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Topic: Creative Circle
| Author | Message |
| bookit | Posted – 7/10/2008 11:35:24 AM | show profile | email poster Hi Do any of you have any luck using Creative Circle for job leads? I have been appling to an average of about 3 job inquries a week, and I never hear anything back. I know I am qualified, (somtimes over-qualified and in my cover letter state that and tell them I am willing to take lower level jobs just to gain contacts / experience) but I haven't heard back. I tried calling them and the receptionist who wouldn't patch me through to anyone said all I could do was wait until they called me. Anyone have any success stories from them / advice? I feel like I am wasting a lot of time for naught! Thanks! |
| blossom53 | Posted – 7/10/2008 1:10:09 PM | show profile honestly, they are Ok but no one ever replied to me when i sent my resume over as well to their emailed jobs...i did meet with them in person, etc...and they called me for a job about 7 weeks later when i was already working elsewhere. also, i had to constatly follow-up with them. they're nice, i just think they get very overwhelmed with applicants. they did place a friend of mine at a good job last year. |
| foodlit | Posted – 7/10/2008 2:32:16 PM | show profile I'm not familiar with Creative Circle, but as a recruiter, I can tell you that generally the way things work is if you match a current search perfectly...and that means not significantly over or under qualified, but right on for what they are looking for, they will call you. Companies pay their fees, so they work for the company to fill very specific openings and often the company dictates those parameters such as 'people out of xyz company are preferred'. So, it all depends on how you stack up against the other candidates they have for a role. That said, I would also advise you to check in with them every few weeks, let them know you're available and if you see a posted position that you feel you are a very good fit, call and remind them. Sometimes it helps to keep top of mind when they are dealing with hundreds of candidates and resumes. Good luck, Pam |
| bookit | Posted – 7/10/2008 6:50:45 PM | show profile thanks for the input! I wanted to go in and meet with a staffer but the receptionist wouldn't put me through to anyone! I try and tailor my cover letter / resume for each listing but no bites yet...guess I have to be more persistant. I have had a long term on-site 3 day a week gig that will be up soon, so I guess I am just getting anxious! |
| sue ellen mischke | Posted – 7/10/2008 8:53:11 PM | show profile you have to meet with a rep at creative circle before they consider you for a job. you can consistently reply to jobs they post, but it means nothing if they haven't interviewed you, coded you and have your resume, application, clips and reference check on file. |
| carefree | Posted – 7/10/2008 10:22:55 PM | show profile Creative Circle I just happened to see this exchange tonight, which is VERY timely. I filled out an on-line application and posted my resume to the Creative Circle site in early April and never got any response. Since I later re-formatted the resume and altered some of the content, I submitted it again, with a cover letter, in early May. This time I called, spoke with someone, was given an e-mail address, and got an e-mailed confirmation of receipt from them. Once again though, I never heard anything else or got any job leads. Today, I called the office and through the receptionist was told that she didn't see anything on file from me! I was told to re-submit my on-line application (first done in April) and this should fix everything. I was thinking about whether to start the process all over again tonight when I saw these comments. I have even more doubts now. |
| linjohn | Posted – 7/11/2008 12:42:18 AM | show profile I've met with them and been sent on a few interviews through them. The first woman I met with seemed like a total unprofessional mess; the second woman I spoke to a year later was much better. I think they are probably just overwhelmed and possibly not managed well because I see a lot of listings for people to come work there, so I get the impression there is a high turnover rate and possibly some burnout. Overall, I don't think they're the best, nor the worst, of the various agencies I have worked with. |
| breezywriter | Posted – 7/11/2008 1:47:51 AM | show profile | email poster over the past year, i got several gigs through creative circle (sf) just got a full-time job through them, too. so keep pluggin'... good luck. |
| ISR | Posted – 7/11/2008 10:21:56 AM | show profile I've stopped considering their leads. I sent in my resume a few years ago, had an interview, and got a job for a few months. I now occasionally get frantic calls, can you do this, starting tomorrow, etc., submit my resume and clips again, and never ever hear back. They've put me through that a dozen times, and have not responded to other leads I follow myself (which they post). I also think they're unreliable and unprofessional, a bunch of hacks. You're better off cold-pitching on your own. |
| Cr8tive | Posted – 7/11/2008 1:14:13 PM | show profile All Creative Recruiters today are just about 100% worthless to employees and freelancers looking for work in my opinion. Creative Circle uses email blasts and sets up a sort of "feeding frenzy" for freelancers to compete for jobs. Most of the time I have gotten no response at all, even though I know I would be perfectly qualified for a particular position. Rather insulting, actually. You feel like you're almost begging them for work. Same with Aquent. They used to find me work, regularly, some years back but in this job market, they are also completely useless. I've signed-up with several recruiters and use them only as a tool or another option, but I certainly cannot depend on them because they are NOT doing at all what they claim to do. I cold-call companies, answer online ads that are posted by these companies, etc. I've gotten projects this way and numerous interviews, but still no full-time job yet. I have many years of experience in my field. It's been over a year since my last full-time job. Really tough out there for Creative. Here's the thing, one day I will once again be employed in a company and in a position to hire people. I will be very reluctant, if not completely opposed to using any of these creative staffing recruiters to seek-out potential job candidates for positions I wish to fill, because of their very poor track-record that I have personally experienced as a freelancer using their services. What goes around, comes around. |
| foodlit | Posted – 7/11/2008 5:15:42 PM | show profile You are right, what goes around comes around. I don't think its fair to generalize though because not all recruiters are this way. Unfortunately, enough are though that it gives the rest a bad rep. You also find very high turnover in recruiting. Chances are once you are in a position to hire again, most of these recruiters who treated you badly will be out of the business anyway. It sounds like this is more of a contract/temp agency, which has the highest turnover of all, as these are high burnout, high stress, low paying positions. It takes a little extra effort, but the good recruiters who stay and do well in this industry are the ones who take the time to return phone calls and give updates, even if the update isn't good news. One of the frustrating parts of my job is when I have a great candidate who seems great for a position and the client isn't interested for some reason...recently for instance they said no because the didn't like the company the person worked at...never mind that he did very well there, they just wouldn't consider him. When you have a market like this, they can be ridiculously picky, but it's their opening, so we have to respect what they want. |
| WordyBird | Posted – 7/14/2008 2:02:22 PM | show profile The Creative GROUP isn't much better as a resource, either. Keep in mind that they work for their clients, not the job-seekers. Still, overall, I've found that when they do have writing or editing assignments, they tend more toward advertising and technical stuff than anything else. If you're looking for straight journalism, they're not really the people to go to. Me? They keep telling me to get into pharmaceutical copywriting. I keep telling them I have a soul. |
| popa_licious | Posted – 7/24/2008 8:18:33 PM | show profile creative circle I like the way they call a one-day assignment (that starts tomorrow) an "opportunity" and do a mass email inviting you to send your resume in (you know, the thing you sent them when you registered in the first place) IF YOU QUALIFY. That beats the heck out of having them look at your resume, determine that you might be suitable for the assign- er, opportunity, and contact you. Because I'm sure 5 minutes of their time to do that is worth more than 2 minutes of each of 100 freelancers' time that they send notice of the "opportunity" to. |
| sspl.ap01 | Posted – 8/17/2008 9:41:52 PM | show profile Creative Circle Creative Circle utilizes expertise mined from years spent inside the world of marketing, advertising, entertainment and multimedia.I am extremely surprised to find all of these posts and have to strongly disagree with what I have read. As a Creative Circle candidate myself... Mack [URL=http://www.lmltrade.com]WideCircles[/URL] |
| Cr8tive | Posted – 8/18/2008 5:32:36 PM | show profile As I've mentioned, those who have responded here being disappointed in Creative Circle's lack of performance or interest on their behalf is more the norm than the exception. Don't expect to find any work at all if you sign up with them, you're wasting your time. I have been signed-up with them for over a year and got only a one-day assignment the whole time! As a Creative, I'm certainly well-credentialed and experienced in my field to know that this is complete BS. The feeding-frenzy, mass email blasting is insulting to say the least. In the past, about 10 years ago or so recruiters would call you, or you would call them, weekly and they would find you projects or temp-perm positions with good companies. Creative Circle is just one of several out there whose services are absolutely worthless to the Creative professional. Other recruiters whose services are also useless are Aquent and Match Creative. You're much better off finding work on your own. |
| candylilacs | Posted – 8/19/2008 8:16:25 AM | show profile I see Creative Circle a lot on Craigslist for SF Bay Jobs...it makes me wonder if they have gotten all these resumes from before, why are they constantly posting jobs (I swear I saw about six last week from them)? Don't they have a stable of people? So, I tend to agree with the person who stated they have little institutional memory and seem to only look at the latest arrivals and even then not very many. I, too, have sent in my resume for jobs I was extremely qualified for and heard nothing. Not unusual, really, but it seems I'm not the only one confused by their process. c. ------ Check out www.mswritesguide.blogspot.com! |
| Suet | Posted – 8/19/2008 12:37:42 PM | show profile | email poster That's a grossly inefficient and impersonal means of hiring people to do freelance work. Creative people are not completely interchangeable. I think all would be better off if they developed a "stable" of people they used repeatedly. This would help them get to know the workers' abilities and interests and personalities. It would also keep from wasting their time - if you send a resume to them 20 times and get a day's worth of work, it's hardly worth it! |
