Interview with agency

[boyse7en]

I've got my first job interview in 12 years on Friday. Not been a serial job charger so interviews are not my speciality. Previous experience has always been an interview with the company direct, usually with the Dept head or MD on a one-to-one basis.

This interview is with the recruitment agency contracted by the company, of which I know little at the moment (a manufacturing company based in my town is all the description says) and I'm not sure how to treat it.
Do I use it as a fact finding mission to discover more about the company? Or do i need to impress the recruiter (who won't be a specialist in my area of work)?

TBH I'm not sure what the purpose of the interview is.

Any advice by those more "in the know" on the recruitment process used by agencies?

[designforlife]

I've always found recruitment agency interviews to be a bit of a waste of time broadly speaking, it's essentially a form filling exercise... honestly the sort of thing they should be able to do over the phone really.

Certainly nothing to get overly stressed or worried about... you should use it as an opportunity to sound the recruiter out too, some are utterly worthless.

But they can be good interview practise and experience to carry forward to employer interviews.

[Pit Pony]

I am cynical. I have been pissed around by consultants who were massaging their own egos.
Never again.
My cv says it all. If you aren't prepared to put my cv forward based on a five minute conversation on the phone, then you are wasting your own and my time.
However you are where you are? Treat it as interview practice. The person in front of you holds the door to the first hoop in a line of hoops. Good luck.

[bucksmanuk]

I haven’t had one for decades, and they did appear to be power plays by the young recruitment “consultant” to vet you carefully – righto mate… I thought they had died off.
The likelihood is that the recruitment w@nker will have been given some questions from the client, and what answers they hope to see as a response. Answers not “correct” – application goes no further. The problem with this is, it becomes buzz word/acronym bingo, and the more in fashion words/phrases you use in your answer, the higher the score. You may actually know far more and be better than anyone else, but your buzz word/acronym count was too low. The recruitment w@nker probably doesn’t know anything about the topic, or indeed anything at all at times, and so your application process grinds to a halt.
I do wonder what goes on at times in recruitment land.
Is it HR not wanting to get involved, not knowing what’s involved with the position or indeed the process?
There’s a reason why much of HR is being outsourced.
I could fill this page with examples of truly shocking HR practices.
as pit pony says, with a few years under your belt - your CV should say it all...

[Lotus Notes]

Have a look for the position on the company careers website of all the potential the companies in your town. Apply directly if you can.

If not, use the interview for practice and engage as best you can with the recruiter. They might forward your CV to their client.

Do NOT believe anything they say.
Do NOT believe anything they say.
Do NOT believe anything they say.

[bucksmanuk]

I’m not totally convinced that HR want people applying direct. The company themselves do because they don’t want to pay the agency fees.
However, certain HR managers tend not to get back handers from the agency if people apply direct. Although this is a very cynical approach, I’ve witnessed enough examples to know it goes on.