Not A Model Agency

I get the benefit of seeing recruitment agencies from two points of view, being in Human Resources I get to see it from the point of view of a client and a candidate. I've been reading a few blog posts lately on recruiters from experts in their field, such as Aaron Dodd and Greg Savage.

I have always found it to be quite a different experience when you're the client, you receive friendly phone calls to touch base, the recruiter tries to meet your every need, Christmas and Easter always result in some cute chocolates or random stationery. 

And then there is the candidate's point of view, I remember the last time I was looking for a position and I put through an application with an agency, I was surprised when 14 minutes later I received a not short-listed email telling me,

Thank you for your recent application for the above position.  Your application has been reviewed in detail and assessed according to the requirements of this role.  Unfortunately in this instance we have received other applications that better match these requirements, and as such we will not be progressing your application further.

I was a little surprised then when I noted the next day that the position had been re-advertised, I sent an email to ask for some feedback, but not surprisingly received no reply.

Then there is the game you play when you see a position advertised with a name and number but try as you might you're never able to get through to the actual person and messages that are left go unanswered.

I know a number of people who refuse to apply for a position through an agency due to the bad service they have received in the past, or of people who have met with an agency and been given criticism that made them lower their expectations and settle for a job because they thought they couldn't get anything else.

When I browsed through Seek and looked at the Human Resources jobs advertised, I found that a very high proportion of them are through agencies, I've always found this to be strange because shouldn't an internal HR department have the skills and knowledge to be able to recruit their own people?

I'm sure that all people in all agencies don't act like the ones I've come across, and it's also not to say that there aren't companies that treat candidates badly in their recruitment processes. But as candidates, you can become stuck when you're looking for a position and most roles are advertised by agencies. 

And now my opinion that will really annoy people, how well can a recruiter with an agency really know a position? Or, for that matter the personalities of the people in the team or the style the manager wants. I suppose, the companies outsourcing their positions should be the ones asking these questions. Can an agency really compare and will they source the same candidate that an internal process would?

Agencies make money through the companies that use them, but they make their reputations through candidates. I hope that I will see agencies starting to prove me wrong and improving their services to candidates. 

This is definitely one area where I would like to be wrong.