13 Dec 08 Secretarial Work- How to Choose a Recruitment Agency

If you are a secretary looking to enlist with a recruitment agency then either you go online and pick the first name that appears after your search results come up, or you just walk along the High Street and go into the first agency you see, don’t you? Well you could, but really you shouldn’t. If you are a secretary then you should perhaps try to find out which agencies pay the best rates, which will allow you the greatest amount of flexibility, which seem quite professional and which seem like they may just be more interested in making some money and aren’t too bothered about the standard of service.

Sure you can just sign up with the first one, but isn’t that selling yourself a bit short? After all, a good agency can help you to secure really interesting work, great rates of pay and some fantastic job opportunities.

You may wish to consider asking an agency about the number of clients they have, how many people they have signed up with them looking for work. How many positions they tend to fill and also you can ask about how long they have been trading, what they can offer you in terms of assistance.

Don’t sign up with any agency that doesn’t return your phone calls or emails. Although many agencies are online, often they will have premises as well. If you can, then try to take a trip to one of their offices, so that you can assess what the staff are like and if they seem competent and aware of what they are doing. If you are choosing an online agency, then look at their emails and communications. Are they professional, or is the website and their emails littered with spelling mistakes?

A good agency will appear polite, professional and realistically choosing an agency is as much about you interviewing them and deciding if you can work with them, than it is about them choosing you. So don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and to check just how reliable and professional they are, so that when you sign up with them, you really can land that dream job.

 

Tags: Afraid To Ask, Flexibility, How Many People, Job, Job Opportunities, Money, Phone Calls, Premises, Recruitment Agency, secretarial, Secretarial Work, secretary, Spelling Mistakes, temping, temporary work, work

11 Dec 08 How to get Through Your First Week at Work

Anyone starting a new job is really bound to feel a sense of apprehension. Going into the office on your first day, especially if you are in a relatively junior position can seem a daunting experience. After all, you don’t even know where the toilets are, or where to make yourself a drink, so the first day and even the first week can seem quite slow and lengthy.

But there are some things that you can do to help yourself and make the settling in process a little bit quicker. Don’t be afraid to ask. If you don’t know how to do something or where something is, then ask, but try not to ask the same person all the time, or they may grow a little tired of it.

Don’t be too forward on your first day. If you come in and try to change things too quickly, people may resent you. So just adapt to how things are done and don’t keep telling people how your last employer did things: they probably won’t be interested.

It is always important to be friendly but do not attach yourself to a particular individual until you know what is what in the office and understand the dynamics of the workplace. It is really easy to alienate people by inadvertently saying the wrong thing. Remember that these people are colleagues, not necessarily your new best friends.

If you are temping for a recruitment agency, then you probably will get used to settling into new work experiences very quickly, but you should still ensure that you don’t rock the boat too much, whether you are temping or there on a permanent basis. Changes in the workplace often need to be handled sensitively and many people may be wary of a new person joining the team, so simply be yourself, but be slightly reserved until you start to understand how things work and what the office is really like. That way, settling in should be no trouble at all and you will soon be a valued member of the workplace.

Tags: Afraid To Ask, anxiety, Apprehension, Bound, Changes In The Workplace, Colleagues, fear, first week, help, Junior Position, Little Bit, Many People, New Best Friends, New Friends, New Job, Recruitment Agency, Rock The Boat, Settling, Starting A New Job, Toilets, Work Experiences