Posted By Stephen Ashton Elizabeth, In my experience - which admittedly may not be representative - recruitment agencies are a complete and utter waste of time and effort...unless you are responding specifically to one advertised vacancy being handled by an agency... Some five years ago or so I tried the agency route when job prospecting in general.... I registered with six or seven different agencies (at least two of them supposedly reputable national companies) thinking one was sure to some up with something... Nothing, nada, zilch ... until around eighteen months later (when I had already been successful in finding a job under my own steam) when, through one of the agencies (I had neglected to 'deregister', believing they had already forgotten all about me....) I was invited to a job interview below my salary expectation, out of my preferred area, in an industry I knew little about, as a quality manager (with some safety responsibility) I have over twenty years in the safety profession, DipOSH, MIOSH, RSP etc. and didn't want to switch into quality (at that time....) Recruitment agencies generally have little or no understanding of our profession, little or no knowledge of our expectations, and little or no interest in us as individual job hunters (remember their money comes from the potential employers, not the potential employees.....) You would do better to keep an eye on this forum - I was extremely fortunate in spotting my present post here the very first time I 'dropped in on the off-chance'. Don't neglect the local free rags as well... I have occasionally spotted some very good positions in our local 'Advertiser' which have apparently NOT been advertised nationally....

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Elizabeth Although I would echo Stephen's view (up to a point), there are usually a few agency adverts in the back of the Practitioner. Paul

Posted By Arran Linton - Smith This is my experience when dealing with agencies: It is quite normal not to get a reply from an agency unless you are selected for an interview. As a significant portion of agency staff pay is made up of the commission they earn from placing staff, so I can understand why they simply do not bother to acknowledge your correspondence when you reply to their ads. Jobs in locations that have a shortage of applicants I.e. London and the South-East are more likely to be advertised by agencies. If an agency has your CV, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will contact you when a suitable vacancy comes up. In my experience they will only do that if they have a shortage of applicants for a particular job, i.e. the salary is low. Don’t expect agencies staff (even specialist ones) to know the difference between MIOSH and FIOSH, various qualifications or even what an RSP is. In the past, I have had the experience of two agencies sending me for the same interview which was interesting and have even been head hunted; this was an agency who wanted me to attend an interview for an occupational health nursing position ten years after I left nursing. I am afraid that we all probably expect too much from these agencies when we are looking for our ideal job.