all the agencies, hardly ever able to speak to the same person, leaves message, and - nothing.

Can anyone advise what we are doing wrong, what we can do next, how to get the agencies to engage with him. If there is something he can improve upon, he would like to know, but he can't get anyone to give feedback, to know what to do.

I am getting worried, obviously because of mortgage payments, bills etc, but in a way more importantly for him. He's not a great talker (unlilke me!) and won't say a lot to me, although we do talk about it but I know his confidence will be dented, and he too will be worried about the future.

Thanks if you have managed to read all this, and in advance of any advice you can offer.

It sounds familiar to be honest, I avoid agencies as this is what I recieve from the vast majority of them. I was told the key is to tell them that you are not signed with anyone else.
There's some jobs listed on the regulatory web site.
Has he considered being self employed?

He needs to find one or two good agencies that specialise in his field. Good agencies will be selective about the jobs they recommend and will check he is happy with the job before sending his CV off.

Sadly, most high street agencies are driven by figures and getting bums on seats. They can be a pain in the ar5e.

He might also be better finding jobs online and applying directly. This approach has worked quite well for me.

Good luck

I work in recruitment so will give you my view on it if that is ok?

For whatever reason, they don't think they can place him, all consultants are in recruitment to make money (don't know many people who do it for love of the job) and if they can't make money out of him they probably won't spend too much time answering calls/responding to emails/giving feedback. Shit, huh?

The important thing is to find out why they don't think they can help him, personally at this stage I would escalate and ask to speak to a manager/partner at the consultancy - what does he have to lose? They're not putting him forward for stuff anyway and he might get some decent feedback from someone more senior.

Moving forward, is he making sure he is dealing with agencies who place candidates at his level? If he is a director, he should be dealing with search and selection/executive search companies - depending on his salary. I would also suggest going to
independent/boutique agencies vs the larger nationals.

Also, is he utilising his own network of contacts? Does he use LinkedIn? Contact companies he wants to work for directly? In this age of austerity I would urge people to try to contact potential employers directly, saves them money, more likely to get interviews.

Good luck, it's a cliche, but I suspect it's not him, it's them!

Thanks for advie. The thing is, these are specialist agencies, and I would have expected much more from them - I know it's tough uot there for so many people, but even just some commicnation would be nice.

Belle, yes, maybe he should think about becoming self employed and using his accounting skills. We really need to have another chat about all the possibilities.

Speckled, he has applied for jobs online, but an agency always seems to come back to him. Maybe he is not approaching it quite right?

Thanks again

Thaks Ewe, that's really good advice, will show him your post and this thread.

What he should do is contact some companies that he would like to work for, local business, companies that his previously employer was in competition with, anyone really. Phone the HR dept/senior partner ask about any opportunities or if they know of anyone else recruiting at his level. On the Guardian website (and others, I'm sure) you can filter search results by direct employer so you filter out the agencies.

www.linkedin.com is useful because once you have signed up and created a profile you can search by company name/location/job title/person name - he could search for people he has worked with before, people he studied with etc. Imagine it's like a business version of Facebook, people use it to professionally network and they have job listings on there too.

Thanks LF, I think it is mercenary, and I have said to him to keep chasing the agencies which is what he did again today, and then got nothing back and I really felt for him, butI am sure he will do so again tomorrow.

Ewe, that's interesting about contacting companies direct, because my stepdad who has always been an amazing support to us, and directed dh into his field in the first place, told us to try that approach, but we wondered if people didnt even look at contacts that way anymore. So, that has given us more confidence to try that way. Will also tell him about the Guardian website, and definitely Linkedin.

Thanks again everyone. This has made me feel better and more inspired!

Good luck to anyone else out there trying t find work, and any more advice greatly appreciated!

galletti, DH has vast experience with tax/accountancy recruitment agencies in London/SE (couple of unexpected redundancies ), and his comments are:

how old is he, as that will have a bearing on whether firms are interested

what area are you in (more jobs in London/SE)

are the roles he's applying for ones which his CV looks right for?

is he selling himself to the agencies? he needs to be speaking to spcific people in the agencies and telling them what he he does really well. Why he was made a partner (niche contacts, fab marketing skills, specialist knowledge etc).

If you're in the SE, I may be able to help with contacts at agencies, depending on your DH's specialist areas - DH does tax, so I know the niche tax people.

Final comment from DH, he's heavily involved in his professional institute, and networks loads via there - very useful database if your DH is thinking of being self employed....