Recruitment agents - how to deal with them

zazou

As I've made my CV visible online I am getting calls and emails from various people in the recruitment industry.

So my question is: What are the do's and don'ts when it comes to dealing with recruiters?

Typically someone will phone me up and want to chat with me about a role (fictional or not).
They will ask questions like current salary, what I hope to get, why I'm considering leaving, if I have been approached by someone about roles etc.


What are the dangers and pitfalls when it comes to dealing with agents you don't know?
What info shouldn't you give up?
How and why they try to bracket you when it comes to salary?

Also; what are good answers/counter tactics to the inquisitve questions?
(such as 'I can't remember', 'I can't say that' etc)


Something interesting I stumbled upon:
(I am not allowed to post links, search for 'evoulution')

suchagrass wrote: »

Hello,

I think they probably knew something like this would happen. I used to work there but thankfully I have moved on to better things. They sacked me as I was not hitting the targets they had set. So, if this means now you think that my view is biased, fair enough. Im not here to slander the company. What I am here for is to explain the actual way Evolution works.

Firstly, Evoultion will probably read this. I want to take this chance to say I am not slandering the company or employees in any way, shape or form.

Lets answer the 1st question... ''should I use them?''

Answer..... it depends. If you have alot of experience in your field or your skills is suited to a niche area of the market, then yes. To be fair to Evolution, if you are a good candidate and there is a job available for you to fit into, they WILL work harder than any other company in the UK to fit you in that role. I know this for a fact as most of the people there work 11 hour shifts mostly. A few even 12 everyday. We are told to work from home (via gotomypc) to search and source jobs. If the consultant sees your CV and thinks you have a brilliant one, your classed as a ''hot candidate'', the promised land. They will bend over backwards to find you a role.

On the other hand, if your credentials are not very strong for whatever reason, be it experience lacking, qualifications etc.... They will ring you just to see where you are applying in the market.

The basic way everything works

I would have a patch - a specific type of technology in a specific part of uk (such as JAVA specialists in the north west)

I would use this bespoke program designed to pull CV's from all the main jobsites and call candidates (thats you). I would say I found you CV seemed quite good. Now, weather I have a possible job or not, I would probably bend the truth to make you believe I have a job thats perfect for you. I would go through all the normal questions (how much money you want, what kind of role do you fancy ect) - then I would come to the parts I really want know - WHERE HAVE YOU APPLIED FOR...? - this one question (asked 100's of times a week) is the one sentence that makes these guys literally £1000's of pounds a month.

I would then say ill be in touch in the next week with some potential job specs of clients.....weather i had a role or not I would ring you the following week and ask the same question again, and the week after that, and that....im sure you see the idea.

The jobs you have been for and told us about are called ''leads''. If you provided managers names then thats even better news for them! This cuts through the red tape of finding the ''decision maker''. Also, we would ring your previous jobs and ask if there is any jobs going. There are loads more things but I simply cant be bothered to explain them all...

Evoulution do find jobs. They do. Just like any other rec company, they have client contracts and also they call every job posted on the job boards that are IT specific. They are a multi million pound company, who will make millions more, with or without you providing your interview details.

There is what you may call a ''dark side''. And this is why I quit. We are at the back end of a recession. And I predict in the next couple years we will walk into another one. When someone looses their job, alot of the time, that means they may have lost their life as they know it. Having to tell the wife/husband that they can no longer contribute financially for their family. Asking banks for extensions on loan agreements, not being able to support kids, mums, dads, cancelled holidays....the list is endless. Out of the approx 500 people i would speak to a week, I would only set up interviews for maybe 2 of them. And yet ive given false hope to the other 498 that im going to find their ideal role. I would call them back, week after week and pretend Im sourcing jobs specific for them, this was obviously not the case. This just didnt feel..... (have to choose my words carefully)....ethical. *this is an opinion of myself and in no way ment to be taken as bible*

SO, in closing. Evoultion will open doors for you, if you are a good candidate and co-operate. Is there anyway of knowing weather your one of the people they want to take things further with? NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!!! its a double edge sword. All i could reccomend is play them at thier own game. so only mention places you didnt want to work at, or have been unsuccesful for. dont mention anywhere you actually desire to work. as it has happened plenty of times that someone mentioned where they was going for a interview, they told evoulution, who ten rang the company and set up interview with people more qualified than the person who gave evolution that lead in the first place. I just wanted to air this to somewhat get it off my conscience. I hope this helps make your decision of weather you want to use them. If your good, then you should. if your not, then dont. Simple.

happy job hunting guys!

suchagrass

p.s, i made sure i didnt comment on how it is to work there as thats where it could get legal as some of the things I would say would be classed as slander lol

an9i77

Its hard to advise on how to deal with recruitment agencies unless you can give some more info as to what kind of work you are looking at, what field, is it very specialised or more generic. There's a world of difference between a specialist recruiter for a high level job and a more generic employment agency like reed or prime time who are recruiting for low level roles like call centres. I've found that the more specialised your skill set the better you get treated. If there's not many of you who can do your job, then they will want to keep you sweet as you are a valued resource. If you're at a more junior level and lots of people can do your job then there's no incentive to keep you sweet. Try and build up a good working relationship with one or two consultants. Don't be afraid to use more than one consultancy, they won't all have access to the same jobs so it's perfectly ok to sign up to more than one consultant.
When they ask where else you are applying to, what I did was to say 'I do have some irons in the fire but I've been asked to keep it confidential'. That usually shuts them up and it's totally honest. They will then know that you know how the game works and will keep the clients they put you forward to confidential too. If they are serious about putting you forward for a job, they will send over the job description, that's how you know there's a real job there. So if they say they have a job for you, ask for the job description and if it's not forthcoming chances are said job doesn't exist.
Recruitment agents get a bad press but they are ok if you know how to handle them. The best ones I've dealt with are Michael Page. Hays are ok. Reed I found to be rubbish but that could just be my experience. Good luck

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Never ever ever tell them any company names where you have applied no matter what. The salary thing - could be to see if they can get a decent commission margin

zazou

Of course I forgot to include my field which is software development, wide range of technologies.
Thanks an9i77

Before I posted I did my reading here and quoted the most useful bit I found.

Maybe I should invest in a little book I found on Amazon called: 'How to Handle Your Recruitment Consultant: Brilliant insider tips, tricks & secrets to maximise the performance of your recruitment consultant and ... Out Salary You Know You Want and Deserve'...

To bad they don't have it on Kindle"

bevanuk

If you don't give them a salary how do you expect to get a job?

01Giuliana10

When the fishing questions start just say: 'Oh I'm sure they'll contact you themselves if they're interested' it conveys that you know why they are asking, and if they persist mention your 'data protection concerns'

Also ask for the jobs post code, explaining that you have to use public transport and you 'wouldn't want to waste their time if you can't get there' You won't get it because that would enable you to find the company yourself and turn the tables on them but if there is an actual job they will have to give you some location information.

And... take your CV off public display, no good will come of it.

InsideInsurance

In the current market agencies are going to be more interested in hearing about what vacancies are out there than ever. Certainly you dont want to be telling an agent the details of any roles you are in the process of applying for - they inevitably will immediately be contacting anyone they know who works at that company to tell them about the great candidates that they've got that would be perfect for the role. If you've decided not to apply for a role or have been rejected for one it could be worth tossing them a bone to keep them happy but on the flip side they may then decide you're a good source of info but as you blab to anyone they will think carefully before giving you details of any new roles.

They are a necessary evil for many of us and it is worth finding a couple that do a good job and keeping in contact with them so you're kept in mind. Many are useless but can occasionally pick up a vacancy worth discussing with them and some I'd refuse to answer the phone to were it not for the fact that so many withhold their telephone number when calling.