Candidates - Things To Be Aware Of When Using A Recruitment Agency

Exemplar

Just my own personal two pence worth! I was made redundant in June after being a 'Technical Project Co-Ordinator/Project Manager' in FE for 4 years. I dealt with technically based projects where I did very, very well. I also wrote bids (won 3 out of 3 worth ITRO £750K).

I applied for a job through an agency where the ad was 'Technical Project manager required, FE background needed, experience in submitting (writing) bids' etc etc. I read the full description and it was doing the exact job i did at the College for the 4 years and was dealing with some of the same funding bodies that I had not just dealt with but had built relationships with (business I hasten to add....). So I submitted my CV. Within 1 hour i got an e-mail stating 'sorry but your skills do not match what I am looking for'. So I e-mailed straight back, nicely, asking why as i had been very specific stating my more than relevant experience etc etc. And I asked if she had put the CV forwards to the employer. The answer was that she 'felt' I didnt match the criteria and that no, she had not put it to the employer....

Makes my blood boil....

liney

nomoreboomandbust wrote: »

The thing I find most amusing is that on your first day in a new job the agency will always ring up about 10.00 just to make sure you have turned up

Maybe I am being naive but once an agency tells you over the phone that the job is yours, surely that's a done deal :mad:

So the advice would be not to hand in your notice unless the offer is in writing ? Surely this throws up some potential timing issues whereby a months notice is required. The agent rings you with the job offer and demands a start date straight away, do you start "faffing around" and say wait until its in writing or in your eagerness to please and put under some pressure by the agent you agree a date there and then, he says trust me the job is yours and you hand in your notice there and then- potentially tricky situation .

Another thing, is a word document attachment via email sufficient to count as a binding offer ?

It can work both ways, when jobs were more plentiful how many times would a candidate say yes verbally to a job and then go and take another, I know it was probably a rare phenomenon and could eventually backfire and get you a bad reputation as a potential candidate in the future.

The 10am call is for the benefit of the Client and the Agency, not the candidate. Firstly to ensure the candidate has arrived (no all candidates don't do what they say they will do ) and is the point where billing info will be passed to accounts.

A job offer by REC standards must be in writing. This can be by email or hard copy. I would never advise anyone to hand in their notice until they have received an offer in writing, whether it be from an agency or direct with a company.

Candidates do accept work, then go elsewhere: this refers back to the call to ensure they have turned up. In real terms I don't think they (agency) would get far legally, but you certainly wouldn't be assisted by the agency in future... and remember in the industry consultants move around alot, so you may end up 'black balled' at other companies too.

liney

alcot33uk wrote: »

Just my own personal two pence worth! I was made redundant in June after being a 'Technical Project Co-Ordinator/Project Manager' in FE for 4 years. I dealt with technically based projects where I did very, very well. I also wrote bids (won 3 out of 3 worth ITRO £750K).

I applied for a job through an agency where the ad was 'Technical Project manager required, FE background needed, experience in submitting (writing) bids' etc etc. I read the full description and it was doing the exact job i did at the College for the 4 years and was dealing with some of the same funding bodies that I had not just dealt with but had built relationships with (business I hasten to add....). So I submitted my CV. Within 1 hour i got an e-mail stating 'sorry but your skills do not match what I am looking for'. So I e-mailed straight back, nicely, asking why as i had been very specific stating my more than relevant experience etc etc. And I asked if she had put the CV forwards to the employer. The answer was that she 'felt' I didnt match the criteria and that no, she had not put it to the employer....

Makes my blood boil....

She has a Job Spec and Person Spec from the client.

What do you think she gained by not getting you an interview and therefore not getting any commission from placing you?

nomoreboomandbust

alcot33uk wrote: »

Just my own personal two pence worth! I was made redundant in June after being a 'Technical Project Co-Ordinator/Project Manager' in FE for 4 years. I dealt with technically based projects where I did very, very well. I also wrote bids (won 3 out of 3 worth ITRO £750K).

I applied for a job through an agency where the ad was 'Technical Project manager required, FE background needed, experience in submitting (writing) bids' etc etc. I read the full description and it was doing the exact job i did at the College for the 4 years and was dealing with some of the same funding bodies that I had not just dealt with but had built relationships with (business I hasten to add....). So I submitted my CV. Within 1 hour i got an e-mail stating 'sorry but your skills do not match what I am looking for'. So I e-mailed straight back, nicely, asking why as i had been very specific stating my more than relevant experience etc etc. And I asked if she had put the CV forwards to the employer. The answer was that she 'felt' I didnt match the criteria and that no, she had not put it to the employer....

Makes my blood boil....

Sorry to hear your situation, maybe she was being too honest, she could easily have said I have forwarded your CV and kept you sweet.

nomoreboomandbust

liney wrote: »

The 10am call is for the benefit of the Client and the Agency, not the candidate. Firstly to ensure the candidate has arrived (no all candidates don't do what they say they will do ) and is the point where billing info will be passed to accounts.

A job offer by REC standards must be in writing. This can be by email or hard copy. I would never advise anyone to hand in their notice until they have received an offer in writing, whether it be from an agency or direct with a company.

Candidates do accept work, then go elsewhere: this refers back to the call to ensure they have turned up. In real terms I don't think they (agency) would get far legally, but you certainly wouldn't be assisted by the agency in future... and remember in the industry consultants move around alot, so you may end up 'black balled' at other companies too.

Yep, its a small world out there :eek:

adindas

I think this is because the nature of their business. The employer is their long term partner while employees might be just working for few weeks or months adn the the relationship might disappear.

ADINDAS

andy46 wrote: »

They will always side with the employer because they have their head so far up their clients backsides.If it was any further it would disappear.That is why it is best to get a proper job direct through the employer and not as a 3rd party through these leeches.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

liney wrote: »

And here's another example of candidates hearing what they want to hear.

Employers (not specifically agencies) were given an incentive to employ people who had been on JSA for more then 6 months, at the end of 26 weeks work.

The scheme stopped running about 2 years ago, for the life of me I can't remember the name of it, sorry, and an agency certainly never received a penny for you just registering.

I can't remember the scheme either but it stopped this summer not 2 years ago. Unless there were two schemes.

spiritus

jay_1978 wrote: »

I am not saying this is gospel but I heard agency's get a little extra from the government for getting people on the books, Not sure if this is true but from the way they act It seems pretty likely.

I have never heard about that but of course that doesn't mean it's not true.

There has to be an incentive why agencies are so keen to get people to register on their books.

For those of us who have been to these notorious job registration appointments, have you noticed how much time the consultant/sales exec. affords you. They can chat to you all afternoon yet once you're on their books you'll be hard pushed to get any further contact from them.

spiritus

liney wrote: »

No, i'm saying that A) If they did they wouldn't say it outright to you, although you may have interpreted that way.

The job probably did exist, and had now been filled, but admin have been slow to remove the advert.

C) There are many companies online who "scrape" job sites and take adverts, placing them on their own site. Therefore when you remove your vacancy from your choice of boards, it's still appearing somewhere you didn't place it yourself.

D) The agency may have ongoing contracts with specific companies, especially if industrial, so just because the position is not available this second, they may request more temps later that day: the JC let agencies advertise if this is the case.

E) You will not register and walk away with a job at an decent agency just by filling in a form. What about references?

F) They may have decided, despite being qualified, they don't like you! You are attending an interview, and they are not obliged to give you a job.

G) My favorite one. Client fills post and doesn't tell agency immediately, and sods law means agency finds a good candidate too.

H) Candidates translate "Come over for an interview and to register and we'll take it from there" to "Come over and register and you can start tommorrow"


There are many reasons that agencies may appear to be advertising posts that do not exist, but in reality if you think really hard about it, they wouldn't gain anything by doing so apart from disgruntled candidates and a poor reputation.

I've worked in Recruitment and dedicated HR. Don't expect HR Officers to forget you (in general) acted like an ar5e when they worked at an agency.

It seems to me that agencies become an easy target to lay blame on for people who send in a CV then stamp their feet because 'they didn't get me a job'. Well how many positions were you successful in during the same time frame? And you are offering your services without an intro fee!

A/ What on earth does that mean ?? That sounds like politician's babble (no offence). Because an agency doesn't admit it advertises "fake" jobs has nothing whatsoever to do with how a candidate interprets it although I admire the way you're trying to spin this

B/ "Admin have been slow to remove the advert"-really ? Does it take so much effort to remove a card from a window or from a website ? Are agencies so inundated with work that they don't have the time to remove adverts that were filled some weeks ago ?

cashbackproblems

spiritus wrote: »

I have never heard about that but of course that doesn't mean it's not true.

There has to be an incentive why agencies are so keen to get people to register on their books.

For those of us who have been to these notorious job registration appointments, have you noticed how much time the consultant/sales exec. affords you. They can chat to you all afternoon yet once you're on their books you'll be hard pushed to get any further contact from them.

Its simply so when employers are giving contracts to agencies, the agency can say look we have x number of candidates on our books with x qualifications etc.