A Country of Agencies
August 2012
Despite applying for a number of jobs before I headed over here I've had no bites. Apparently England is a country of agencies, and almost all work is found through employment agencies. So my next approach has been to sign up with a number of temping agencies and temp my way around for a year. I'm not sure if it's just because it's the summer holidays or whether it's the recession, but even this simple task is proving harder than I expected.
I emailed and rang a bunch of agencies several weeks ago, and got nothing more than "please send us your CV" from a couple, but mostly no response at all. A more direct approach seemed warranted. So I dressed up nicely and went walking the streets to as many likely agencies as I could find.
The response were mixed. Some places were happy to talk to me but never actually did anything even after I followed up with them a couple of times. Some seemed to go to a lot of effort while I was there, putting me through a barrage of tests on Word and Excel etc (which I passed well much to my relief!), but then never seemed to have any work available. Some agencies turned out to be appointment only - which is a little hard when they won't respond to your emails of calls - but I obviously guilted them into talking to me on the phone from the lobby, and so got my interview.
After a couple of weeks with no employment from this initial round of registrations, I started investigating others by looking at the agencies advertising the jobs that looked interesting online. I was called out of the blue by a couple of agencies who had seen my CV online and wanted to sign me up. The people at these smaller agencies seemed to be much nicer, more real, and helpful. So I'm hopeful they might turn something up for me.
I've continued to apply for any jobs that look likely, but have had a sum total of zero interviews thus far. I guess I'm not too surprised - who's going to hire a person who's only around for a year, in the middle of a recession. It seems to be the custom here to not inform you if you don't make the cut so I've very little idea as to why I'm not getting anything. I just have to assume there are other people more qualified. I have to keep reminding myself this is London, not little old Nelson.
Despite applying for a number of jobs before I headed over here I've had no bites. Apparently England is a country of agencies, and almost all work is found through employment agencies. So my next approach has been to sign up with a number of temping agencies and temp my way around for a year. I'm not sure if it's just because it's the summer holidays or whether it's the recession, but even this simple task is proving harder than I expected.
I emailed and rang a bunch of agencies several weeks ago, and got nothing more than "please send us your CV" from a couple, but mostly no response at all. A more direct approach seemed warranted. So I dressed up nicely and went walking the streets to as many likely agencies as I could find.
The response were mixed. Some places were happy to talk to me but never actually did anything even after I followed up with them a couple of times. Some seemed to go to a lot of effort while I was there, putting me through a barrage of tests on Word and Excel etc (which I passed well much to my relief!), but then never seemed to have any work available. Some agencies turned out to be appointment only - which is a little hard when they won't respond to your emails of calls - but I obviously guilted them into talking to me on the phone from the lobby, and so got my interview.
After a couple of weeks with no employment from this initial round of registrations, I started investigating others by looking at the agencies advertising the jobs that looked interesting online. I was called out of the blue by a couple of agencies who had seen my CV online and wanted to sign me up. The people at these smaller agencies seemed to be much nicer, more real, and helpful. So I'm hopeful they might turn something up for me.
I've continued to apply for any jobs that look likely, but have had a sum total of zero interviews thus far. I guess I'm not too surprised - who's going to hire a person who's only around for a year, in the middle of a recession. It seems to be the custom here to not inform you if you don't make the cut so I've very little idea as to why I'm not getting anything. I just have to assume there are other people more qualified. I have to keep reminding myself this is London, not little old Nelson.
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