Recruitment agencies come in many shapes and sizes. Those of you who have checked out some of my other ops on individual agencies will know that I have been throwing my CV in the direction of anybody and everybody who MIGHT be in a position to help me. I am currently on the books of about 50 or so agencies plus a dozen or so online sites.

My own area of work is accountancy and there are a number of very good players at the senior manager end of the market. These guys take time to assess you thoroughly, know their client well, can interrogate you properly on the minutiae of your daily working life and give you a good lowdown on the clients they are currently dealing with and the jobs available.

These agencies, such as Robert Half, Michael Page etc ooze professionalism, their offices are plush, they look and feel successful. there are also a few smaller companies who achieve equally good results but with slightly less opulent backgrounds. I particularly appreciate the way agencies such as Accountancy Additions in Maidstone and About People in Ashford have been working unstintingly on my behalf.

At the other end of the scale I am also registered with one or two who work out of what I would describe as shabby garrets at the top of old buildings. These are generally one man and his dog types of organisation, but you do not know that when you pick them out of yellow pages.

The most important thing for an applicant of course is how many jobs they have available in your area. The big boys score heavily on total availability, but not necessarily in your area. The little guys often have a few in your locality, but not the volume. Horses for courses, so you really need to be with both. It might just be that guy up in the garret who gets given the task of filling the job of your dreams, it can happen and did happen once to me in the past.

So, in conclusion, keep an open mind about agencies but do bear in mind they have usually three
masters, their owners or shareholders, the Client and yourself and you are NOT usually the most important one of the three.