Opinion of Recruitment Agents
So, what is your opinion of recruitment agents and the way they operate? Have you had problems with them?
We did a survey asking contractors that very question.
According to the survey we had a while back, only 7% of contractors say that they‘ve never had a problem with agencies. That, of course, means that 93% have had problems with agencies.
Contractors Don’t Trust Recruitment Agents
The highest percentage went for the most extreme option, i.e. ‘I don‘t trust any of them’. Almost one-in-three or 31% gave that answer.
Next highest was the 28% that went for the option ‘Most are dodgy, but there are some good ones’.
That‘s an astonishing 59%, or almost 3-in-5 of contractors who consider all or most of them as dodgy. Contractors appear to have a low opinion of recruitment agents.
Some Good Recruitment Agents, Some Bad
Around a quarter, or 25% went for the middle line that ‘There are some good and some bad’ agents.
Only 1-in-11, or 9% went for ‘The majority of them are good, it’s only a few rogue agents who spoil it’.
Adding this together with the first option, ‘I’ve never had any problems with agencies’, it means that there are only 16%, or 1-in-6 contractors who think well of most, or all agents.
Altogether there were 461 votes on the poll.
Reasonable Recruitment Agents
My personal view is that the majority are good but that a few rogue agents spoil it for them all. I have a reasonable opinion of recruitment agents.
Agents tell us that these rogue agents make their job in dealing with contractors far more difficult, especially when they are calling someone who they haven‘t had previous dealings with.
It has been our experience that those agents who get up to all the dirty tricks are those who are the most desperate, and those who are most likely to go bust. So, even in the unlikely event that these rogues do have something for you, contractors could end up losing their hard earned cash anyway.
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