Questions to Ask a Staffing Agency as a Job Seeker
Questions to ask a staffing agency before you register as a job seeker, or when you are deciding whether the one that already has you on its books is worth staying with. A temp agency is a staffing agency by another name, so the questions to ask a temp agency are these too, with shifts, timesheets and the weeks between bookings covered alongside permanent placements. They run in the order the decision does: what kind of agency it is and how it earns its money, what signing up commits you to, how assignments are handed out, pay and the gaps between jobs, and the contract terms that matter when you go permanent or leave.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The agency
How does your agency get paid, and by whom?
Why ask it
Most agencies are paid by the employer, either a one-off fee when a permanent hire starts or a margin on every hour a temp works, and which one applies shapes how you will be treated. A recruiter on a placement fee gains when an offer is accepted; one on an hourly margin gains from a long assignment at a rate that protects the margin.
Do I ever pay you anything?
Why ask it
Charging a work-seeker for finding work is restricted or unlawful in many places, though the rules differ by country and state. Treat a registration fee, training you must pay for or equipment you must buy from the agency as a reason to stop and check the local rules before going further.
What do you specialise in, and what did you place last month in my field?
Why ask it
Ask about last month rather than in general. A recent placement can be described in detail, while a list of sectors may come straight off the website and include work this office has not handled in years.
What's your mix of temporary, contract, and permanent work?
Why ask it
The mix predicts what will arrive in your inbox. An office whose business is mainly short-notice cover will send you short-notice cover regardless of what you said you were looking for.
Which employers around here do you send the most people to?
Why ask it
An agency is only as useful as its client list, and two or three names tell you the kind of work, the locations and the shifts you would really be offered. If they will not name a single client before you register, ask for the industries and the parts of town instead.
Do you hold the contract with these clients directly, or through another supplier?
Why ask it
On larger contracts work can be passed down through more than one agency, and each layer takes part of the same budget. A direct supplier also tends to hear about a vacancy, or a problem with your booking, sooner than one further down the chain.
Are you licensed or registered to run an agency here, and who regulates you?
Why ask it
Some countries and states license employment agencies or keep a public register, and others leave it to a trade body or to nobody. Whatever they name, look the office up yourself afterwards: it takes a minute and shows you where a complaint would go.
How many people do you have out working this week, compared with how many are registered?
Why ask it
A temp agency with a long list of registered workers and only a handful out on jobs is collecting names faster than it finds work. The ratio is a rough guide to your chances of a first shift, and a branch that can answer from memory is paying attention to its own desk.
Signing up
What do you need from me to register, and how soon after that could I be working?
Why ask it
Expect to show identification and proof that you can work in the country, and sometimes bank details and certificates as well. Getting the full list before the appointment saves a second trip, and the usual wait between registering and a first job is an honest measure of how busy the office is.
Which tests do you run at registration, and can I retake one that goes badly?
Why ask it
Typing, software, numeracy or forklift assessments can decide which jobs you are considered for long afterwards. Find out what the scores are used for and whether one nervous morning stays on your file for good.
Will you contact my references or my current employer before I have accepted a job?
Why ask it
Some agencies take up references the day you register, which is awkward if your present boss does not know you are looking. Say who may be contacted and when, and ask them to note it on your record.
Is there anything in my work history that would stop your clients taking me?
Why ask it
Gaps, a very short job, a driving ban or a conviction matter to some clients and not to others, and what an agency may ask about or act on depends on local law. Hearing the obstacle at the start beats months of silence with no explanation.
Do you or your clients run background checks or drug tests, and at what stage?
Why ask it
Some clients want one or both done before a first shift, and what may be checked, and with whose consent, is set by local law. The timing matters as much as the result: a check that takes a week can cost you a booking that starts on Monday.
Would I be someone you actively put forward, or an entry in your database?
Why ask it
There is a real difference between being represented and being stored. The test is what they would do on your behalf this week, and whether anyone besides your recruiter ever looks at your file.
How often will I hear from you, and from which person?
Why ask it
Weeks of silence after a friendly registration is a familiar complaint about agencies. Naming a rhythm and a person gives you something to hold them to, and a recruiter who will not commit to either is telling you where you sit on their list.
Do you expect exclusivity, or can I register with other agencies as well?
Why ask it
Exclusivity narrows your search to protect their commission, so it deserves a reason: a role only they hold, or a promise of real effort in return. If you do register with several, keep your own list of who has put you forward where.
Will you always ask me before submitting me to a company?
Why ask it
Unannounced submissions can put duplicate applications into one employer's system and remove you from consideration entirely. Get the commitment explicitly, and ask what they do when a client sets a same-day deadline.
Do you edit resumes, and would I see the version you send out?
Why ask it
Reformatting is routine, but some agencies rewrite content and occasionally overstate experience, which you will then have to defend in an interview. Asking to approve the final version is a fair condition of registering.
What happens to my data, and how long do you keep it?
Why ask it
You are handing over a resume, references, identification, and often bank details. Who it is shared with and how long it is kept are fair things to know, and whether you can have it deleted on request depends on the privacy law where you live.
Assignments
How do you decide who gets offered an assignment first?
Why ask it
Every desk has an order: who was reliable last time, who answered fastest, who the client asked for by name. Once you know what moves a person up that list, you know what is worth doing in your first few weeks.
How do job offers reach me, and how long do I have to answer?
Why ask it
A text sent to forty people goes to whoever replies first, while a call from your own consultant may wait an hour. If the work is handed out through an app, ask to be shown what a normal day looks like on it before you leave the office.
What will you tell me about a job before I have to say yes?
Why ask it
The minimum worth insisting on is the client's name, the address, the duties, the hours, the rate and who to report to, sent in writing. An agency that sends only an address and a start time is asking you to commit to work it has not described.
How many hours a week do people with my skills usually get through you?
Why ask it
A good hourly rate means little at twelve hours a week. What the last few people at your level worked is a figure the desk has on screen, and it is harder to round up than a promise of plenty of work.
How long do your assignments usually last, and how often do they end early?
Why ask it
A booking described as three months can be a week of cover that the client keeps extending, or a long one that stops the day a project is cancelled. The shortest and longest recent bookings say more than an average, and they show how often you would be back on the phone looking for the next one.
Which months are your busiest, and when does the work dry up?
Why ask it
Warehouse, retail, events and office cover each have their own calendar, and a branch knows its own well. Hearing about the quiet stretch in advance lets you save for it or line up a second agency before it arrives.
Can I set the days and hours I am available, and change them from week to week?
Why ask it
Plenty of people temp around study, childcare or another job, and agencies differ in how well they cope with that. See whether your availability lives in an app you update or in a consultant's memory, and how late you can change it without it counting against you.
If I turn down an assignment, does that change what you send me next?
Why ask it
Some agencies quietly deprioritise anyone who declines once, and others treat it as ordinary. The answer tells you whether you can refuse unsuitable work without dropping to the back of the queue.
If I cannot make a shift I have accepted, what do I do, and how is it recorded?
Why ask it
Illness and cancelled buses happen to everyone, so the useful details are the number to ring, the time to ring it by and whether one absence marks your file. An absence reported early is usually forgiven where a silent no-show is not.
What happens if I arrive and the job is not what you described?
Why ask it
Duties, hours and even the rate can turn out different on the day, particularly where the booking was taken in a hurry. You are hoping to hear that you can phone the office from the site and that walking away from a real mismatch will not be held against you.
If I have a problem with a supervisor or a coworker at the client, do I raise it with you or with them?
Why ask it
On site you take instructions from the client, but your contract is with the agency, which leaves it unclear who hears a complaint. Get the name of the person at the office who takes that call, and find out whether they would speak to the client or expect you to.
What safety training or site induction do I get before a first shift, and who gives it?
Why ask it
On a warehouse, factory or building site job, the agency and the client can each assume the other has covered the basics. Ask who shows you the machinery, the exits and the protective gear, and whether that time is paid.
If I am hurt on an assignment, who do I report it to, and whose insurance covers me?
Why ask it
Responsibility for an injured agency worker is divided between agency and client in ways that depend on the country or state and on the contract. Get the reporting route and the insurer's name in writing, because the day it happens is the wrong day to find out.
Pay and benefits
What do people with my experience actually earn through you?
Why ask it
An advert can quote the top of a range, and the figure people are placed at often sits lower. A recruiter working these clients weekly knows that number, and is more likely to share it when the question is about recent placements than about adverts.
What's your margin on an hourly placement?
Why ask it
Not every agency will disclose it, but the response is informative in itself: some explain the structure plainly, some deflect, some take offence. Over a long contract the difference between margins adds up to a substantial sum.
Is the rate you quote what I get before tax, or does anything come off it first?
Why ask it
Payroll charges, uniform costs, transport to site and pay card fees are the usual candidates, and which of them are allowed depends on local wage law. A sample payslip for someone on the same rate shows what really comes off.
Will you pay me yourselves, or through a separate payroll or umbrella company?
Why ask it
A third company in the chain can change who your employer is on paper and what is taken from your pay before it reaches you. These arrangements differ a great deal between countries, so have them explain how theirs works and confirm it in writing before a first job.
How do timesheets and pay dates work, and what happens if a payment is late?
Why ask it
One timesheet that a client's supervisor forgot to approve can hold your pay back until the next run. A good answer names the person who chases it, a time limit, and whether the agency pays out anyway when the mistake was not yours.
When do overtime, night or weekend rates start, and who has to approve the extra hours?
Why ask it
Whether a higher rate applies at all depends on local law, the client and the contract, so do not assume it. The practical trap is extra hours a supervisor asked for out loud that never reach the approved timesheet.
Would I be paid the same as the client's own staff doing the same job?
Why ask it
Some countries give agency workers a right to equal pay or conditions, sometimes only after a qualifying period, and others give none. Which applies is a matter of local law; either way, what the client's own starters earn is worth knowing, since the gap is a fair thing to raise later.
If I think I am due a raise, do I ask you or the client?
Why ask it
The client sets what it pays the agency and the agency sets what it pays you, so a supervisor who says you deserve more cannot make it happen alone. Find out who starts that conversation and how long into an assignment anyone would be willing to.
What happens to my pay between assignments?
Why ask it
Hourly and daily workers are usually unpaid in the gaps, and over a year the gaps can matter more than the rate. Push past whether gaps happen to how long a typical one runs for someone at your level.
What holiday pay, sick pay or health cover comes with your contracts, and when does it start?
Why ask it
Entitlements for agency workers depend on the country, the contract type and length of service, and waiting periods are common. The contract clause or a printed summary is safer to rely on than a spoken overview in a friendly meeting.
If I claim out-of-work benefits between assignments, what do you report about jobs I was offered?
Why ask it
In some places a refused assignment can affect a claim, and those rules belong to the benefits office, not to the agency. Check with that office directly, and ask the agency what record it keeps of offers and refusals.
Contract and leaving
What am I signing today, and can I take it away to read first?
Why ask it
Registration often means a contract, a set of terms and several consent forms, signed in a hurry on a tablet at the front desk. A day's delay costs you nothing, and an office that objects to you reading its paperwork has told you something.
On paper, would I be your employee, the client's, or self-employed?
Why ask it
The answer affects what you are entitled to and who handles your tax, and the categories themselves differ between countries. See which one the contract names and whether it still applies in the weeks you have no assignment.
Are there restrictive clauses in your contract, and what do they stop me doing?
Why ask it
Some agreements prevent you working for a client directly, or through a different agency, for a period after an assignment ends. Whether such a clause can be enforced varies by country and state, but it is easier to question before signing than after a client has offered you a job.
If a client wants to take me on permanently, what are the terms?
Why ask it
Conversion is usually governed by a clause between agency and client, involving either a fee or a minimum number of hours worked. It affects when an employer is able to make you an offer, which is worth knowing before you want one.
How often do your temp jobs turn into permanent ones, and at which clients?
Why ask it
Temp-to-perm appears in a lot of adverts and happens far more at some agencies than at others. Named clients who regularly keep people on are worth more than a general assurance that it happens all the time.
How much notice do I have to give to leave an assignment, and how much would I be given?
Why ask it
The two figures are often different, and the one protecting you can be nothing at all. With both in hand you can judge how much of a cushion to keep and how to leave a booking without souring things with the office.
If a client asks you not to send me back, will you tell me why?
Why ask it
A client can often end a temp's booking with one phone call, and the worker hears only that the job has finished. Criticism you never receive cannot be answered or learned from, so ask for a commitment that it will be passed on.
If my complaint is about this agency, who do I take it to?
Why ask it
A branch manager, a head office address, and in some places an industry body or a government inspectorate are the usual steps. Which of them exist depends on where you are, and an agency with a written complaints procedure will hand it over without fuss.
What's the most common reason people stop working with you?
Why ask it
A candid answer names the agency's weak spot: unreliable hours, slow pay, roles that never matched. A recruiter with no answer has probably never thought about why their books turn over.
How do I come off your books, and what am I owed when I do?
Why ask it
Unused holiday pay, a final timesheet and tax paperwork are easy to lose track of once you stop taking the calls. What you are owed at the end is set by local rules and the contract, so find out which items arrive without being requested and which you must chase.
Will you confirm my assignments or give a reference to a future employer?
Why ask it
A year of temp jobs can read as a gap unless somebody will vouch for it. Many agencies confirm dates and job titles only, so collect the name of a supervisor at each client while you are still there.
Working with agencies sensibly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How the business actually works
An agency usually makes money in one of two ways: a one-off fee when a permanent hire starts, usually a percentage of the salary, or a margin added to every hour a temporary worker is paid. Neither is improper, but both explain what you will experience. Permanent recruiters tend to push for a fast acceptance. Contract and temp recruiters tend to want a long assignment and can resist rate rises that would reduce their margin. In larger organisations there may also be an intermediary managing every supplier, which adds a layer between you and the employer and takes a share of the same budget. None of this is a reason to avoid agencies, which control access to a great deal of work. It is a reason to treat a recruiter as a well-informed intermediary rather than as your advocate.
Before you register
- Look up the office you are dealing with rather than the brand. Competence and honesty can vary a great deal between branches trading under the same name.
- Read the whole agreement, especially notice periods, restrictive clauses, and what happens if a client cancels an assignment at short notice.
- Decide your minimum rate and your maximum commute before anybody asks. Both become much harder to hold once a specific role is on the table.
- Have the paperwork ready: identification, right-to-work documents, employment dates with no gaps, and references you have warned in advance.
- Register with two or three agencies rather than one, and tell each of them that you have.
If it is a temp agency
Registering is not a job offer
Signing up with a temp agency puts you on a list, and nothing more is promised. Work arrives when a client rings with a booking and the desk decides whom to call, so ask how that choice is made and what keeps a new name near the top.
Treat the first booking as a trial on both sides
A first assignment shows you how accurate the agency's briefings are and whether the timesheet and the pay date run the way you were told. It also shows the agency whether you turn up, so one clean first week does more for later offers than anything said at registration.
Do the sums by the week, not by the hour
Temp income is the hourly rate multiplied by the hours you are actually given, less travel and anything deducted. Work out the weekly figure you need, then ask the temp agency whether its recent bookings for someone like you would have covered it.
Keep a second agency warm
Short assignments can end with no warning, and one agency's quiet month becomes your quiet month. Being on the books of another temp agency as well, and saying so to both, gives you somewhere to turn on the day a booking stops.
Keeping your own records
- 1Note every submission: agency, company, role, date, and the rate discussed.
- 2Keep the written assignment details for each placement, including hours, location, and who approves your time.
- 3Export or photograph approved timesheets. They are the only evidence you hold if pay goes wrong.
- 4Write down what you were told verbally about rate and duration, with the date. Recruiters move on and their successors work only from the file.
- 5Diary the date any conversion clause expires, if one applies to you.
Reasons to leave an agency
Repeated submissions without asking
Once may be a misunderstanding. Twice is how the office operates, and eventually it will cost you a role you wanted.
Roles that do not exist
Being interviewed for a vacancy that turns out to be pipeline-building wastes a day and tells you the office is short of live work.
Persistent payroll problems
Late pay with a different explanation every month is structural rather than unlucky. It rarely improves, and you carry the cost of it.
Pressure to take unsuitable work
A recruiter who treats a refusal as disloyalty is managing their vacancy list rather than your working life.
Getting more out of the relationship
- Give them one clear sentence describing what you do and what you want next. Recruiters sell what they can repeat easily to a client.
- Reply quickly. A booking often goes to the first suitable person who answers, so a slow reply can lose an assignment outright.
- Tell them when your availability changes rather than waiting to be asked, and tell them as soon as you accept something elsewhere.
- Give concrete feedback after interviews. A recruiter who learns what the client asked will brief the next candidate, and you, more accurately.
- Stay in touch with a recruiter you rated when they move firms. In this industry the individual matters more than the letterhead.