Finding employment: Do agencies find prospects better jobs?

No

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by Timothy Aines

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Let's face it. If you're using an employment agency to find a job, you're bottom feeding. Life has kicked you in the guts, and you are the victim of your own bad decisions, bad timing, bad luck, or possibly all three. The employment agency is the last stop before you get the job where you ask folks "Do you want fries with that?" or start selling blood and body parts at the local medical clinic.

There are three types of agencies out there. A government run employment agency, a private employment agency, and professional recruiting firms that some folks also think are agencies, but really aren't. Two of these three really only work for themselves and, well, the third one is questionable.

The government run agency is primarily used by most people only grudgingly, and as a condition of collecting an unemployment check. By design, the government agency is the one most geared to work on your behalf. However, the government agency, usually run by a state, has its own agenda too. Frankly, they want you off the unemployment rolls as soon as possible, and a day spent trawling through the flotsam of the job market is usually the price of entry. Some states offer the employment agency only as a helpful service. Many more though require it as a type of unemployment blackmail. If you want that unemployment check, then you have to go stand in line and comb through the available supply of mostly junk jobs.

The line itself is worth special mention. It is a great socio-economic leveling exercise. The rich, poor, mighty and humble all stand in line together, waiting to speak to an employment counselor. At the government employment agency you will find a cross-section of America that looks something like an induction line for a 1952 draft board; an eclectic lineup of tinkers, tailors, doctors, lawyers, actors and the hard core unemployed.

The jobs one finds at the end of the line tend to be high-turnover entry level positions that are at, or only slightly above, minimum wage. There is no challenge to obtaining one of these jobs. For the most part, they can be obtained anywhere through a variety of means. There are a few positions where employers will only accept a candidate as a direct referral from the government employment agency, but those are a minority. Like it or not, the state employment agency primarily serves as a collective dumping ground for mostly undesirable, high-turnover entry-level jobs that folks tend to not stay in too long. Employers know these jobs are fairly undesirable, nonetheless their business models require a constant stream of new talent. These types of employers have built people-intensive business models that don't require a lot of skilled labor, and these machines demand to be fed. The lure of tapping a large collective pool of unemployed people that are required to review their open jobs, assisted by nudging counselors paid by the state, is a marriage made in heaven for both the employers, and the state.

The private employment agency tends to be a notch above the government version. The private agency is paid from fees received by the employers. Since the employers are now paying their own money to fill these jobs instead of mooching off the government, the jobs tend to be higher quality and a bit more selective. Many private agencies specialize and do temp-only or temp-to-hire positions. Others find candidates for manager training programs in high-burnout fields like the rental car or food service business that are difficult to staff. Private agencies may also specialize by type of work, and may only fill jobs in information technology, construction or other specialty fields.

Now a job seeker can generally approach these employers directly, and many times get the same position, but don't be surprised if the employer occasionally refers you right back to their appointed agency to have you apply and be screened there first. An important aspect to keep in mind is, always remember that no matter how friendly or promising the private employment agency is, they don't work for you. Your presence is merely a means to an end for them.

Lastly are the professional recruiting firms. These are not really employment agencies at all, but groups of professional recruiters conducting searches on very specific positions and assignments. These are almost always professional level jobs of a unique nature. Ever read an unrealistic job description that has so many weird must-haves and oddball experience required, you figure maybe one person in 50,000 might be qualified to fill it? These are the positions recruiters try to fill, and they are called "purple squirrel" hunts in the trade.

An acquaintance of mine is the Global Dairy Product Manager for a major consumer packaged goods (CPG) company. One day, he received an absurd assignment from his boss tasking him to find a way to increase sales by finding a way to sell cheese to the Chinese - in China.

Now aside from the fact that the Chinese tend to be lactose intolerant and simply don't eat cheese, to name just a few of the cultural problems involved, my friend was undeterred. He went forth and retained a small army of recruiters to scour the United States looking for classic CPG-trained Mandarin-speaking cheese sellers who want to relocate to China. Now that's a purple squirrel hunt.

Like the private employment agency, remember that recruiting firms do not work for you. They work for the folks paying their fees, and hence may not always have your best interests at heart. The recruiter will get 25% to 35% of your first year's salary as his reward for finding and plucking the right squirrel out of their tree.

In the end, and with the exception of the squirrel hunts, almost all the jobs found in actual public and private employment agencies can be found and obtained on your own initiative. Your goal however, should be to break out and rise above the level of common employment agency jobs. Use internet based services like job boards, Linked-In and Plaxo to put yourself out there where you can be found. If you really want to stand out, think about setting up your own weblog. It's astoundingly easy to set up your own blog, and many places will let you host your blog for free. If you don't know what a blog is or where to start, you can learn everything you need to know in a day.

Lastly, go forth and network, network, network. It really is the best way to find a job. Ultimately, you want to stand out enough by building your own unique blend of experience and skills over time so that you join the ranks, whether intentionally or not, of the purple squirrels yourself.

And who knows, you might just be the person who comes up with a way to sell cheese to the Chinese.

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