Recruitment Agencies - Are They Worth It? (In Aus)

[lamaros]

So I've just moved to Sydney and find myself looking for a job, wondering if there's going to be any advantage for me in going to a recruitment agency (and if so which ones?) given that:

I've only just finished uni last year.
and
I've no experience in the areas I'm interested in, having only office admin stuff on my resume.

Do any of the Aussies on this board have and wisdom to share on this score? Anything would be most appreciated.

(other personal info maybe relevant: did honours in English, looking at publishing industry/grad positions/anything not shit)

[KallDrexx]

I don't know about Australia's recruiters (only worked with game industry recruiters while I was down there), but so far here in the States I have had good luck with recruiters.  At least with recruiters here, you don't have to do anything or pay anything so there is absolutely no reason not to at least send your resume and an intro letter to some.  Worse comes to worse you get ignored, best case they do the work trying to find a job they think you can get.

I wouldn't use them as your sole method of finding a job, but since getting recruiters isn't very hard I don't see why it wouldn't be worth it.

*edit*
Recruiters pretty much fall into 3 categories.  The good ones who will work with you to find the a well matched job, the bad ones that will try and match you with anything just to see if you accidentally pass so they get paid, and the rest will ignore you unless they think they are guaranteed to place you.   The trick is to just send intro and resume to a bunch of different recruiters and try and figure out which one is which.

*edit 2*
Actually I just remembered I did talk to a bunch of recruiters when I was trying to move to Australia a few months back.  I pretty much googled for recruiters and sent a quick cover letter explaining myself and attached my resume to a bunch of them.  Most ignored me, yet a few days later I got some responses back for job possibilities either now or coming up early this year.  Just don't stress out about it and just send your resume out and move on.  If a recruiter is interested they will contact you back.

[Tale]

I think you're at the stage where you need to find experience in the area you're interested in, before going to a recruiter. Any experience is good experience. For example, I would have been no use to them as a journalism graduate because I needed a bigger portfolio of published stuff and roles successfully worked, not just a qualification. Even writing for free in a community newspaper helped.

Recruiters are in the business of finding the best person for the job, faster than the employer could do so on their own. In my "Recruiter told to avoid WoW players" thread, I was being headhunted for a job with a rival media company who had spent months trying to find the right person (and I wasn't a WoW player, I was offered the job). Just like a job interview, you need to be able to demonstrate to the recruiter what you've done that makes you qualified for a job.

My dad was a fan of picking a recruiter and cosying up to them, doing lunch with them, keeping in touch even when you're not looking for a job, so they think of you when something comes up. That might work, and there's no harm in sending a resume to anyone, but I'm not sure recruiters are what you need at the moment. I'd be more inclined to get contacts in the industry you want to enter and keep trying them, showing you are interested. And do whatever you can to get experience in it.