Employment Agency Dishonesty is Prevalent
Most employment agencies have two primary functions. The first is to find employers who are seeking new employees and the second is finding employees to fill possible openings. The problem with this is that employment agencies run into the predicament that if they do not have a "base" of potential employees, they are not able to promote their services to companies. This often means that they are advertising for specific skill sets even if there are no current jobs available to fill. Here are some clear signals that a position posted by an employment agency does not exist:
Rates up to - Rather than specifically stating a rate for a position, you may see an advertisement that says "Data entry jobs paying up to $17 per hour". This is usually a good sign that the job does not currently exist. Remember, that if someone has a specific opening, they have already determined what rate they are planning to pay;
Various shifts available - While some companies offer multiple shifts for various positions, if a specific job is being posted, chances are that the hours have already been decided. A job advertisement that is posted as "various shifts available" is almost always placed to attract potential candidates for future job openings;
Admin Assistants for various functions - These advertisements are typically easy to spot. They include such language as "financial services", "legal services", "large corporations", etc. This type of an advertisement is almost always a sign that an employment agency is attempting to build up a list of potential candidates without a specific job opening;
Various sales jobs - A generic advertisement offering various sales positions almost always are a "hook" to attract new candidates. These articles may be geared towards new graduates from MBA programs and other business majors. These advertisements allow an employment agency to build up a solid base of candidates. Once they have a strong base of candidates they can solicit business from banks, broker dealers, insurance agencies and other companies who are in need of sales staff.
Summary
While there may be specific instances where an employment agency is offering positions that actually exist, it is more likely that the advertisements are geared towards building up a base of candidates. While many of us may not feel this is ethical, without a pool of candidates, employment agencies often cannot find new employers who are willing to hire them to fill open positions. It is a good rule of thumb that if you are applying for a position to understand that employment agencies are more than likely more interested in collecting your resume for future openings versus having you actually interview directly for a position that is open currently.
