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

cavework

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Which is good.............provided the same care and consideration was shown to the candidates as well!

I can assure you .. hand on heart the above was also applied to the candidates when it comes to Returns 4 Real.
In my time as a consultant I heard a lot of horror stories from temps who registering with our agency. I worked on Industrial temps but did also have some Temps to perm.
The people who came to us were indeed fed up with the way they were treated and the fact that the Temp Industrial Consultants they had come into contact previously had only ever seen a Factory from the outside or from the office of the client where the vacancy was advertised and had never worked in an Industrial position (that is hands on)
That is why they registered with the agency I worked for .

alanshave

For obvious reasons, I don't really have the time to read through all of this thread but some of the posts and comments make for interesting reading..........

Time to add my value, as someone who works as a Senior Consultant with a very reputable construction recruitment firm. We only advertise positions that clients have asked us to work on & subsequently given permission to advertise. Further to this our consultants don't work to commission or volume based targets (although like a lot of statements in this thread, it seems automatically presumed that everyone is incentivised/motivated in the same way...)

Couple of points in response to things I have been able to read:

- I ask a lot of questions when you register with me/the agency in regards to general work or a particular vacancy. This isn't to get sales leads or to pry. Essentially if I don't know where you are in your career/job hunting then how can you expect me to find the right position for you?

- We take references on every candidate that registers with us. Of course these calls often turn out to be new contacts but our exposure to the industry means that they are usually existing relationships. My clients expect me to have taken references on every candidate prior to creating a shortlist (they don't pay a fee for nothing...), hence I'll very rarely be able to help if you can't/aren't willing to offer this info.

Consider that I could write a CV that reads brilliantly but it's the references that back it up and confirm dates/strengths & weaknesses.

Don't get me wrong, like all industries there are firms who should be avoided but it is hardly reasonable to label every recruitment agency in the same way, unless you have indeed done the impossible and worked with every single one of them. In fact I would go as far as to say that some of the fleeting statements in this thread are shocking and in dangerous territory.

One of the main reasons that clients contact me at the moment is that my fee is very reasonable when compared to the time/cost of handling the vacancy by themselves. When you look at the cost of an advertisement (Circa £200 - £1000 depending on internet/written press etc), only to then get 100 applicants in 3 days to filter though. Suddenly it's attractive to pay a fee (only payable upon a successful placement) to a professional organisation that provides a pre-interviewed/referenced shortlist targeted to your company/vacancy.

As a job hunter in the current environment you have to do everything that you can to make yourself an attractive prospect and part of that deal is to work with recruitment agencies. You'll have more luck if you go in with an open mind.

A good place to start would be to try and select an agency from the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) audited list:

http://www.rec.uk.com/about-recruitm...udited-holders

These companies have at least been inspected/audited to ensure that their processes are 100% compliant with the Employment Agencies Act and Conduct Regulations 2003 and REC Code of Professional Practice.

RacyRed

cavework wrote: »

I know I said I wouldn't post again but ..sorry, how can full references be detremental?

My CV contains details of the jobs, companies and relevant dates. It is the name and contact details of my current boss I witheld until I have a job offer in writing,

I didn't want to risk someone in an agency accidentally tipping off my immediate boss that they are about to have a vacancy until I have firmly secured a new job. I'm not suggesting that this is done deliberately but errors can happen. This is purely a safeguard. I've not had an RC object to this, in fact most of the ones I have dealt with have expected it.

Of course this only applies when going from job to job, not unemplyment to job.

and how else is your Consultant able to get a true picture of the candidate they are putting forward.

They are provided with a full CV, just not the reference contact details.

The have all of the information they need, save a name
If you don't give full details of previous employment , how can you then complain if you don't get the job you have been put forward for (they will find out) and how can you blame the Consultant for this?
As for other jobs being sought?

See above - also references are not normally requested until the employee has given notice so it shouldn't make a difference if I don't give this information until it is actually neeed.

Would you tell someone if you found a great job vacancy and they were in with a chance or better qualified, knowing they were also looking for work?

No I would not, but I have email evidence of RCs asking me to reveal details of other vacancies I've applied for. Am I not running the same risk in providing an RC with that information as I would be if I told a direct competitor?

Cavework, I hope that we can agree that this is not unreasonable behaviour?

cavework

And I am sure you have seen examples where ethics are thrown out of the window in which the outcome is usually to the detriment of the candidate...
Ok sorry to be boring .. me again

If a Consultant has a long term sustainable relationship with a client, there is absolutely no way they would risk this relationship just to hit commision..
If they have a one off never to return client then maybe it could happen .. but .. and here's the but
recruitment Consultants are trained to look at return business , not the heat of the moment vacancies, so this would be a very very rare occurance

RacyRed

alanshave wrote: »

... My clients expect me to have taken references on every candidate prior to creating a shortlist (they don't pay a fee for nothing...), hence I'll very rarely be able to help if you can't/aren't willing to offer this info...

alanshave, that is an interesting post, thank you.

But can you confirm that the paragraph I have quoted above refers only to jobs the candidate no longer holds?

To be honest, if some of my ex bosses had gotten wind of the fact that I was looking for a new job, I'd arrive at the office to find my stuff in a box outside of the door!

cavework

Racy Red ..
that is indeed a different scenario .. if you are still employed but looking for other another position then yes I can agree fully with withholding contact details for references

RacyRed

cavework wrote: »

And I am sure you have seen examples where ethics are thrown out of the window in which the outcome is usually to the detriment of the candidate...
Ok sorry to be boring .. me again

If a Consultant has a long term sustainable relationship with a client, there is absolutely no way they would risk this relationship just to hit commision..
If they have a one off never to return client then maybe it could happen .. but .. and here's the but
recruitment Consultants are trained to look at return business , not the heat of the moment vacancies, so this would be a very very rare occurance

Fully accepted Cavework, but how are candidates going to know which of those situations applies to the consultant they are talking to?

And what can we do to protect ourselves without upsetting good, ethical consultants?

Sadly, enough of us have been burnt in this way to be advocating caution now.

RacyRed

cavework wrote: »

Racy Red ..
that is indeed a different scenario .. if you are still employed but looking for other another position then yes I can agree fully with withholding contact details for references

Aaahh, I understand now. I have been posting from the standpoint of moving directly from job to job, which has been my personal experience.

Of course references can be provided if the candidate is not currently employed. The situation then different.

RedSoleShoes

alanshave wrote: »

- I ask a lot of questions when you register with me/the agency in regards to general work or a particular vacancy. This isn't to get sales leads or to pry. Essentially if I don't know where you are in your career/job hunting then how can you expect me to find the right position for you?

Understood, but can you confirm that when you ask your candidates about their other current job applications, that you do NOT then contact those companies for marketing purposes (ie to put forward other candidates, or to see if you can fill other positions for them)?

This point was the whole reason for starting the thread. I wanted to warn candidates not to tell their consultants this information but part of me also hoped that some agents might actually deny they do this. Unfortunately, not one RC has allayed my concern.

cavework

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

"Personal vendetta" is your description, not mine. I merely pointed out that you seemed intent on trying to 'catch me out' but when you couldn't (because I actually didn't do anything wrong), you decided to make assumptions yourself to try and discredit me rather than actually reading what I was saying. You have clearly said you made up your mind based on previous experience, therefore proving that you did not take notice of the facts I stated.

Perhaps you just don't like to hear that people do not like recruitment agencies.

Whatever........ Lily ..
This thread has let people ask questions .. get replys and maybe given some guidlines on how Recruitment agencies work.

Racy Red .. the same applies to the person who registers for work ..
TBH I have had great temps who have gone on to full time positions quite a few fantastic people:) , I have had great temps who really did not want perm positions and I have had temps where the position of 'sleeping Policeman' would have been a challenge ..:eek: