So, as many of you know I will be medically retired from the military in the near future (looks like I will start Transition leave at the end of July and be out of the Navy entirely by 1 October). With that said I am looking for a job. I found a very interesting position, HR Benefits Administrator, in Tennessee that I would be qualified for however it is through a staffing agency called Randstad. I have never used a staffing agency before because prior to the military my only other "professional" job was via a scholarship opportunity from the Technical College I was attending (basically the company hired me at minimum wage and paid all my school fees while I worked for them). Other than that I had a few part time jobs at grocery stores, a machine shop, and a full time job as a Garden Center associate at Walmart. Needless to say none of those rated a staffing agency haha. So, anyone have any experiences with this? How does it work? The position is listed as a permanent position so would that mean that I would permanently be considered an employee of Randstad unless I chose to leave the company that I am "assigned" to through them? I know they would be the ones to pay me and they would bill the company I would be working for a higher number than what I am paid. Thanks for any insights. Brian
It's harmless to ask them directly, but usually "permanent" means that the company has outsourced their recruiting to Randstad and you would be an employee of the company. There is also "temp-to-perm", where you are an employee of Randstad for a while, and eventually (if you don't screw up) transition to being hired by the actual company for which you're doing the work. I did temp to perm through Manpower Technical to work for NCR back in the '90s and it was fine. The sender's name on the checks changed when I transitioned, and the amount was a little higher, but everything else was the same.
The one problem I think you'll run into with staffing agencies is even with a perm role their likely isn't going to be any funding for relocation. Randstad is a national company with local offices in multiple cities. They tend to look for candidates in the area of the particular office that is recruiting for the role.
Good to know. Thanks. I am not worried about relocation funding the Navy will pay some to move me for my final set of orders/retirement plus I have money in savings. The "they may want to hire locally" part would be problematic though. I will just have to hope I look really good on paper haha.
Randstad is one of the bigger and international players in the recruiting market. Basically the company tells them to look for candidates. After they found these through advertising and searching sites like LinkedIn, monster.com etc. they put them forward to the employer and if one of their candidates get hired the company gets charged a fee (something around 30% of your annual gross salary). For you it only means you contact the external recruiter first and then go to the company for the interview, just like normal.
All they care about is profiting from your success. I have had a few bad experiences in which the recruiters lied to me and I caught them in the lie.
True, they're not there just to be nice guys. But is that surprising? And besides, they can't profit unless you're placed. I would agree that anything you don't have in writing you don't have at all.
During my first year of graduation school, I worked for a temp staffing agency (doing low level accounting and office management). I mainly filled-in for people who were on sick leave or an extended vacation - of where they had a quick termination and were advertising the position. In the end, I was annoyed at not knowing where I'd be and for how long. There were times that I was far over-qualified (answering the phones at a trucking company) and other times far under-qualified (budget office at a large hotel). I ended up quitting in favor of delivering pizza.
Thanks for all the input everyone. The listing I am looking at the company is private and, based on some sluething, is not listed anywere else using the keywords from the job description and/or the position title. So I think it is that the company simply outsourced their hiring process to a local vendor. I have applied so wish me luck (have about 45 other jobs saved in my indeed account in SC, GA, and TN that I qualify for and I apply to a few a day, trying to avoid being unemployed once the Navy boots me if at all possible haha).
I had a friend who worked at a local company and asked me to give him my resume. They wanted to interview ms but said they already received my resume from the starting agency and couldnt hire me except through the agency. The trouble is the agency wanted too much for me so I missed that opportunity. Then another agency told me about a job and I told them my min hourly salary. They said the position would fit and that I could interview in two days so I set it up. Right after that call the old agency called and told me about a similar position. It was the same one but at fifteen dollars less per hour. I told them the company name and they said there was no way they pay that much. So the way j see it this starting agency bagged about half my hourly rate soaking the company and cutting into what I am worth. They are not to be trusted. Use them and negotiate aggressively.
Your experience isn't typical. The agencies make the vast majority of their money through fees/commissions when they place someone full-time. Their margins tend to be relatively low on what they get when they staff a temp. If a firm is paying the staffing agency $20/hr, they are likely only keeping $3 or $4 of that themselves.
