Forget everything you think you know about recruitment agencies - Sarah at Monarch treated me like…read morea friend, and went to amazing lengths to find the perfect job for me. My new employer commented on Sarah's service being a contributing factor to me getting the job (not too much I hope). They had been messed around by other agencies and spent £1000's on advertising. I fit in perfectly here and would never even have know about this ideal position until I chanced on contacting Monarch. I would have rated more stars but it only goes up to five!

When I was out of work, I joined numerous agencies but they hardly ever called with job vacancies…read more However, when I was called in to register at Key Personnel, I had a long chat with Rebecca Simkiss, who specialises in temp-work; she offered me a job straight away! The service at the agency was fantastic. I felt valued because they quickly got to know who I was, so when I called they recognised me. They are very approachable and easy to talk to. Generally they specialise in administrative roles but if you're looking for something in particular, they're pretty good at finding the next best thing. Their website is quite dated and when I tried to update me details on there, it never seemed to work. I think they could do with investing more into the site.

I've just come across this organisation and I'm very much looking forward to working with them on…read moreimminent projects. They are to all intent and purpose a recruitment agency that specialise in placing people in the events and hospitality industry. I work on some projects for a charity whose aim it is to inspire people into jobs - in the events and hospitality industry. So you can see why we're a perfect match! However, what the 4 stars are for is that this firm are pro-active and enthusiastic to help the unemployed. They actually responded to a tweet (via Twitter) that I put out asking for firms to give work experience to encourage people into the industry. I've had excellent communications with both Katie and then Dee and as I say, really looking forward to sending people their way for both work experience and then part time, casual and indeed, full time employment.

This agency really mess you around, and they hold grudges! I once cancelled a shift at 6 hours…read morenotice once because I was so ill I couldn't get out of bed. Instead of just accepting that I couldn't work they shouted at me for only giving them 6 hours notice (I called at 7am!) and then tried to convince me that I wasn't too ill to work, and accused me of lying about being ill. I didn't get any work for 2 weeks (after I was better) despite there being lots of work and them practically begging other people to work. A few weeks ago I had to cancel a shift for the next day because I was severally injured on my way home from work (I won't go into details, it wasn't nice, I had to take over a week off work, but that's what happens when you have to walk by yourself in the dark). I called the emergency mobile, as it was around 11pm, and left a voice message, as no-one answered, and then sent a text to it, which I never received a reply to (despite the fact someone is suppose to answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). I did not get a response until 7am the next morning, via email, giving them 1 hour to find a replacement, yet I'd been shouted at for only providing 6 hours notice. On another occasion my shift was changed to a different one with a later finish, which I could not do. I had informed them that I could not work past a certain time. When I rang to query this I was informed the shift will finish by the time of my original shift. Having been told this before, I said that I wanted 100% guarantee (it was very important!!!!). They then cancelled the shift, saying that my other shift had been cancelled (I know it hadn't as when I rang they informed me that it hadn't been, but they really needed people for the other shift), and that they didn't want me to lose out on a shift (the shift was actually shorter than the original one, so any pretense of them being nice was totally false) so they had given me that shift, but if that was my attitude (I wasn't rude, and I did apologies for coming across as rude) then I could do without a shift. I have also had shifts cancelled at 30 minutes notice, been told to arrive for a shift 2 hours earlier than I was actually needed to, been given the wrong location/access/uniform details, and not been paid on time (several times) and then had them ignore my phone calls/emails asking when I will be paid. I am not the only person to have had issues with this agency, my collegues moan about them all the time. They continuously have to recruit people due to the amount of staff that leave, or refuse to work the stupid hours they ask (I know people that are practically forced into working over 100 hours a week, every week. The money maybe good but they are constantly exhausted and ill. And as I said before hold grudges, and they don't like it when you don't just go along with what they want. These people can't afford to get hardly any shifts, they have families). I am currently applying to in-house casual jobs as I know from talking to members of staff that they are much less likely to mess you around.

My experience of finding some work through Tate has been positive. Naturally, you have to go…read morethrough assessments for some vacancies, but the staff are friendly and supportive.

This is a job agency in the heart of the Birmingham city centre, and i have to say they can find…read moreyou jobs rather quickly to be honest i just had a call from them out of the blue and got me into a call centre job, ofcourse first undergoing some assessments with them first. The staff were really freindly and supportive. They give you as many attempts needed for you to pass the required standards sought for my your potential employers.

This is another fab agency to take up. They like almost all the time have jobs in the call centre…read moresector which i have been privledged to have got in through them. It can take some time for them to stay in touch with you regarding jobs as they have lots of people joining up and so there's understandably correlating administration tasks done by them. If you are a wheelchair user then the office location will pose a difficulty as they are on a level which requires going up the staircase first and there is no lifts available.