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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
have you had good experiences with staffing agencies finding admin positions?
Have you ever had a good experience with a staffing agency when looking for an admin position (ie executive assistant, administrative assistant, etc)?
Can you tell me a little bit about your experience? Did you apply for one specific job or just generally apply and they helped you find something?
Thanks!
Re: have you had good experiences with staffing agencies finding admin positions?
Yes and No.
I think it depends A LOT on the staffing agency, so be careful. I worked for several agencies that were OBVIOUSLY just using me and my need for a job to get money coming into the company. One company had a specific job in mind, but when I didn't get an offer pushed me to the side. I also worked for a high end staffing agency who placed me with a company who's job description did not fit what I was placed for. (Ad said admin assistant, job was actually a personal asst to the CEO-which was run personal errands, pay personal bills, ect). The company let me go after two days, because they said I didn't live up to the hype. The staffing agency told me how disappointed they were with me, and actual wrote me up for poor performance. They sent me on another job, which made them a lot of money. There was A LOT of pressure for me to get an offer after working six weeks, even though the company was one that goes from staffing agency to staffing agency. The last company I worked with placed me in several different agencies, all were really nice, but just didn't pay enough to keep me long term.
Research the staffing agency before you agree to anything.
My only additional suggestion is to ask around and see which companies are reputable. I'm currently in a temp position waiting to be hired on permanently.
My experience with staffing agencies was that I lost my job in October of 2009 (contract position ended) and was temping until I got offered a contract at another company in August of 2010. In December of 2011, the contract position that started in 2010 ended and I went back to the same temping agency in January 2012 and got this position at the end of February. It happened to be in an area of interest for me, I wasn't specifically looking for something permanent to come of my temping but we needed the income. I'm hoping the permanent offer comes through soon.
When I lost my job in 2009, I applied to a number of agencies and the one I'm working with now was by far the best. To make things work with a staffing agency, you have to keep in constant contact with them and make sure that you understand the expectations and they understand what you're looking for. If you have a good agency and you have a clear understanding of what both sides want, it can be a very positive experience.
I've gotten two jobs through them. The first job...they found me on monster (at least I think that was the one). The experience with the agency was fine...the company I went to work for was a whole different story.
The job I currently am in, I also go through an agency. I actually registered with them years ago and they never really had anything for me (the wage I was seeking was much higher than the jobs they typically get). However, while working at the other company mentioned above, this agency contacted me (it was OfficeTeam, btw) as, once again, they found my resume on resume so wanted to know if I was still looking and this time around, they had the perfect job for me...meeting all of my requirements. We continue to use them for most of our admin hires here.
I think I registered with at least one other agency but was never placed through them.
What to expect, at least with my experience: when I originally registered with Office Team...I went in and tested on the various MS Office products, had an interview with one of the recruiters and filled out paperwork. She got an idea of what I was looking for, did my reference and background check, etc. When jobs came up that were close to matching, she'd call me about them and if I was interested, she'd submit my resume and then if the company was interested, I'd go for an Interview. I'm going to guess it is likely a similar process for most agencies.
It is definitely a mixed answer: yes and no. I had fabulous luck with an agency, but not with an admin position. If you are open to other positions as well, I think you have a VERY good experience. If you are only open to admin positions, it may be harder. EVERYONE wants an admin position right now and unless you have lots of experience you probably won't get the job. Mostly because someone else WILL have that experience and sadly a lot of admin jobs want years and years of experience... Also, it will probably be a temp job to start as a lot of open admin positions these days are temporary. You could get hired on full time, but at least your racking up some experience.
I love career agencies. Just do your research before committing to anything or signing anything. Some career agencies are really commission based, so sometimes those employees will only care about getting you into a job period... regardless of whether or not it's a "good fit". Those can be hard to read to because they will make you THINK the job is a good fit just so they can make their money.
I hope that helped, and good luck!