How To Use Recruitment Agencies In Norway

by Dejan Mladenovic | Last Updated: April 30, 2021

Recruitment agencies provide services for both private persons and companies. However, remember that companies are the main source of income for the agencies and not candidates. That means agencies will focus to find the right candidate for the company. Less likely to focus on candidate and find the right company for him or her.

What To Do With Recruitment Agencies

Foreign job seekers or private persons, in general, can get several services from recruitment agencies.

• Register
• Create a profile
• Search Job Vacancies
• Save Resume (CV)
• Write Job application (Cover Letter)
• Create Job Alerts
• Create own page

When someone registers and creates a CV at a recruitment agency website basically increases visibility on the Norwegian job market. If you decide to call Recruitment agencies there is a chance to do some networking and build trust and awareness that you are an active job seeker in the Norwegian Job Market.

Do not forget to update your profile and CV from time to time. This is an indicator that you are an active job seeker.

What To Expect Or Not From Recruitment Agency

People have different experiences regarding recruitment agencies. Some register and create a CV but never hear anything from the agency afterward. Some experience that the agency doesn’t meet their expectations so there is skepticism for the industry.

On the other hand, others have a good experience. They experience either getting a temporary or permanent job. Some get a good reference or at least some job interview training.

What To Expect

You have registered and uploaded your CV, so what happens next. You can expect to get an email or call to come to the Recruitment agency’s office for an interview.  This is more of an introduction interview rather than a job interview. Anyway, this is a good opportunity for you to make a first impression, build connections, and job interview training.

Sometimes you will not hear anything from the recruitment agency so you can try to call and introduce yourself. Especially, if you can find some Job Vacancy on the Recruitment agency’s website that fits your desire and competencies.

In general, it is a good idea to make a phone call and pitch your presentation and invite yourself to the conversation.

Many employers like to hire temporarily first. You might expect to get the first few temporary offers before getting a permanent position.

What Not To Expect

You have registered and uploaded your CV. However, you cannot expect that someone will immediately start to look and find you a job that fits your profile. That is not how recruitment agencies work so do not expect that.

Sometimes there are recruitment agents usually from smaller agencies willing to do that. They can dedicate time just for you providing that they have some contacts to the companies that need professionals with your skillset.

Why Employers Use Recruitment Agencies Services

Maybe you are wondering why companies do not hire self the right candidates and instead use the services of recruitment agencies.

To hire the wrong candidate is a very costly business so many companies use the recruitment agencies services. Some employers save time by using recruitment agencies.

We live in a very dynamic world and in some industries, the working force demand can vary during the year due to seasonality or obtained projects and contracts. So many companies have contracts with specialized recruitment agencies that can find temporary workers on the fly.

Some employers are not attractive self for various reasons so they go through recruitment agencies to find the right candidates.

How To Find Recruitment Agencies In Norway

Some world actors in this industry are established in Norway such as Manpower or Adecco but if you want to search for recruitment agencies self you can use Norwegian yellow pages (www.gulesider.no) or 1881 website and look for:

• rekruttering
• vikartjenester
• bemanningsbyrå

Which Recruitment Agencies To Use In Norway

You are free to search and find whichever suites the best your wishes, needs, experience, and skills. We have written the article that lists the biggest or well-known recruitment agencies so please read Find The Best Job Listings In Norway.

RECRUITMENT AGENCIES – PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

My First Experience

My first job in Norway I got from abroad or to be more precise from my home country. While I was searching for a job in Norway I have contacted most of the biggest and well-known recruitment agencies in Norway one way or another. I was not successful to find a job or getting someone to be interested enough in me to dedicate time just for me. Probably my expectations were too high.

However, my first job in Norway I got via recruitment agent of one small agency. He had the right position for me and contacted me to check if I am still interested and motivated to work in Norway. This was a really pleasant experience for me and I was really happy to find someone interested to help me in my search and application process.

My Second Experience

Later, when I wanted to switch my job I had also a recruitment agent that I have contacted for a certain position. This one was a typical headhunter shark. I got the final answer that he cannot help me with the position I was interested in since the employer demanded Norwegian speaking candidate which I was not at the time. Eventually, I got the job by simply approaching and contacting the company directly myself. My new leader after I have been working for some time in my second company in Norway told me that he was contacted by the agent and asked for compensation for hiring me. I know that recruitment is a big business but this was too much…

Other Experiences

On several other occasions, I have been on interviews at the office of well-known recruitment agencies. Interestingly enough when some Job Vacancy goes through an agency the contact person in the advertisement is someone in the agency that just picks up the phone and doesn’t know much about the position itself. Later in the process when it comes to interviewing very often the interviewer can be a person without experience or enough knowledge about the position especially if the position is a highly specialized one.

Always Be On Alert

Unfortunately, not all recruitment agents from small agencies are as professional as I had one. On one occasion I got a reply that there are many positions that suits my profile but if I want to be interviewed by them I need to come to Norway and cover all my expenses myself. I knew that this is not how the process works so I did not proceed with that lead and looked like some kind of scam or non-professionalism to say at least.

Useful Vocabulary

Here are some useful words in Norwegian used in this text.

Good To Know

Many companies have contracts with some recruitment agencies that will provide the services for them whenever they need that. My wife works in a construction company and they have a contract with two recruitment agencies that will provide temporary workers whenever there is a need since the construction industry can be very volatile.

Next Step

You can start registering and submitting your documents at recruitment agencies’ websites but make sure that your job search is focused as we have described in our article How To Keep Your Job Search Focused In Norway. In addition, make sure that you have gathered and prepared all the necessary documents for the job application as we have listed in our checklist article Checklist – Which Documents Should You Hand In With Your Job Application In Norway.

Good Luck with your Job Search!

Find Job In Norway By Following These Easy 19 Steps

Don’t forget that this article is part of a text serious about finding a job in Norway. Depending on the phase you are in at the moment maybe you can find some articles useful for yourself. So please check them out.

Below you can see the infographic with an overview of all the texts in the series. If you click on the link above you will be sent to the page where all these steps are listed.

Author: Dejan Mladenovic

I moved my family of 3 to Norway in 2008 and created this website so that I can share what I’ve learned with anyone that’s thinking of moving or traveling to Norway. It’s such an awesome place, and I want you to get the most out of it!