The Alpha Group

I’ve had a few jobs with them… far and few in between. One was long term and that company requested me again during the Christmas season… but I was working: only call in a year. They have a huge problem with communication. It’s very random. Just in the last few months: I received an email from a gal regarding a job. that I answered right away and heard crickets. Tried to call the office (a few minutes after closing, when I GOT the email) and get to her voicemail, she didn’t have one: name not recognized. Today, I got a call at my home number (not my cel, which is my primary) 4 hours before I came home. I called ‘Chris’ back and he was in a meeting according to the front office gal. (who is by the way the best thing they have going for them, I’ve seen her handle some interesting characters with grace and professionalism. She’s always ON POINT. maybe someday I will hire her away from them!) She assured me I’d hear from him in a few minutes. Again… crickets. I swear I’ve gotten at least a dozen ‘blanket texts’ regarding work as a ‘drivers helper’ 30 minutes away from my house for the wee morning hours. Oh, but they’ll give you a gift card if you do! Um. I don’t want to work more than 10 miles from my house and I am signed up to be a fill in social media manager/​office worker. It’s hard to form a relationship with them because most of the ‘recruiters’ come and go so quickly. NEVER trust a staffing company who’s last Facebook post was November of 2015. Yea, I have my own social management company and did offer to help. Like nailing jello to a wall…

I was frustrated by having to take a Word and Excel quiz as soon as I walked in the door. I then was impressed by the conversation I had with the recruiter. She was upbeat and positive. I went on an interview right away. (Which was great) Then nothing. After a few voicemails, I decided to email the recruiter directly. She said they were busy and understaffed. I have a B.A. and over 10 years of Office Manager/​Admin experience… But no follow up. No courtesy of a response from anyone and the run around from the receptionist.
In a twist of fate, I got a job as a Marketing Manager not far from their office. They also needed a temp for a few weeks and got one from Alpha. She was a nice lady, but definitely not qualified to be doing the job and she complained that she never got paid on time. I guess I dodged a bullet!
Bottom line… temping is risky, better off trolling Craigslist!

This temp agency mostly specializes in warehouse and manufacturing work. They on occasion have a few clerical positions but not enough where they could compare to more well known temp agencies like Manpower or Randstad. Most of the assignments they have are low paying where they pay in the 9 to 11 dollars an hour range. If you got forklift experience, that will open up doors to better paying positions but if you don’t, there’s a lot less available. I feel this temp agency is a decent choice for people looking for entry level work to meet their short term goals but if people are trying to find a career, go elsewhere.
Alpha usually will at least be upfront and honest about whether the job will be temp to permanent or not and you’ll always know how much it pays before you accept. They will try to give you temp assignments until a more permanent one comes up but sometimes that means you might end up being sent to work at 3 different places during the same week. You’d be surprised how many assignments they had that would only last a few days (or even just one day). Often assignments end without warning which is a risk all temps face.
I thought the recruiters saw you more as a number they could use to receive their commission as opposed to an applicant with real work needs who needs to make a living. They care more about filling out their client needs as opposed to filling out their applicant needs. They do not value your time. The reason they don’t is because for a few weeks, they won’t bother calling you to see how your doing during slower weeks unless you call them constantly to let them know you’re readily available for anything.
Some of the staff are very polite though and a few recruiters did the best they could to help me even if the jobs they set me up with were very short term. I liked the receptionists, they were genuinely kind, knowledgeable, and understanding. Also a variety of temp jobs can help one gain work experience for better jobs down the road. The question is though, at what price?
One thing that does bother me about this temp agency though is if you used them before and want to come back or be re-​activated, you have to come down to their office and fill out paper work and interview with one of the recruiters again. Even if you used them before for an extended period of time which is pretty annoying. They should have all your past work experiences on file and sending an updated resume should be good enough for them. Furthermore, some of the recruiters didn’t even remember me when I worked for them not even a year ago. I chose not to use them again for those reasons.

I would not recommend this staffing agency to anyone. They are unprofessional and I question their Integrity and ability to help candidates find employment opportunities.