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

RedSoleShoes

ellie101 wrote: »

I was told very early on by a recruitment agent to never tell another agency where I was being interviewed by (as I'd just done with him) as they would send other candidates in my place.

I have highlighted this part because (as you probably can see from my first post) this is not something I was aware of. Clearly I was naive, but I thought that when agents questioned me about my other applications, it was to get an idea of the type of places I was applying to. But since my recent incident, I now know it is so they can have leads to jobs that they could potentially market other candidates to.

Whilst I acknowledge that recruitment is mainly (if not purely) a sales business, I find this practice underhand and wanted to advise others in my position who also did not realise.

Candidates can gain nothing from telling agents about their other roles, and they can also lose nothing by not telling them. Any RC that tries to tell them otherwise is not worth wasting time on in my opinion.

Thank you for your informative post, it is good to hear a calm and literate response.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

Thank you RacyRed. I honestly can't believe that cavework is STILL putting her own little ideas into what happened. I am not wasting my time explaining to her again as you have obviously understood what I said and got it spot on here :beer:

I have highlighted this which should be of particular interest to readers.

Yet again it is a demonstration of your attitude which is indeed very poor from the start.

You did indeed try to play one employer off against another.

Maybe you will have better luck second time around as I hear skills are developed with experience.

CCFC_80

ellie101 wrote: »

Okay... I tried to stay off this thread, but as I deal with recruitment agents a lot I decided to.

The advice you are giving is not wholly applicable to how I'd deal with recruitment agents. Is it something that's relevant to your field as it's a niche area? As I'm not sure why anyone should use their common sense when it comes to giving out references to agents or telling them where they are interviewing. I was told very early on by a recruitment agent to never tell another agency where I was being interviewed by (as I'd just done with him) as they would send other candidates in my place. It's a big no-no in what I do. Not only for the candidate's chances but the chances of the agent that is trying to place you. They don't want everyone to know about the possible job it may have taken them ages to research/build up a relationship with the hiring manager.

In the contracting field I'm in, I'd never give out references (until it came to a job offer). Even for permanent jobs, I'd be loathe until an offer was made. It would be a rare occurrence, for me, or the majority of the people I contract with to do this. You just don't do it, it hacks off your ex-hiring managers when they are called by someone trying to get sales leads from them. And yes, it does hack them off, I've also sat next to hiring managers who get cold-called by agencies 20 times a day. It really annoys them.

However, what doesn't annoy the hiring manager is when they are given recommendations, or see that another contractor in another team is doing a good job, they will then ask what agency they came through. Or if an agent takes time to develop relationships, they respect that.

I am aware that agencies will fish for leads out of me, and I'm happy to do that under certain circumstances e.g if I've worked with them for a while, and they are asking me for some details, and I'm confident they will approach someone respectfully.

It may sound like a given that an agent would be respectful and have good social skills, but doesn't always happen, and I don't want to give away my ex-bosses details to someone who isn't putting me forward for a job, particularly after a 2 minute conversation when I can't really tell if someone will then start phoning my ex-boss time and again.

Agree with you about researching agencies especially if I've never heard of them (as I want to get paid, and on time), I'll do this by going on IT message boards. For general experience of how the agency is at finding you the right jobs and how they treat you I look at a bit differently, as you can find that some people have great experiences depending upon the agent they spoke to. Not always the agency as a whole (though if a lot of people are saying they are rubbish I'd be careful).



It may be that the negative aspects of the recruitment industry are driven by the targeted environment some agents work in, however they can be a direct attempt to deceive (because they are not being truthful about why they want information). And they can cause harm... whether that's affecting your chance of getting a job, or annoying your ex-managers. Doesn't matter if it's not a direct attempt if that's the outcome.




I do use my common sense, as I'm sure do others, like when the OP says "don't give out details of where you are interviewing" to an agent. May not be applicable in the recruitment area you work in, but as general advice I'd always say that for IT work.

And I don't necessarily put my trust in an agency, I don't mean that nastily, for me, it's a contract, it's business. I'm polite, and if they are to me that's fine. Not comparable to a future child minder in any shape or form.

I did have a lot of negative experiences, including being shouted at in an attempt to bully me for sales leads (more that once), and someone lying to me about the terms of a job. No point in me going about them as I know not every experience I have is like that. I've learnt from my negative experiences to be careful about what I say to an agent about jobs I'm going for, however I always make sure I'm respectful to the agent too e.g always attend interviews, let them know asap if I've accepted something else etc. And it's generally fine.

I do think that most of the agencies I deal with now are okay. My current one is great.

Highlighting the very same thread as a previous poster after all that has been said, does this not show that the majority of the RC's on here are a bunch of hypocrites. They want to know what interviews and applications you have with other agencies but if they get you an interview with their agency then Don't tell any of the others.Comes across as if they all want to stab each other in the back.:rotfl:

RacyRed

Sammyantha and Cavework

None of us can control the input of other posters on this thread and there are insults being thrown in both directions. I am fortunately thick skinned enough to be able to brush off the insults directed at me personally by one of the RC posters. They are ignorant, irrelevent and add nothing to the discussion.

But some of us, on both sides of the discussion, are learning something of great value here. I am genuinely sorry you have both chosen not to continue.

I hope you will reconsider.

ellie101 wrote:

It may be that the negative aspects of the recruitment industry are driven by the targeted environment some agents work in, however they can be a direct attempt to deceive (because they are not being truthful about why they want information). And they can cause harm... whether that's affecting your chance of getting a job, or annoying your ex-managers. Doesn't matter if it's not a direct attempt if that's the outcome.

Very well put ellie101.

I wish I could put into words the sense of absolute betrayal and devastation I felt when a consultant I had known and trusted for ages sold me out of a job I adored (going from rolling contractor to perm) for the sake of a few thousand pounds in commission. I later learned that he had been put under tremendous pressure to do it, but knowing that didn't change the outcome, didn't lessen the sense of betrayal or go any way to restoring my faith in recruitment consultants.

Personally, the effect of that experience was so great that I put myself in a position where I was able to bypass RCs completely. It took a great deal of effort on my part, but was worth it to me.

We all live in a very commercial world. The consultant I described above would never have instigated such behaviour himself, part of the problem was that I'd been earning him serious commission as a contractor. My move to perm would have brought that to an end and that was when the problems began.

And that is why I advocate caution, because even the best consultants can be pressured into doing things that go against their nature.

CCFC_80

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

I have highlighted this part because (as you probably can see from my first post) this is not something I was aware of. Clearly I was naive, but I thought that when agents questioned me about my other applications, it was to get an idea of the type of places I was applying to. But since my recent incident, I now know it is so they can have leads to jobs that they could potentially market other candidates to.

Whilst I acknowledge that recruitment is mainly (if not purely) a sales business, I find this practice underhand and wanted to advise others in my position who also did not realise.

Candidates can gain nothing from telling agents about their other roles, and they can also lose nothing by not telling them. Any RC that tries to tell them otherwise is not worth wasting time on in my opinion.

Thank you for your informative post, it is good to hear a calm and literate response.

Exactly if you do, It's the equivalent of Turkey's voting for Xmas

1984ReturnsForReal_2

andy46 wrote: »

Highlighting the very same thread as a previous poster after all that has been said, does this not show that the majority of the RC's on here are a bunch of hypocrites. They want to know what interviews and applications you have with other agencies but if they get you an interview with their agency then Don't tell any of the others.Comes across as if they all want to stab each other in the back.:rotfl:

Andy.


What day do you sign on?


You should know by now because you have been doing it for over 2 years.

RedSoleShoes

RacyRed wrote: »

I am fortunately thick skinned enough to be able to brush off the insults directed at me personally by one of the RC posters. They are ignorant, irrelevent and add nothing to the discussion.

Indeed. Some posts are clearly not even worth reading. It's not always possible to spot a troll immediatley, but they don't take long to make themselves known :snow_laug

RacyRed

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

........... quote containing yet more rudeness and unnecessary sarcasm not shown. Take your pick over which one it was .........

I would like to wish I knew why you are so determined to reduce this discussion to chaos, but the truth is that I don't really care.

RedSoleShoes

Sammyantha wrote: »

Oh dear. I only wish I hadn't gone back and spotted this. But now I have I feel I must reply. williacg if you would like to point out any posts where I have evidenced self-delusion please go ahead. It also interests me that you quite wrongly accuse me of stating that negative experiences have only been posted by disgruntled temps. That is the second time that somebody on this post has put words in my mouth which I have neither said nor thought. I can only assume that each of you think in the same crazy way, and have no interest in reading and thinking before you post.

Hmmm.... exactly what you did to me. I notice that you did not bother to make a comment on THAT little point:rotfl:

Sammyantha wrote: »

And Lily your assertion that attack is my only form of defense quite succinctly shows that you DID in fact post this thread as an attack on the recruitment profession. Quite why I would need to defend either myself or recruitment agencies is beyond me. I came in here at the beginning of the thread to disagree with your assertion that all recruitment agencies are worthless and should be avoided.

Wow, is that you putting words in my mouth AGAIN!!

If you have anything to say that is actually real, I'm sure we would love to hear it.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

LilyDeTilly wrote: »

Hmmm.... exactly what you did to me. I notice that you did not bother to make a comment on THAT little point:rotfl:
Wow, is that you putting words in my mouth AGAIN!!
If you have anything to say that is actually real, I'm sure we would love to hear it.

Originally Posted by LilyDeTilly
One thing I have noticed about the replies on this thread is that there have been NO recruitment agents defending themselves......

it would be interesting to hear if any of them disagree with things that have been said here.

Do you remember writing the above to.

So far you have dismissed everything you don't like with sarcasm.

I think it is very clear what you objectives are.

In fact I knew what your objectives were from page 2.

:rotfl: