How can a recruitment agency boost my chances of employment?

If you are currently in the process of looking for work then you may be wondering if an employment agency will be able to assist you in the process. Like most things the ore you put in to it the more you get out and this is exactly right for employment and job searches. The more people you have looking and promoting you on your behalf the better chance you stand of landing that all important vacancy.

Although a recruitment agency can be a huge help when it comes to finding work, you still need to put some effort in too in order to boost your chances. Firstly, you need ensure that your CV is up to date and accurate. A recruitment agency will be able to have a look through your CV and advise you on any changes to the wording or layout may be needed but they obviously will not know your entire background and will be reliant upon you for this information.

Often as the recruitment agency will not charge you a fee, they take commission from the employers, they will want to ensure that you are the right candidate for them so will not be likely to put you forward for any positions that they are not entirely satisfied you can do well.

 

 

Why should you use a recruitment agency?

As a business owner, there may come a time when you need to recruit new staff members. This may be on a temporary basis to cover holiday or maternity leave for example or on a more permanent basis to replace a member of staff that has left or due to expansion. Going through the recruitment process can be very time consuming and is often done by the HR manager or the business owner. Trying to fit this in to an already busy day can be hard work and therefore you may not be able to give it enough attention. This can often lead to companies hiring candidates that are not suited to the position or going without a much needed member for staff for some time.

Using a recruitment agency will free up your time again and may give you a better pool of candidates to pick from. Recruitment agencies will not only look at people who are  currently seeking employment but possibly people that are already in a role but may consider moving to a new employer if the package is right for them. Although you will have to pay the recruitment agency a fee, you are likely to spend less that you would if you had to take the time out of your day to day job to fill the vacancy.

 

Maintaining motivation while hunting for a job

It can be difficult to keep motivated when looking for a job, especially if the hunt is proving unsuccessful. However, it is worth persevering to land the perfect position, or if you’re currently unemployed, to start earning an income.

There are many websites out there dedicated to helping people find jobs. They may sometimes have the same job advertisements, where the recruiter has posted to various sites, but many will only be available through one site. It’s therefore worth checking them all every day. Keeping a track can be difficult, so it might help to create a spreadsheet to check off each day, or to bookmark the sites – you can even have them all set to open in one click, then close each browser tab as you’ve finished searching for the day.

Although some sites or specific jobs request applications rather than CVs, it is also worth having an up to date, good quality CV available. Often you can copy and paste the text from the CV or at least adapt the basic information to suit each job, which will be more efficient – the more jobs you apply for, the more chance you have of being successful.

Remember to take time away from job hunting too as it can be quite mentally draining and disheartening – it is better to come back to it after a short break feeling refreshed as this will likely be reflected in any applications made.

Should you ever refuse a job?

Finding a job can be a difficult task and for many people, they are simply desperate for work and therefore, do not feel like they have the option of ever turning work down. Often you will hear people say that you should not be fussy when it comes to employment and jobs and you should grab any job opportunity with both hands. If you are desperate for work and just need a steady income, then you may be wise to take any job offered to you but if you already have a job and are thinking of leaving or if you are in no rush to get one, then you can allow yourself a little bit of time to shop around and see what is on offer.

When looking to apply for a new job position, not only should you consider if you have the relevant experience and qualifications but also is it a job that you would be happy doing? If the answer is no then you probably shouldn’t even apply.

Also consider the pay, working hours and travel costs as taking a job that is miles away for little pay may actually make you worse off than taking a more local job.

 

Work hard for the career you want

For some of us, we have dreamed all our lives of doing a certain job or working within a particular industry. It may be that the job that you want requires a certain level of training or experience in which case you may have to spend a good few years at university studying for a qualification.

Far too often, people end up leaving a career that they have worked hard towards all too soon. This can be for a number of reasons but often it is down to a bad experience at one particular workplace.

Within every industry, there are a number of different locations and often even types of businesses that you can work in and just because one did not work out doesn’t mean that it is the same everywhere else. You need to try and establish what it is that you are not happy is with. Is it the people you work with, or it may be because of the way the company is managed or even the type of clients that you are dealing with? All of these can vary drastically from place to place so before you give up on that dream job, why not look to moving to a new place of work and see if it gets any better. You may find that you actually do enjoy the job you always wanted to do.

 

Searching for jobs that you will enjoy

There may come a time when you find yourself out of work and quickly have to secure another job due to financial commitments.  You may not be able to wait weeks or months for the ideal job to come up so therefore you may need to go for something that would not normally be your first choice or the line of work you would normally choose.

When applying for jobs, always consider the good and bad points. If the job is miles away from where you live, make sure you know how you will get there and ideally work out how much the travel will cost you each day.

Although you may need to find a job quickly, job satisfaction can have a massive knock-on effect on job performance and therefore can make a huge difference in how well you complete tasks within your job. If you have little or no motivation for the job then your work is likely to be incomplete or not done to your best ability and this is not good for any business. This is why it is important to try and find a job that you think you will enjoy or only take on a temporary position whilst you search for something else.

 

How to write an excellent CV

Your CV is vital to applying for jobs and standing a good chance. Almost all jobs ask for a CV or for your to fill out a job application form which often contains much of the same information. In order to give yourself the best possible chance of getting that all important job you need to be sure that you have written your CV to include all the relevant information and also importantly in the correct format.

Firstly complete all your personal details at the top of the CV such as full name, Date of birth, address and contact details (email and phone numbers). After this you can start to list your education history, many people do not put primary schools on just secondary school and qualifications gained such as GCSE’s and A-levels and the any further education such as university degrees or college courses.

You should next list your previous employment, putting emphasis on any jobs that are particularly relevant to the position you are applying for. Always end your CV with a summary about who you are and your interests and hobbies.

You may need to tweak your CV each time you apply for a job to make sure that you have included all relevant information.

 

Looking to recruit extra staff

If you own a company or are a self-employed business owner, then there may come a time when you need to take on new members of staff. Finding staff that are not only qualified and have the relevant experience you require, but can also be relied upon can be daunting as unless you know them, you have to trust that what they have put on their CV is true. You may worry that you will end up employing someone that is not really suitable if you do not carry out the interview process correctly or do certain checks to get a true picture of the candidate.

Some employers set potential employees a task to complete during their interview process to see if they can manage some of the work that they may be expected to do. Although this is a good way to fish out the people who have lied, you may actually end up not hiring someone that is quite good, purely because their nerves got the better of them on the day.

Ideally you want to obtain references from previous employers to get a true picture of what the person is like as an employee.

 

Setting up a recruitment agency – your options

When it comes to setting up a recruitment agency you need to consider how you are going to run your business. There are many different types of recruitment agencies offering a wide range of services. Below are a few examples of these:

  • Temporary agency work – this type of recruitment agency offers only temp work. They will usually build up a list of workers on their books and then on a daily or weekly basis find temp work for the workers at different locations. They will often also have a list of companies that they usually work with on a regular basis and offer temp cover to. They may be restricted to one industry or have placements within a range of industries. They will usually take a percentage of the workers’ pay each day or week to cover their fees.
  • Permanent work placements – these agencies tend to work on behalf of the client (the recruiter). They will be given a job role that needs to be filled and then start to essentially head hunt prospective employees. They will usually take payment for their services from the employer once they have found a successful candidate. Again these sorts of agencies can sometime work with one industry or within many offering a wider range of jobs. They may have some candidates on their books already that they contact when a position becomes available.

 

Taking about your skills in an interview

If you have been asked to attend an interview then the recruiter is wanting to find out more about you, your skills, and experience and work ethos. It is not a test as such but is often quite daunting as you know that what you say in an interview is often the difference between getting a job and not getting it.

An interviewer will often ask what your strengths or skills and weaknesses are and many candidates find this difficult to answer. If you are someone that finds it hard to blow your own trumpet you may end up doing yourself a disservice and not really informing the interviewer of your true skills. If you on the other hand get too over confident then this is often also seen as a downfall and may cost you the position. You need to be honest but try and sell your skills and make the employer think that you are the right candidate for the job. If you are asked about weaknesses there is no point in saying you haven’t got any or picking something like, you work too hard, as they will know what you are trying to do. Instead you are better to mention something small that you may struggle with by follow up by talking about how you are going to improve on it.