Recruitment Agencies #1

I can see this post as being the start of quite a few along these lines.

What I plan to do here is start naming and showing the homepage of Recruitment Agencies that operate here in Australia that claim to be "professional" in their business dealings but actually aren't and you should AVOID as a part of your business.

Here is a tip... One of the KEY elements of 'Business' is Business Communications. If you do not communicate with clients or staff then you are not achieving the most basic of elements required to operate effectively. If you intend to alienate potential clients then you would want to make sure that the capital for the business is limitless as your income will be, or should be, nil.

A lack of communication and basic courtesy definitely does NOT portray professionalism in any way, shape or form. In fact: Not making return contact with a potential client indicates laziness and apathy. It gives a general impression that your time & effort as a client isn't really worth much to anyone at that particular company and you can expect to always be regarded as an inconvenience. That is, unless you like paying for the privilege of being treated like the equivalent of pond scum.

It seems that so many companies seem to forget that the job applicant of today may be the employer of tomorrow - and you can trust me when I say that I possess a LONG memory when it comes to those who thought they could get away with bone-idle laziness and those who treated me with respect and extended basic courtesies.

As such, I am quite happy to display the banners and/or home pages of agencies that I consider to be inept and unreliable. For the sake of clarity: don't go whinging that you're going to sue me if you represent one of these companies. If you go broke, it will be due to your lack of business etiquette and acumen - it won't be because I advertised the fact.

In the case of recruitment agencies, they deal with people who are looking for work. Often these people are *real* professionals - they know how business communications and etiquette works and the value in treating clients with respect. As someone who practices simple courtesies when it comes to business communications, the following process is abhorrent to someone who wants to be a contributor to society rather than a debt:
- Submit an application for a role.
- Hear nothing back from the agency.
- Make contact with the agency.
- Being told "If we don't contact you then we didn't proceed with your application".

How can behaviour like this be regarded as anything but pathetic & unprofessional? Is it not a real indicator of a company with which you should not waste your valuable time? It is. I do not care for excuses about how much time it takes to contact someone or what your silly company policies say - the above is NOT acceptable behaviour for a company that wishes to stay in business. End of story!

Here are the first few....

First Choice Recruitment provide clever and insightful staffing solutions.

Offering trust and skills, coupled with in-house experience of more than forty years in the recruitment and human resource arena, our clients know us as experts in the field of permanent placements, temporary staff and part-time personnel.

Provide "clever" and "insightful" staffing solutions??

Offering "trust" and "skills"??

How? When?

How delusional do you have to be to think that you can make a claim like this about your business practices when you can't practice simple etiquette?

They may be experts at taking money from companies looking for staff but they are utterly incapable of treating clients with respect.

Perafel offers a comprehensive range of professional services for employers and job seekers.

With years of experience in the industry, we have built up a strong network of relationships and inside knowledge to help you find the best people, and roles, before the rest.

Yep - we've built up a very solid network of people that we can ignore when the mood takes us. We've even managed to associate ourselves with a substantial client base that are willing to be ignored by us over and over again.

Whether you require permanent staff, specialist consultants or are seeking a total recruitment solution, we have the knowledge, experience, and, most importantly, the quality candidates to match job seekers with businesses of all sizes.

Well... we have a bit of knowledge and experience but we don't really have that many "quality" candidates as we couldn't be bothered to contact them to let them know that they may have missed out on a role. That's their fault anyway - we can't be expected to pander to their insecurities about how their application is going.

It's all about selection. Each and every candidate is interviewed and tested. We use the latest software technology to gauge their skills, this compliments our consultants' ability to personally profile each one. We match software abilities and as importantly - character.

Oh yeah - we use all the latest software like Microsoft Word 1.0 and Windows 98 - and we have the very best in consultants to go with this cutting edge technology. Our specialist consultants are trained in the use of rotary-dial phones so that they can ignore all our clients equally.

We are considering changing our slogan from "People Helping People" to "Hire someone through us and you'll be getting someone about the same standard as our own staff: slack - idle - lazy."

M&T Resources is a leading provider of ICT contracting and permanent recruitment solutions. As a client or potential candidate, our commitment to you is based on the values of Reliability, Experience, Support, Performance, Energy, Commitment and Trust.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.???
Trust?? Reliability?? Support?? Energy?? COMMITMENT???!!

I can tell you for a fact that NOBODY in the Brisbane office of M&T seems to understand what any of these qualities represent. Yet again, we have another company that has what they call a "Values Statement" that is intended to bullshit the world into thinking that they not only possess those value but that they practice them as well. HA!

To be fair, the centre of brilliant incompetence for M&T seems to be located in the Brisbane office. The office in Canberra bent over backwards to try and secure me a role. Of course, they too did not call me back when nothing was heard from the government department that didn't know if they really wanted someone to fill a role or if they wanted to flex the afternoon off.

When thinking of M&T, think: Brisbane's Leading Unit (of) Dim-witted Grotesquely-Egotistical Retarded Slackers or B.L.U.D.G.E.R.S.