Okay I'll give you my 5c worth!

1) whenever you go into a recruitment agency you always need to be able to express exactly what you want from them. If you do not give them direction as to what sort of job and hours you are looking for then expect for them to dick you around. Make sure if you are after permanant work that they understand that.

2) Never agree to a group interview (as was above), they are a complete waste of time and usually indicate that they will be grouping you in their bottom pool of temps.

3) Ask details about the role - don't just let them send you to an interview blind (as they will do). If they are cagey about details keep pushing. Often they wont tell you the name of the company (as it's in their terms) but you can ask them other details such as "what sort of industry is the company is in", "wether they recruit a lot of staff through the organisation" (indicates high turn over role - ie shit job), "Is the company well known?" (ie reputable), "am I the first applicant to be put foward for the role" (ie did they put through someone before you who didn't meet the criteria, inidcates the agency doesn't actually understand what the job entails). DONT LET THEM LEAVE YOU IN THE DARK.

4) Find ONE consultant within the agency and STICK WITH THEM - it'll save you heaps of potential grief in the long run. Make sure its someone who understands your skills and experience. If you're in IT then make sure you consultant actually has a clue about the IT sector (though there are specialist IT agencies).

5) Don't just sign up to one agency - sign up to a couple (even if you only intend to really use one) but make a point of letting the other agencies know that you are not exclusive to just them so if they want to make money off you they better do a good job. It's free to sign up to the agencies so utilise that.

6) Check the market to see which agencies seems to be placing people in industries you are interested in. Eg Clayton Ford do management and accountancy. GBL do plenty of call centres and government contracts. etc etc.

7) [Personal Opinion] DONT GO NEAR HUDSON WITH SOMEONE ELSES 10 FOOT BARGE POLE!

8) Always be polite but firm - they are there to make money off you so you call the shots.

I think thats it off the top of my head - best of luck!!

//better them than chauvanistic pig male recruiters who think that all women are either fat or whores. or recruiters who act as total gatekeepers and won't put you forward for a new youd be good at because they think that they know whats best

Actually that was one of the reasons I said not to goto Hudson. Though I am male I have a number of female friends who got absolutley shite service through Hudson and one of them ended up making a complaint against the organisation of discrimination.

My experience of Hudson has been that they don't listen to what you actually want, they often don't understand what skills a job entails and as such often end up assigning the wrong person for a job. I've found their staff to be rude and offensive at times and in general I do not rate them very highly at all. This is the impression I have gained from others who have used them too.

However as I said in the inital post that is a personal opinion - like all organisations it often depends on who you end up with from the organisation and there must be good staff in Hudson somewhere (I just never found them).

My recomendation would goto GBL in Wellington personally.

neutering?

nuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrturning.

etc.

Part of the problem has been that few companies do their own hiring, they all get recruitment companies to do it for them, ever huge companies like the AA and Xtra. Few ads on Seek are actually from the company itself