Do employment agencies have anything to offer these days?

[Kat45]

I'm thinking that they probably don't. It's such an employers' market today that I don't see why any company would pay an agency to find employees for them (except perhaps for extremely specialized jobs). Whenever I look at Craig's List ads, a good number of them are posted by agencies. I think the jobs probably don't even exist, but the agencies are just posting them to try to get more people signed up with their agency. Though I'm a bit confused here: what is the point of signing up workers if the agencies don't have any jobs to set them up with. Unless of course it is just a way to give their employees something to do and justify their jobs.

And what about temp agencies? I'm thinking that companies probably are making use of temp workers (so they won't have to hire permanent workers and give them benefits). But are there even any temp jobs out there now, or are they already filled with "permanent temps"?

I'd appreciate any insight that anyone has about this. Thanks.

[drm604]

1. My experience with employment agencies recently hasn't been very positive.

They contact me, sell me on a position they're trying to fill, tell me they'll try to set up an interview, then never get back to me. When I follow up with them either the position has been filled or it's "on hold".

I've gotten more interviews lately through Craigslist than any other way. Of course, none of those interviews has gotten me a job offer, and you have to be careful of scams.

However, it doesn't cost you anything to use an employment agency (be wary of any that want to charge you), so you might as well utilize them.

[Kat45]

2. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

The thing I hate about using them when there is no job is that I end up having to go into the city, which is not cheap to do any more, then spending all day going through all the bs at the agency, all for nothing.