I have just been to Kelly Services recruitment agency on Church Street, Sheffield and it took me one hour to get a job!!!

And I am starting work at Norwich Union on Monday and only had my interview at 11am this morning!!

I would definately reccommend them as they told me they have loads of jobs.

Their phone number is 0114 279 6577 definately worth a call.

Which NU are you starting at Sian?

Congrats...Good luck for Monday!

I am starting at Norwich Union Life & Pensions on Ecclesall road but they also spoke to me about jobs at the other sites as well.

Do you mind giving us an idea what the salaries are like?

I'm currently working at the City Plaza building working in accounts.

The entry salary for Norwich union Direct varies depending obviously on what department you go to but it's around £12,900 per annum.

The one that I got is £11k - but that is because I only have a little bit of experience. Lots of holidays though so that is great!!!

For the main admin/processing role the starting salaries range from 9,000 - £15,750 depending on experience

for the call centre it's £11,000 to £15,000 depending on experience.

Both roles are based on flexi-time - 35hours per week and 29 days holiday pa and overtime is available at busy times

There are also other more-flexible arrangements available such as part-time, 40 hour weeks, compressed hours (working the 35 hours in less days and therefore more time off).....

There is a quarterly (i think) bonus scheme and also free share offers once you have been there a year.

loads of other offers, benefits and discounts

They are currently recruiting in quite large numbers through Kellys. so contact them for more info....

(current employee)

.....just to add if you go for a job at the City Plaza site it's not flexi time it's on a rolling rota eg: 9-5's one week 10-6's another and so on.

As Lou says there are great benefits with shares etc.....

Very helpful people

Originally posted by sianyp
The one that I got is £11k - but that is because I only have a little bit of experience. Lots of holidays though so that is great!!!

Is it call centres or admin?

Ant Marketing offers an even better opportunity for anyone out there looking for a position currently.

They offer great basic rates, even better bonuses and are flexible enough within their departments to offer excellent jobs within the company !

Tel - 0114 2011345

I am working on the admin team but there are call centre roles aswell.

I actually have a friend who worked at ant marketing and after speaking to him about it I would hate to work there

Having heard from ex-employees at Norwich Union I would never recommend them to someone looking for work

In fact at Ant Marketing there are many staff who have previously worked there and made the jump to Ant for whatever reasons.

;)

p.s would anyone agree with me that 'agencies' are like the football agents of the recruitment world ?

As far as I can see agencies do nothing but leech cash from hard working employees who need the money that they earn from their efforts.

Why would anyone use agencies ??

What agency do I need to register at to work at Ant Marketing then ?

Where else have you worked ?

Why does anyone need to register with an agency ??

Simply call the company direct - cut out the middleman - and avoid giving a huge cut of your pay to an agency !

Ant Marketing recruitment line - 0114 2011345

Well I think Norwich Union will be a great company to work for and can't wait to start working for a professionally run company and I am really glad I went to an agency as without Kelly Services I would not be starting a great job on Monday.

Agencies have been fine for me.

Flexible, weekly pay, days off when I want them. Also lets me try a job before I go permanent.

Lets me establish whether or not it's the right career move for me. I enjoy the change of environments and the kelly staff have been great.

They also compile my CV's free of charge, sort my pay out, offer me alternatives, check on my happiness in my assignment and always keep me up to speed with new jobs when they are available. Working for a agency is great.

All that you say can be achieved by going direct to a company - WITHOUT losing a huge chunk of your pay !!

Why would ANYONE consider using an agency when all they do is take a percentage of your pay for doing next to nothing ??

I have experience of many staff who work their hardest for companies but at the end of the week don't get a fair payment - with a huge wedge taken out by the agency every single week.

It's the employee who does the work - NOT the agency so why should the agency take the cash off the employee ??

Well I have always used agencies to look for work and they have always been extremely helpful.

Originally posted by Sheffielder
p.s would anyone agree with me that 'agencies' are like the football agents of the recruitment world ?

As far as I can see agencies do nothing but leech cash from hard working employees who need the money that they earn from their efforts.

Why would anyone use agencies ??

NU use agencies to get a good standard of candidate without constantly paying to advertise in the star etc.

The new recruits don;t pay anything to Kelly's (as far as I am aware).... Nu pay kelly's for the introduction to the candidate if they are still employed with us after about 6 months. I.e. it worked out as a suitable role to both parties after a trial period.

I think that the contracts being offered at the moment are permanent ones rather than temp ones ?? but I'm sure SianP will correct me if this is wrong.

as for people who left to go to ant marketing - it's a free country and not all jobs suit all people. NU expect good quality and efficiency from people once they have been trained and regularly give feedback on how people are performing (good and bad). this sort of structure is not everyones cup of tea.

I have worked for Nu for 13 yrs and think they are a good company.

I'm sure it's pretty much illegal to 'take a cut' of my wages isn't it ?

My agency charges a management fee to the client for their professional services for each hour that I work.

When Kelly offered me an hourly rate, thats exactly what I recieved.

I've never had to 'kick back' any of my wages. I expect them to charge a management fee for helping me out. They have found me loads of suitable assignments that otherwise I'd have missed out on.

How do ANT make their money - are they a middleman ?

Originally posted by Sheffielder
All that you say can be achieved by going direct to a company - WITHOUT losing a huge chunk of your pay !!

Why would ANYONE consider using an agency when all they do is take a percentage of your pay for doing next to nothing ??

I have experience of many staff who work their hardest for companies but at the end of the week don't get a fair payment - with a huge wedge taken out by the agency every single week.

It's the employee who does the work - NOT the agency so why should the agency take the cash off the employee ??

I work in IT - software developer, Project Manager - and the reason I go through an agency is that most large companies will not touch you otherwise.

That's why a lot of professionals still use agencies. It's better to get work and lost some commission to teh 'pimp' than it is to get 100% of nowt or work on a lower rate for a smaller company.

Joe

Why are agencies even in existance ?

If companies are looking for staff then as someone looking for work it HAS to be better to approach the company direct and earn your full potential.

I don't see the point in agencies

A company needs staff

People approach the company

The company employs the staff member

No need for an agency as far as I can see ??

Especially if they are charging 'management' or 'introductory' fees !?

I am not even going to bother replying to that post, I would have thought the advantages to client and job seeker were obvious.

Company Needs Staff

People Approach Company

Company Hires Staff

Staff fails to come up to standard and proves to be incompetent

Company spends 12 months obeying modern employment law before moving staff out.

Company saves £15000 next time by using an agency.

Sheffielder.....

a question (or two) for you.

Everytime there is a person on here who mentioned the word job or employement or wage or anything like that.....

you pop up like Zebedeee and suggest they apply at Ant Marketing....

does this mean...

a) you work in the recruitment area at said ANT marketing...

b) you work there, absolutely love it and therefore evangelise (sp?) at every opportunity to others

c) no-one actually wants to work there which is why there are so many vacancies all the time....

only joking Sheffielder, same could be said of NU.

Ridiculous

The same people looking for work are the same ones who the agencies suck in !!

Your post is naive to say the least (and VERY inaccurate)

Originally posted by LoopyLou
Sheffielder.....

a question (or two) for you.

Everytime there is a person on here who mentioned the word job or employement or wage or anything like that.....

you pop up like Zebedeee and suggest they apply at Ant Marketing....

does this mean...

a) you work in the recruitment area at said ANT marketing...

b) you work there, absolutely love it and therefore evangelise (sp?) at every opportunity to others

c) no-one actually wants to work there which is why there are so many vacancies all the time....

only joking Sheffielder, same could be said of NU.




Kelly Services too !!

lol

It's so OBVIOUS to anyone reading this thread that the guys at Kelly Services have nothing to do this afternoon !!

Originally posted by Sheffielder
Why are agencies even in existance ?

If companies are looking for staff then as someone looking for work it HAS to be better to approach the company direct and earn your full potential.

I don't see the point in agencies

A company needs staff

People approach the company

The company employs the staff member

No need for an agency as far as I can see ??

Especially if they are charging 'management' or 'introductory' fees !?

Well,

My agency charges me out at my hourly rate plus commission to the company. My rate is around GBP30 an hour minimum, the commission is probably, by now, about 5%, if that.

Many large companies who use my skills will simply not consider dealing with you direct. Full stop. that's it. No arguments. And that, my friend, is why Agencies exist - because the employing companies want to use middle men to do some of the filtering. I'm a specialist - I deal with agencies who specialise in people like me.

If you can get a contract role in IT development with HBOS, HSBC, Royal Mail, GE, etc. without going through an agency, please let me know how!

A reputable agency will not charge an introductry fee - after 10 years using agencies I've never had that happen. The rate that is agreed with me is specified at the start - I know they get a commission on me because they also tend to tell me. I don't have to chase invoices through the client's accounts system. I get a signed timesheet and 5 days later the money's in the bank. When I work direct for a company (and I occasionally do) I can be waiting literally months to get paid.

It works for many of us - have you had a bad experience?

Joe

OR

Company Needs Staff

Company Approach Agency
(without need for cost of advertising, screening replies, posting out decline letters etc etc etc)

Company Hires Staff thru agency
(already tested and briefed about the job and therefore keen to start)

New recuit gets on much quicker and means better customer service all round

Originally posted by Sheffielder


It's so OBVIOUS to anyone reading this thread that the guys at Kelly Services have nothing to do this afternoon !!

I don't work for kelly services ??? does anyone else on this thread work for them ??

Just seen this as an answer to one of your 'many' posts about ant marketing ...

Originally posted by Lotti
hi
thanks for the advice i've worked for Ant before and HATED it!

It did suit me at first, but I got fed up of hassling people at home (old ladies made me feel so bad) and getting chatted up by the 40 year old lorry drivers I had to phone!

Thanks anyway!

Lottie x


well it made me laugh.....

I have only ever worked for Kelly Services as a temporary two years ago. My role at NU is permanent.

It's ok - no need to get so defensive !!

he he

Just teasing..

Originally posted by Sheffielder
It's ok - no need to get so defensive !!

he he

Just teasing..


me too !!

If I was that comitted to the company I wouldnt be posting on here all day would I !!!

i get a feelin that sianyp might be from kelly's

surely not ??

:hihi:

read her posts, just read em!!!

hmmm, you have a great job offers in contrast to Poland

I worked through an agency temping which suited me at the time as I wanted to start work ASAP, I did not want to fill in some 6 page application forms or write an application letter. Also if you are temping you don't normally need to go for an interview before starting work.

The downside of course is the pay, especially when you see the rate they are charging the company you're working at.

The thing is more and more companies are using agencies because it's fast and easy and they don't need to worry about holiday pay, pensions etc for the employees. So sometimes it's not easy to just "Go direct".

In my experience unless you are a student or 'desperate' stay clear of any recruitment agency......

like any agency they are taking a cut of YOUR wages!!

If you are working for a company like NU...and they are happy with you PUSH for a permanent contract...If you have shown them you are 'worth it' they will recruit you!!

I've worked 20+ years at Norwich Union and because I am still there!!! I know how it works....it is shocking that if, on occasions, if you do not request a permanent contract you will not be offered one!!!

It really is a case of those who shout the loudest end up getting heard!!

Good Luck

:thumbsup:

wait, temp agencies in the take a cut of your pay?
in the us they charge the company youre assigned to more for your services and you still get a decent pay. i bring home about $400 us a week - before taxes - while the company im assigned to gets charged about $600 or so a week for me (i open mail there as well and i get to see the bills). i dont want to lose pay. but ive read too much about ant to even want to think about going to work there either. but, taking a cut from your pay is kinda worrying to me.

Agencies don't always take money from you, they take it from the company.

It has been my experience when working as a temp I was paid by the hour for the job I did. The agency I worked for charged the company who hired me for their services, and when I was taken on full time, they paid out a huge sum as an "introductory fee". It was around £400, and that was quite a while ago, so I should imagine that those fees have rocketed.

okay thanks.
and I'm going to head over to Kelly and a few others to see what they can do for me.

BT call centre in Sheffield town centre currently have jobs BUT u have to apply via an agency!

suppose to be a good job an all!

But would it be worth it after ALL that money taken from the agency?

:confused:

I really hate agencies - there seem so many springing up and no wonder with their 'cut' from the wages and fee to the employer.

I was recently working in a house where 2 recruitment staff lived and they were laughing and making fun of the people working for their agency while creaming off their % for doing nothing - it just made me sick.

I once worked for kelly services and my advisor's name was Sian Prigg, don't know what her middle name was though. Coincidence?

Originally posted by sianyp
I have just been to Kelly Services recruitment agency on Church Street, Sheffield and it took me one hour to get a job!!!

And I am starting work at Norwich Union on Monday and only had my interview at 11am this morning!!

I would definately reccommend them as they told me they have loads of jobs.

Their phone number is 0114 279 6577 definately worth a call.

this to me looks like an advertisement, all your posts are on this thread and this was your first post! why not just advertise in jobs available?

Originally posted by xlucyx
I once worked for kelly services and my advisor's name was Sian Prigg, don't know what her middle name was though. Coincidence?

There's a Susie Death at Office Angels!

As a student myself i find being a temp the ideal way to earn money. I temp for office angels and they are absolutly fab, every friday they put lunch out for the temps, it can range from KFC, to hotdogs or a chinese! They've even brought my lunch to my placement a few times!

I work 15 hours and i get a wage of around £95 a week

They do not take a cut of my wages, this is taken from the employer.

I think sheffielder is a bit peaved by agencies because no one wants to work for ant marketing because they rob you. ive had several friend who worked there who got promised pay rises after so many months, this never happened, and on several occasions they were not paid! Very efficient company!!

Agencies do not 'leech' as you put it cash off hard working people.

They do not charge or take a penny off their staff, all recruitment costs including permanant fees are charged to the client.

I can assure you of this as I run my own Recruitment Agency & have over 50 very satisfied employees who love the fact they can work flexible hours and also get paid a much higher rate than many of their colleagues who have permanent work!

sorry meant to say above posting is for 'sheffielder'

just my two pence worth.
Agencies dont take a cut of your wage we charge the company more than your hourly rate. This extra we charge covers the NI and tax we pay instead of the company paying it and leaves a small margin for ourselves as profit. (roughly %5). Very often I have candidates temping within a company who are being paid a higher rate than the perm employees already there. So following sheffielder advice and go direct would actually result in you recieving a lower rate of pay and prob accruing less holiday pay than the rate we pay at.
My main profits are made through recruiting a permanent position for a company. I ensure that the company get candidates that have already passed a strict screening process. I may have 100 candidates for some positions wheras the company advertising may only get 6 or 7 applicants so the chances are I have the better candidates for them than they attract themselves.

Originally posted by Carrie26
Agencies do not 'leech' as you put it cash off hard working people.

They do not charge or take a penny off their staff, all recruitment costs including permanant fees are charged to the client.

I can assure you of this as I run my own Recruitment Agency & have over 50 very satisfied employees who love the fact they can work flexible hours and also get paid a much higher rate than many of their colleagues who have permanent work!

whoops got the quoting technique wrong. So many buttons to press in this world...
Ok agencies are good in many ways, but no-one who runs one should hide from the fact that they are charging clients more than they are paying employees, (that's how they make a living,) and trade on the basis of job insecurity. so things like pensions, redundancy, are not a worry for clients.
One persons flexibility is anothers uncertainty.
I don't know what the figures are, but agency staff account for a substantial part of the workforce across the board, and generally (though there are key exceptions) the wages are lower than for comparable directly employed jobs.
Ironically.....
I used to be an agency HGV driver, a skill in much demand, and hence I was well paid and got a choice of work. Now, having lost my licence through a medical condition and about to get a CLAIT certificate, I am in the ugly position of shortly going knocking on agency doors looking for #### office jobs paying wages I can barely afford to live on.

Have you got a CV?
No, I hate French cars.

I wouldn't mind a pound or so an hour going to the agency, but when my employer is paying twice as much as I am getting paid to an agency for doing sweet FA it strikes me as a little unfair.

Originally posted by AlBal
As a student myself i find being a temp the ideal way to earn money. I temp for office angels and they are absolutly fab, every friday they put lunch out for the temps, it can range from KFC, to hotdogs or a chinese! They've even brought my lunch to my placement a few times!

I work 15 hours and i get a wage of around £95 a week

They do not take a cut of my wages, this is taken from the employer.

I think sheffielder is a bit peaved by agencies because no one wants to work for ant marketing because they rob you. ive had several friend who worked there who got promised pay rises after so many months, this never happened, and on several occasions they were not paid! Very efficient company!!

I also temp for office angels and wanted to work around 16-20 hrs per week but got the impression there was only full time jobs of nothing less than 40 hrs per week, I registered with them in April and I've only had 3 wks work from them so if anyone can recommend any of the other agencies, feel free to post here or PM me, I've heard of Ranstad, are they any good?
Josie

Sheffielder does work at ant hes been posting somewhere else saying he does, its probably dave anyways, the t**t

I've found most agencies in Sheffield completely useless. Horizon and Reed found me work a few years ago, and Travail have been good more recently.

As for the others... waste of time!

I decided to have a complete career change about 4 years ago, had done a bit of typing but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. My sis talked me into going to Office Angels. Best thing I ever did.

I had no experience working in an office, but they got me a secretarial job that started 2 days later, the company took me on permanently after 3 months. I loved it, but after a year I decided to have a change again.

I rang OA again, and started another office job 3 weeks later which I also enjoyed thoroughly. Through the contacts I made in both these jobs I was offered numerous others and now am an Administrative Manager earning double what I was earning 4 years ago.

I can see why people think agencies rip you off as you start off earning below the average of the usual pay for this type of job and they do take a big chunk of money, but it gets you into these places and then the sky's the limit. I would never have got here without their help.

I can't speak for the other agencies, but I'm sure they are just as good.

Joey
(puts soapbox back under desk!)

I am stunned by your comments

Dear Sheffielder -

You are either young, nieve, both or just plain stupid.

Whichever it is you obviously have no idea about business and why recruitment agencies are in place!

This probably explains why you are working at Ant and dont seem to see what is wrong with it!

Good luck in smelling the roses in the near future.

Whose comments are you stunned at in particular Boozy ?

Originally posted by sianyp
I have just been to Kelly Services recruitment agency on Church Street, Sheffield and it took me one hour to get a job!!!

I would definately reccommend them as they told me they have loads of jobs.

Well, as a student I thought it would be a good idea to go into Kellys as I also knew people at Norwich Union who said there was a great possibility of jobs available.

I went into Kellys and they looked very disinterested and seemed to want to get me out of the door as soon as they could. Maybe it was the fact I only wanted temporary work but needless to say, I wasn't impressed.

Maybe I caught them on a bad day. Does anyone recommend any agencies for finding temporary office work for the summer for students?

PS: I don't want to work at Ant. I've heard many many bad things from a variety of sources and I don't think telemarketing is for me.

Kelly Is pretty good for Students yeah. Ive had about 5 jobs from them. dont ttell Kelly though as they dont know that its me that keeps coming back :D

Hello all

For an excellent Engineering and Manufacturing recruitment consultancy contact TEK personnel Ltd, located just of Trippet Lane in Sheffield, they tend to deal with the higher end of the Salary market though and not your average£6 hr jobs.

Very good service.

0114 252 5730

Hello guys, after reading a number of you talk about recruitment agency's taking a "Cut" from your wages, this is utter nonsence.
If you temp through an Agy you will get a set rate that which the agy should tell you of when contacting your for an asignment, they then charge that rate plus extra to cover your National Insurance, Holiday pay, Sick pay and all the other pits and pieces that if you don't understand payrole and the tax system you would not understand back to the employing company. Yes the agency make a profit ontop of that aswell, but in addition they have to cover their advertising costs and don't forget all the time that the employing company has saved by not receiving 1000 applications from oversea's candidate wanting to work in the UK, the rubbish UK candidates, plus a good agy will carry out initial screening of a candidate, check their qualifications and reference on behalf of the employing company.
There is obviously numerous benefits to a company using an agy otherwise they would not be one of the biggest growth industries of the UK today.
FOr the candidate, they get the flexibility of temping, the ability to swap and change at will and to not be tied in to long and lenghy contracts should they not wish to..... really does anyone want me to carry on???