I am personally not a big fan of temp agencies because I feel like you spend forever in the holding tank waiting for your number to come up; kind of like a job lottery in a sense. However, a current hiring practice that I keep reading about is that companies are using temp agencies to screen candidates and try people out. Since I wanted to get my own chips in that game, acknowledging that you never where you’re next job will come from, I signed up with Northwest Staffing in January.
My first impression with Northwest Staffing was that they seemed to be a staffing company that wasn’t looking at me as just another name to add their roster but more that they were genuine about wanting to aid in my job search. I was able to achieve all their required applications and skills test online, which was very handy and impressive given my experiences with other temp agencies, and the few times I spoke with a member of their staff I seemed to get the impression that they were not only screening me for lunacy but were seeing that I have real skills to offer a company and their client.
Then came my trust and high opinion of Northwest Staffing came crashing down in February when they told me that I had to come into the office to complete my application. What could be left? I asked – well they needed me to come in for a face-to-face interview so that we can say that we’ve met you when we are delivering your resume to clients. I explained to the recruiter that for me to come in during business hours I would only be able to come in on my lunch break, which is an hour, and it would take me 40 minutes round trip to come to their office, so I would have only 20 minutes for a tight interview. The recruiter said that was fine and we made the appointment.
I arrived in the office ten minutes early (go Speed racer!) were I was told that the recruiter I was meeting with was actually out to lunch. The receptionist then handed me a form to fill out with references and emergency contact information, though I had already completed the form online, and then wanted me to follow her to the computer room for testing. I explained I had already done the online testing, I was just here for a face-to-face, and she said “everyone has to the testing here even when they have done it online”. I asked her how long it was going to take, seeing that at this point I only had 11 minutes left before I needed to head back to work and the receptionist told me it would take 2 hours. What???? From the look on my face the receptionist knew there needed to be an intervention so she went and got someone from behind a patrician who turned out to be the recruiter I was supposed to have met. Well gee golly, I guess someone wasn’t out lunch after all.
So now… I’m heated; I’ve just wasted a lunch hour for nothing and have been lied to by someone who I thought was actually going to help me. The recruiter is telling me that this is all standard stuff (the in office testing), and she wanted to know what I was really expecting. What I was expecting was a face-to-face interview of 20 minutes like we had discussed on the phone! Why wasn’t I told all of this on the phone? To which there is no answer from the recruiter or the receptionist. There only solution is to try to make an appointment with me again, but they both seem flustered when I tell them that I work, and either they will need to stay late for me to come in after work or find some other way to help me fit this into my schedule… and that’s when I am told:
to come back when I no longer have a job
After explaining to Northwest Staffing’s recruiters in writing and over the phone (twice!) that I am trying to transition out of my current job and into a new one without having lag time like people experience when dealing with temp agencies, the only advice they can give me is to come back when I don’t have a job? Wow… thanks for that advise Northwest Staffing!
So today, I decided to give them another try by emailing them on my lunch break to set up an appointment to come in and do all the testing and gaming playing that they wanted me to do in February. Here is the response I got:
Hello, (it’s nice that she couldn’t even put my name into the email)
At this point in time we do not need you to come into the office. A recruiter will contact you if there is a position that you are qualified for available.
Thank you,
Abby
Now that is what I call a perfect brush off. Basically it reads to me:
we do not really have opportunities of employment, we are liars, and when people catch on we blow them off with a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” line.
Well, I certainly won’t be holding my breathe.
The Permanent Job Hunter 