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Companies pay the good ones a fairly chunky fee once you are hired. For this reason, small businesses use them less and personal contact works better. So if you want to get hired by Enormocorp - go for it. If you want to work in a little design company, say, don't bother.

the job i have now through an agency was supposed to last for 3 months and i've been told the company need to downsize, so the last 6 temps are being laid off tomorrow. i'm one of the six. i've been here three weeks.

...so basically have to use them as it's very rare nowadays for companies to hire IT staff direct.

Most recruiters are pricks who'll chase you all the time to agree to applications or interviews then never get back in touch if your application goes nowhere. So you have to chase them only to find out that you didn't actually get the job.

Some are decent though, it's usually quite easy to spot the good ones and they'll want to meet beforehand to determine if you're human and aren't going to completely embarrass them when you show up to an interview.

The going rate is roughly 10% of your annual salary so they make a killing if you get a job through them.

Most people who go through agencies are mopes so you can cherry pick jobs quite easily (if you're prepared to take a tiny bit of hassle as they'll try and shove you into rubbish jobs for a bit). Some people prefer the security, but I found my money going up as I became more knowledgable as you can just walk away with no problems. Also, you can just say IM A TEMP if they try and burden you with stuff. ESSENTIALLY, if you're more than competent at a job, being a temp is quite good.

However, it depends on your level of experience / skill-sets / earning potential as to how much they will help you though. Basically, they are agents to match up you with an employer and crucially only get paid when an employer offers you a job. So you've got a load of people who are financially motivated to get you a job - do the hard work for you!
You register with them, send them your CV and they contact you when they think they've got something suitable. They talk you through the role and you say yes - please set up an interview, or no - you haven't listened to my requirements properly, only contact me when the centre forward position for United is available.

A good agency will provide advice as to what you should be going for, your salary expectations, what jobs your experience / skill sets are realistic for. A really good agency will also help draft your CV, provide guidance as to what to say at interviews and even give you a little pep talk. Remember - you get the job, they get paid.

A bad agency will contact you contantly with inappropriate job opportunities wasting your time, over-sell your abilities to potential employers so you attend interviews you're never going to get, try and talk you into jobs you don't want to do etc.
The difference between a good and bad agency is usually the person rather than the company. These people are sales guys - just like estate agents they work on commission for matching a person with a job like a person with a house. Put them in their place - you are the client who will get them paid and be assertive. If I said I live in Essex, do not phone me up offering an *amazing* job in Milton Keynes (happened this week).

The key is to be totally clear with what you want up front. To the specific letter. Then ask them if in their experience whether you're being realistic in your expectations. They come across people like you every day. Apparently I'm not going to play up front for United or earn 20k a day but I've asked them to keep my records just in case those roles come up.

The bonus is that the fees for hiring these guys are paid by the hiring company. It's a free service! Usually for a temp role it's an amount per hour for your services or for a perm role it's a percentage of your salary paid as a one off hiring payment between 9% and 25% (neither of which is of any interest to you).
Get a young eager 'recruitment consultment' understanding what you're looking for and before you know it they'll be calling you offfering all sorts. But try several firms as quality may vary.

they basically SELL you to the company & tend to do a great job at it. But be clear when you first sign up about jobs you're absolutely not whiling to do and give them a realistic but honest wage expectation.