A Question of Interviews

I'm unemployed and looking for work. Now because of the job market in Cowtown, this shouldn't be an issue and finding job postings is easy. What I didn't expect was the response I got from agencies.

I'm defining an "agency" here as an entity that finds jobs for people. They send your resume to their clients, the clients interview you and if you're hired, the employer pays the agency a cut of your new salary. I've "interviewed" with about eight of them in the past two weeks.

I'm wondering if the whole agency thing is the way to go. I've only had one job interview that I submitted my application directly. I don't think I'd want that job though, even if they offered it to me. It sounded like a great job, but the two guys who interviewed me had no sense of humour whatsoever. Not that I cracked a lot of jokes, but they were absolutely stone-faced. And they would be my bosses if I was hired. No fun.

Anyways back to the agency thing. I'm getting the impression that these guys get paid by how many names they have, no more. There was one this week where I was actually asked questions pertaining to a specific job. One I had today did the same which actually kind of threw me. The rest, well, it was about fifteen minutes of "here's what we do, how does that sound?" and I was out the door.

So I'm thinking that if I'm going to get a job, it will be without their help.

Besides, as Capa would say, why go through a middleman when it's cheaper for the employer just to get resumes directly? Not to mention I'm a firm believer that if you put your life in someone's hands, chances are they'll drop it in the toilet.

Time is kind of on my side though. Summer is usually not the best time to be looking for work but then again if that's the belief, I'll be the only one looking.

And a summer off sounds nice.