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The best way to get the most out of an employment agency is to start by selecting agencies to work for you. Don't just go out and randomly register with any and every agency you can find. Look out for agencies that deal specifically in your line of work. If you work in marketing or sales, there's little point in registering with an agency that deals specifically in computing related roles. If you work as a software developer, there's not a lot of point in registering with an agency that deals in office admin and secretarial roles. Research agencies carefully, ask your friends or ex-colleagues in the same industry as you and use the agencies that they recommend. Word of mouth recommendations are very important when choosing agencies as friends and ex-colleagues will tell you how they were treated by the agent.

You need to think about several things when asking for a recommendation.

Did the agency listen to the candidate's needs, i.e. take note of minimum salary requirements, locations willing to work, type of job sought? There are many agencies out there that will happily submit you for a 20,000 job when you've specifically said you will not accept below 30,000, or send your CV in for a job 50 miles away from home when you've said you're not willing to travel more than 15 miles each way.

Did the agency keep you in the loop about the progress of your application? It's all very well the agent telling you that they've submitted your application to a company, after you've agreed to if, of course. What they often don't do is come back to you with the outcome of the application. If you didn't get selected for an interview, they least the agent can do is tell you that without being cowardly. It's not nice to pass on bad news but any agent worth his/her salt will be able to tell you politely that your skills/experience were not quite a match for the job, or the employer felt you had changed jobs too frequently or they were looking for someone who was more proficient in computer systems that you are, etc.

Does the agent bother to return calls? Often agents are so busy chasing money that they forget they are dealing with people who do not like being treated like signs. If you are awaiting feedback and they said they'd phone you and it's been two days since they promised they'd get back to you, you're perfectly entitled to chase them up for feedback. If they completely ignore your calls or emails and don't respond, be wary of them. There are other agents out there who have more respect for individuals and they're more likely to be successful in placing candidate's if they build a good rapport with the candidate as well as with employers that they're working with.

I hope the above tips are useful to you. Remember, YOU are the one who needs to feel that the agent is looking after your interests. Even if they are solely looking after their own interests, they must at least make it seem to you that they are looking after you and really care about getting you that ideal job! Don't accept second best when it comes to employment agencies, there are 1000s of them out there and if you are not shown respect, move onto another agency that is worthy of you!

Good luck!

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