I joined Blue Arrow on the 8th May and said I was ready to work from the 12th but I have had nothing back from them.

I called them today to check up what the latest was and they didn't have anything for me,so I am thinking of joining another agency as well as this one.

So what I really wanted to know is how long have any of you had to wait for work off an agency and what ones you could recomend.

Thanks

I have dealt with a lot employment agencies in the past, depends on what sort of work you are looking for. If its office based work, and you are registeredd with them for temporary work then they should have found you something the next day However if your looking for permanent then they have to wait until a suitable role comes along.

I would sign up to as many agencies as possible, if you dont mind the phone ringing quite a lot when they have something for you , normally all at the same time .........

i have used agencies many times registered with loads for temping and permanant and neither have done anything for me ... always ended up in a job i found myself x
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FoxyHan - Proof that it's not all grim up north

I signed up with one a few weeks back, and after an initial few, I haven't heard from them for anything.
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I have to use agency's all the time to find temporary cover. Basically I haven't come across one that is good so far! I'm usually sent next to useless idiots and the last time I used an agency to find a permanent employee you should have seen the standard that they sent me

The job market is fairly quiet at the moment so lots of temps are finding it difficult. A good strategy is to try some of the smaller independant agencies that work in more localised areas. Usually they have tapped into the local businesses. I'd expect work to be patchy for a while though

You're just the other side of the river from me then. I'm in Chiswick. You may want to try an agency on Kingsway, sort of Aldwych/Holborn area. Can't for the life of me remember what they are called but if you look up that area you will find them. They have pretty wide coverage and so might be worth a shout. If you don't mind schlepping over to the east then Quay People are about the best I've come across to work with. They tend to cover docklands. They have a website so you can look them up.

Best of with it

Huntress Search, 15-19 Kingsway WC2B 6UN is the one. Theres quite a few round that area so might be worth popping in.

Yes I know where that one is in Hammersmith thanks for the help I shall go in tomorrow

Ann-Marie is right. Earlier this year I was looking for a new permanent member of staff. My company tends to use agencies because any ad in a paper or elsewhere results in 100s of CVs. I don't have time to sort through them.

The job of an agency is to asses the quality of candidates and match their skills to the requirements of the employer. The job I was filling is not rocket science. I wasn't looking for heaps of experience, just someone with a good attitude, service orientated and has the ability to think for themselves and not have to be told when to go to the loo or when to go for lunch - I have far more pressing matters to deal with than wiping their arses for them.

Of all the candidates CVs I looked through, 2 rounds of interviews, there was only 1 candidate that I would even consider. The rest were completely unsuitable, evasive on simple questions and had done no preparation for the interview despite me supplying a comprehensive brief.

All in all a waste of my time. Agencies do very little on behalf of employers and even less for candidates. And candidates these days are more often than not very very poor quality.

rant over