Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Anyone know a good employment agency or any employer looking to employ?
Currently looking for work, but having no luck at the time.
I am looking for anything at the moment! I have a broad skill set and have an update to cv.
Regards,
Bulent 
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by L F T Snowflake on
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I would strongly suggest registering with not the local branches, but the Victoria and Holborn branches of agencies. They tend to have a lot more jobs and the rates are better. I would particularly reccomend the Holborn Branch of Brook Street as they have a lot of local contacts in that area and of course, Holborn is very easy to get to by tube or 341 bus.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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Hi I temp full time for the past couple of years and mainly use agencies to get work, although I do freelance as well.
When you say a broad skill set what do you actually mean? Different agencies tend to look after different sectors. So for example if you are looking for work as a secretary you will use a different agency than the one dealing with gardeners or nurses.
If you do mean general admin / retail / facilities etc I would reccomend Huntress Group based near Holborn / Aldwych, although their jobs could be anywhere in the region. I get some secretarial work through them but I have also done retail and exam invigilation for them in the past. They seem to have a lot of the larger company contracts and always seem to have plenty work on the go. Their pay rates are reasonable and the girls in the office are very helpful. You will need to go and register with them and do an interview and an IT test. Do not be put off by this, it is not an exam and there is no pass rate - it is merely to assess your skills in different areas. I know someone who did poorly in the IT test but because of his outgoing nature and confidence landed a great customer services role through them. They are one of the larger agencies and also have specialist sectors so if you have e.g IT programming skills they could find you a skills-specific job for which you will be paid more.
If you are looking for more top-level admin or PA roles then I would suggest registering your CV on Secsinthecity.co.uk and start applying for roles on there, or look at the different agencies and apply to them individually.
I have used Brook Street before but they tend to offer very low pay and sporadic work. I would not waste my time with them. The agencies which have shops on the high street seem to attract immigrant workers who are willing to work for less, and after all it is in the agencies interest to make a higher percentage by paying the worker less!
I also would not bother wasting time with Monster, Reed etc as they are literally inundated with millions of people all in the same boat who are willing to work for low wages. Your CV will get lost on those sites and you will just end up frustrated.
I could give you loads of contacts if I knew the type of work you are looking for, your target companies and your professional background but without this I would suggest starting with Huntress. I have sent people to them in the past who have found work with them within days of registering, so I hope they could find you something.
Also, finding work with agencies is 99% about what you look like so when you do go and register wear a suit even if you would not nornally wear one in the role you usually do.
If you want to send me more specific details I am happy to give you a few pointers.
Good luck!
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I think the above is very sound advice from another 'career temp'. I temped and freelanced for ten years prior to teaching too, so here is some additional information.
I completely agree that you should never, ever, under any circumstances whatsoever register with job sites like Monster or Reed. They are most amazingly pointless and the chances of you finding work with them are far lower than zero. They are actually conduits for other agencies. So, when you reply to an ad, you'll mostly find its another agency placing the ad for another agency. This means you will have to register three times and will still be no closer to work.
I always visited an agency in person and any agency that won't let you in the door until you have emailed them your CV is not worth bothering with. I now refuse point blank to email my CV. As regards secretarial work, PA or admin work, if you are male, choose your agencies carefully.
A good rule of thumb is to look in the window of the agency before going in. If you don't see any men working there, its very likely a women only agency, and men who try to register will be turned away.
You need to find two or three specialist agencies in your field and register with them. Then, you need a couple of general office agencies. I would not dismiss Brook Street. They might pay lower rates, but when you need a job and they are the only ones offering, its better to keep the money coming in. Kelly are also rather good. Adecco and Office Angels are both owned by the same agency, but you have to regsiter with each one separately. And, if you register with one branch of Adecco but see a job in another branch, you have to deregister with one branch and re-register with the other, completing another battery of tests. In fact, thats usually the same in most agencies.
Then, register with some manual agencies for things like portering, driving and stuff. Again, money is not fab, but if the only job that comes in on a Friday is a week's driving, its better to take that and earn something than not work.
When dealing with agencies, the most important thing you can do is develop a good relationship with the Temp Booking Clerk. Pop in occasionally, give them a wave as you walk past. And always be willing to get them out of a hole.
If you want to Freelance, make up a CV for that and approach companies or contacts directly. Avoid Freelancer websites. Freelancer.com and particulary People Per Hour should be most especially avoided as they are full of Walter Mitty characters who will promise you all manner of work, but will either expect it to be done for pennies or ask you to provide 'samples' of your work based on the brief and then vanish after you have handed it over.
Actually, the most lucrative work you can get as a temp is being a slide hack. Amazingly, most bankers and management consultants - despite presentations being an essential part of their work - cannot operate PowerPoint or Keynote to save their lives. So they employ slide hacks to do it for them. Be warned though, the job is boring, the consultants constantly change their mind about the slide design, meaning frequent redraws (and don't even think about having creative input - you will be shouted down) and the consultants you work with often compete with each other to be spectularly rude to slide hacks. But if you can stand that, there is up to £25.00 an hour up for grabs.
Hope this helps.
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I don't know if the poster is male or female so that's why I suggested Huntress as I know they deal with both. I agree that a lot of the secretarial agencies mainly find jobs for women, but then I suppose that the manual labour agencies would probably not send that many women out on bricklaying jobs. Not saying this is right, but it's the way it is and the market is determined by the requirements of the client.
It was probably a lot different in your day but most agencies do not operate from a highstreet these days, so sending your CV is often the only way to get a foot in - or by registering on secsinthecity.co.uk. I find that if I refresh my CV on there once a week I get the agencies calling me offering me work so I don't even have to do any searching myself., and I'm usually booked up weeks in advance.
Another tip I have is avoid like the plague any agency that forces you to be paid through an umbrella company. This is basically a tax loophole (based on you claiming expenses for things you would not normally buy, and submitting receipts in order to claim tax relief, e.g spending up to £15 a day on lunch when you would normally take sandwiches) unfortunately it is legal but the only ones who benefit are the agency and the umbrella company themselves.
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Male,
But yeh, the umbrella company is a nonsense. Like the tip about refreshing the CV though that works well. and as for secs in the city, worth a look.
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Permalink Reply by Bulent Ozlem on
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Hello Lauren,
Thank you for your reply.
I agree with want you are saying and yes I am applying to jobs by jobserve and monster for weeks now and getting nowhere.
I have an IT background with over 10 years of experience. The experience comprising from sys admin, programming, database development, desktop support ,server support ,hardware support , admin, technical team leader and project support. Also, I do translation from Turkish to English and can speak basic Japanese. I do have foundation qualifications in carpenter, electrical, brickwork and plumbing. I am also a carer alas an imformal one, not getting paid.
Out of the agencies, I try to stick to HaysIT or central people( Japanese recruitment company), but managed to get one interview so far, but was not selected due to my circumtances at the time.
So, hope this helps with specific details as you requested...
Regards,
Bulent
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Permalink Reply by BBL on
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I use Hays too, but once they place you, they forget about you. No contact from them at all - it's take the money and run.
Good to hear recommendation about Huntress - may give them a call in September
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Sorry for not replying sooner - I don't seem to get notifications.
How did you get on with this? Did you manage to get something?
I have used Hays in the past but they are a massive agency. I try to use just the smaller agencies and go on personal referrals. I have heard that Page Personnel is also good for IT.
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Hello Lauren,
Well I had an interview this week, it went well. We shall see But nothing much...Maybe not applying enough
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Permalink Reply by markb on
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If you're still looking, my employer is currently recruiting (based in Farringdon area) and at first glance your IT background looks like a potential fit. Can you send me your CV via a private message - I've added you as a connection.
With plenty of hiring/interviewing experience, I'm also happy to give you some CV tips if you'd like.
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Hello,
Can anyone recommend something in the marketing/advertising field?
My biggest problem is that I can only do part-time work as I am still finishing uni ;(
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