recruiting agencies- good or bad?
 

Hi everyone,

I am a graduate engineering student at university but in the next year will hopefully be in the market for a job. I notice that for design and manufacturing jobs with some large aerospace companies such as Airbus you can apply directly to the company or go through one of a number of recruitment agencies. One of our university careers advisors cautioned me to be careful with recruitment agencies as they get their money through placing applicants in a job with the company but not necessarily the right job. Just wondering if anyone out there has used these agencies and whether the experience was particularly good or bad? Any particular pitfalls to watch out for?

cheers in advance

I prefer going through the agencies as the contract rates are higher however if You can negotiate Your own contract then You can also take the agencies cut and have an even better rate.I worked at airbus through an agency called P+Z engineering based in Munich overall They were quiete good apart from the fact They made a mistake on My contract giving Me 30 days holiday when in fact I should not have got any I do believe this was a genuine mistake and in no way influenced My decision to leave which was based purely on the work I was doing at airbus.

How can I put this---nicely ? If you really want to deal with a sub species of low level vermin--the "recruitment consultant" will be perfect for you. :yuk: :mad:

I appreciate that, if you are trying to get a foot in the door, then they may provide the opportunity----however---be aware that most of these "consultants" are derived from the "Del boy" school of communication--poorly educated in the main--and know less than zero about aviation / aerospace--their prime concern and objective is to fill the vacancy and get their commission--that's it !

True, I have dealt with a couple who were reasonable--but the majority would look rather nice hanging over a vat of nitric acid attached to a rope with a breaking strain of about--10grams !!

Be very, very cautious when you start dealing with them.

matkat,

may I ask, did you enjoy working at airbus? do they look after their contractors?
rgds
excon

I've just been shafted by an agency; they are not all bad but some are absolute botttom-feeders.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I shall tread cautiously :ok:

Firstly, I agree with all of the criticisms of recruitment consultants - pretty much to a man and woman they make little effort to understand the industry they're recruiting for, can occasionally be offensive, but mostly just a pain in the neck.

The other thing however is that generally they are recruiting for particular narrow skillset jobs, which means particular experience and background. As a general rule, this means that they aren't interested in recent graduates - your best bet is to apply to the "graduate trainee" schemes run by the bigger aerospace companies. Details are usually on their websites.

G