Temp agencies: Good or Bad?

As I was mentioning in my last blog entry, I went for an open house to a temp agency near my house. The smartest and most experienced applicants knew to get by the doorway by 5:00 PM sharp, when the open house started. Well, I wanted to show up a little later to look good but faced about 20 other applicants in there. Next time, if there is another next time, I'll know...

The ad said "come meet our recruiters." Well, they had a typo because as far as I am concerned, there was 1 recruiter on the spot. You had to either wait in line (which means probably 1 hour and a half starring the other applicants and nibbling on some cheap veggies/dip tray you get at Safeway) OR you could go home and have a phone interview the next day. Guess what I did?

While the receptionist was very nice at that agency, I got paired up with a "flaked" recruiter. She did call (later than she was supposed) and was supposed to send me templates for a resume by emails. She claims my resume doesn't work. Maybe she is right. Actually, all June and July, nobody called me for a job interview. As of today, I am still waiting on these darn templates...

I may sound like bitching but temp agencies were such a heaven place in the mid-90's. Jobs were plentiful and actually, the recruiters were nice. What happened to these recruiters? Also, I never had problems to meet new friends in the waiting room. We were all there to get a job but people were so much nicer then. Monday, I tried to start a conversation with two women and got the stare of death. Chill out people! You are looking for a job and I am too! Your bad attitude won't get you anywhere ladies...