Has anyone ever dealt with CC before?

Because, let me tell you, I'm finding them to be completely worthless.

Actually, all THREE staffing agencies I'm now going through are worthless. But at least with the other agencies the process is streamlined, and you are not metaphorically socked in the gut -- work is not dangled in front of you and then snapped away.

True, it's not Creative Cirlce's fault in the sense that they're at the mercy of their clients, but I can't believe how their methods of operation leave them with a pool of candidates to choose from.

At other agencies, one usually interviews with the person who will ultimately become their contact, and their contact simply emails or calls them when there is work. Profound! Sure they will bullshit and promise things to an individual that never come true (such is life), and sure they will NOT respond to the individual's weekly inquiries as to whether there is work. But, at least their processes are simple.

The lady who I interviewed with at Creative Circle is, I think, just an interviewer. I will have nothing to do with this person ever again (a little fact I didn't know as I emailed her like she was my contact). Instead, I have to sit in front of my e-mail inbox all day and wait for "opportunities" to roll in. Well, it's not like I can actually go out and DO anything without any money anyway, right? The opportunities are e-mailed out based on a little checklist that is completed during the interview process, which outlines the various areas of work available.

Since my interview last week I've gotten five "opportunities," one of which I wasn't quick enough for, two of which were part-time positions that required me to make a long-term commitment working four hours a day, one required "extensive HTML knowledge" as well as "extensive" knowledge of programs I've never heard of before and the other one was a simple week-long proofing job that begins tomorrow.

Great! I thought. Yesterday I submitted my resume to that particular Creative Circle recruiter within an hour of the initial email. She responded within minutes saying that she would be happy to "submit me." What? So are you telling me that to get a crappy week-long proofing gig at $20/hour I have to go through like three layers of indecision? Do they not trust their interview process enough to just try me out? Is all this bullshit I'm going through just so I can then be entered into a field of many candidates from various agencies? Where do they get the leads for the jobs they email people about, the fucking Reader!? I think I would be better off throwing a damn stack of my resumes off one of the L platforms downtown. Maybe the wind will carry one through a window; the window of my future employer.

I tried calling today to check up on the status of My Opportunity and to get directions and general info. The receptionist said that I should send an email instead. And so I did ... only to then get a "when and IF there is a next step we will let you know" reply. Awesome.

Three staffing agencies, being on a short list of copy editors at a company where I freelance without an agency leeching off me, and being a hack journalist has been averaging me, at best, twenty hours of work a week for the last four months. Things have been much worse this last month, where I've made FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Life has won.

But I digress, and back to my initial question, has anyone ever used Creative Circle and had results? Does anyone have any other suggestions other than suicide?