What Is A Better Way Of Obtaining Employment: Approaching Agencies Or Approaching The Company Directly???

Depends on what your goal is. An empoyement agency can probably get you a job quicker.

If you want more than a job....a career...you are betty off approaching companies yourself. Any company that is worth working for is selective about who they hire. You should be selective about who you are going to work for and what you are going to be doing since you are going to spend a huge chunk of your day there.

I've done both and I've always had a more fullfilling job when I have approached companies directly.

Approaching the companies directly yourself.

Approaching the company dirrectly.

AGENCIES JUST WANT TO FILL POSITIONS THEY DON'T REALLY MIND WHO GETS THE JOB(IN MY OPINION).I'D SUGGEST GOING DIRECT TO THE COMPANY.

Try doing both.

You can impress by going direct but also, you could use an agency which might get you some temp work there - the perfect why to get yourself noticed and stand a chance of getting a permanent postion.

Forget the agencies. They will take a percentage of your wages. You'll get the full amount if you approach the company directly.

Approaching a company direct.

But may I suggest you still register with a agency. If you know the companies well, in the region you want to be employed. Then when, the agency tells you about the job. You can normal work out which company it is and give them a call and send them your CV yourself.

If you know what companies are out there recruiting for jobs you can do, go direct.

The benefit of an agency is that it may not be so easy to find the opportunities that are out there, but if you know who you want to work for the benefit of an employment agency diminishes.

As a recruiter, I can tell you that the best way depends on the company that you want to apply to - there is absolutely no general rule regarding this.

Some companies do not have the internal resources to do their own recruitment, and do all their hiring through agencies.

Other companies have specialised internal recruiters and do not deal with agencies at all.

And in other companies, they may do a mix of both - they may be able to fill junior and/or non-technical positions themselves, but may need to look to an agency for more specialised positions.

If you really want to work for a particular company, your best bet is to call the company and ask to speak to someone regarding employment opportunities. You'll either be passed to someone in HR or someone in recruitment, so simply ask them what the best way of applying to them is.

If you're looking for a particular role but aren't that bothered about what company you actually work for, then agencies can be the best way to go, especially for jobs in finance or admin that aren't industry specific. If you use a large agency, they will have a wide range of vacancies and in effect it's a "one-stop shop" rather than trawling through individual companies' websites and so on.

And, in response to the person who said that agencies take a percentage of your salaries, let's look at it this way. A Recruitment Consultant's commission is paid as a percentage of the successful candidate's salary. Therefore, it's in the Consultant's best interests to negotiate the highest salary possible for you, and remember that they are *professionals* at negotiating salary and do it daily. You're not an expert at negotiating salary - you probably do it whenever you change jobs which on average is probably every couple of years. So which of you do you think is going to get the better result when it comes to negotiating?

Neither. If you looked at the breakdown of how people are referred to positions, you would find that personal reference is far and away the most effective. Contact people you know who are already working at places suitable for your line of work. That is the ticket to getting in the door.

Approaching the companies direct. I have heard through friends that work for agencies that they get paid less than the regular staff and do not have the same job protection.