How to deal with agency calls.

DogTailRed2

Hi,

I've had a few agencies call me and the conversation goes something like this;

Agency: "Hi, we are calling about position X"
Me "Hi, yes."
Agency "It's in XYZ is that easy distance from you?"
Me "Yes, that's easy for me to get to"
Agency "So how do you feel about a career in XYZ?"
Me "Well I've studied, got my certs, done some voluntary work in this area, got skills experience and it's an area I'm looking to move into. Done xyz etc, etc, yadda, yadda"
Agency "Well I'll email you something, bye"

That's pretty much all I hear and then nothing via phone or email?
So am I missing something? Am I expected to gush fourth enthusiasm for a position I know very little about. Are there some key words or things the Agency wants to hear?
It all seems very bland and disinteresting on the part of the agency. That last guy that called me sounded about as interesting as Frances game yesterday.

Dog.

uknitty

My feeling is that they may be trying to generate leads from you - as in they are trying to find out where you have been for job interviews or what other companies have approached you for work so that they can sell their own candidates in to the roles and make commission.

shikoku

I remember an agency person becoming very aggressive with me on the phone when I wouldn't tell them where else I had applied for work; it didn't take much imagination to work out why they wanted to know.

sexki11en

If you haven't had paid employment in a position you're applying for then that could be why. Competition is tough right now.

If my client is paying me £xxxx for someone with experience then that's what i'll give them

But then they must have seen your CV to be calling you in the first place so I don't know.

Have you tried calling back and asking why?

SK x

silverman55

Maybe you didn't sound interested enough in the position. You should try to show both eagerness and explain your qualifications for the position.

I would follow up to see what exactly happened. Sometimes they call just to gauge whether you are interested or not, and then they forward your resume to the client who might've decided not to go with you. Instead of telling you that the client rejected you, they prefer to not tell you at all.

alison999

In my experience agencies are a complete waste of time

shikoku

alison999 wrote: »

In my experience agencies are a complete waste of time

Sadly this has been my conclusion too. You see a job you want to apply for, phone them up, yes you are ideal come down and register, by the time you have finished registering the job no longer exists - probably never did.

After experiencing this with six different agencies I decided to avoid them completely.

Blood pressure back down and staying down

Premier_2

DogTailRed2 wrote: »

Hi,

I've had a few agencies call me and the conversation goes something like this;

Agency: "Hi, we are calling about position X"
Me "Hi, yes."
Agency "It's in XYZ is that easy distance from you?"
Me "Yes, that's easy for me to get to"
Agency "So how do you feel about a career in XYZ?"
Me "Well I've studied, got my certs, done some voluntary work in this area, got skills experience and it's an area I'm looking to move into. Done xyz etc, etc, yadda, yadda"
Agency "Well I'll email you something, bye"

...

Here's the way I would deal with such a call.

Agency: "Hi, we are calling about position X"
Me "Hi, yes."
Agency "It's in XYZ is that easy distance from you?"
Me "Yes, that's easy for me to get to"
Agency "So how do you feel about a career in XYZ?"
Me "Well perhaps you could give me some details on the specific position they are hoping to fill, their full job description with details of the type of skills/experience they are seeking, before I can tell you whether I wish to be considered further for the role?

That should flush out whether they actually have a genuine position they are seeking to fill.


I recently was contacted by an agency who started off saying they had just got this brand new opportunity in and asked whether I would be interested.
By following the above example, I got more information but it sounded very familar and I asked if it was the same job they had contacted me about 2 months ago (and gave them the reference number.)
"Oh, did we? Presumably you're not interested then" they said.

Savvy_Sue

You have checked your spam folder?

Lets_Say_2

shikoku wrote: »

Sadly this has been my conclusion too. You see a job you want to apply for, phone them up, yes you are ideal come down and register, by the time you have finished registering the job no longer exists - probably never did.

After experiencing this with six different agencies I decided to avoid them completely.

Blood pressure back down and staying down

This is all very depressing but confirms what I had started to think myself. I joined one agency back in Feb and have had no contact from them at all. Another called me in after filing an application for a temp job. I filled in their papers, and she said she would ring the job for me and let me know - nothing. I went into another one the other day asking about a job in the window, to be told, 'Oh that's closed, but we have their contract for 3 years, so we'll be advertising again in a month'.

Can someone tell me why when I say I am looking for temporary work they look at me as if I have two heads?

I currently have three job applications filed with agencies, but frankly I don't think I'll be hearing from them.

And I've even been turned down by Sainsbury's!

BOB_A_H

alison999 wrote: »

In my experience agencies are a complete waste of time

They are not a waste of time but a necessary evil. My last 3 or 4 jobs have been through agencies. However they can be infuriating for sure.

Make you all sorts of promises then renege on them. Make timescales seem critical, then contact you about the same position 2 months down the line. Come begging when one of their other candidates lets them down.

When you speak to them, sound enthusiastic but not desperate. Give the impression that you would enjoy the job while not coming accross as desperate. Most importantly, always remember that they need you just as much as you need them!!!

Bob.