Agency retaining my details

LadyMissA

Ok an agency that I applied to for a job that was advertised (Hallmark Recruitment) are saying they are keeping ALL my details on file even though I have asked them 3 times not to retain any details (as I think they are not all above board). They said they will have to talk to Totaljobs (where I saw the job advertised) in order to find out if they can delete my details

If I have asked them 3 times not to, do they have to comply?

Coopdivi

I may be wrong but I get the distinct impression that Hallmark Recruitment doesn't actually have any jobs to offer and the posts they're advertising on Totaljobs, Reed and elsewhere are merely a subterfuge to get CVs onto their data base.

For a start their own website talks about vacancies but when I clicked on the 'Candidates search for jobs' button I got taken to their Facebook page.

http://www.hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk/index.html

On Totaljobs.com they are advertising for an IT manager and offering the laughably unfeasible salary of £400K per annum.

http://www.totaljobs.com/JobSeeking/IT-Manager_job52699879

The contact name for that job, Kayode Dauda, has an entry on Linkedin:

http://uk.linkedin.com/in/kayodedaudafrec

He has the letters FIRP after his name. This stands for Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals. It sounds posh but you too can have those letters after your name for the princely sum of £115 and not much proof that you actually know what you're doing.

http://www.rec-irp.uk.com/membership/how-to-join/joinonline/joinonlinefellow

Of the other companies he has listed, Ski Europe Ltd was dissolved in 2010.

http://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/06604771

Angkor Search is a Cambodian recruitment website although they don't appear to have any jobs available either. It looks like another CV database.

http://www.angkorsearch.com/index.html



What you could do is write to them at the address on their website and point out that as they don't have a Privacy Policy in place they have no legal right to keep the information which you have provided. You could always mention the Data Protection Act. More information here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy

and here:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection.aspx

You may get better advice on the Consumer Rights forum.

LadyMissA

Wow thanks for looking all that up but I had my concerns after I applied for three jobs via Total Jobs and I then sent TJ an email as at that time Hallmark didn't even have a website so I asked if the jobs were legit and Total Jobs told me they have done all the relevant checks and they were totally ok to use yet they would not give me their companies registered number.

Anyway I just got the standard emails saying I wasn't succesful on all three jobs I applied for and in the email it said they would keep my details on file. I sent replies to all saying please do not keep my details at all and could they confirm they weren't.

Today I got many emails to and throw from Kayode Dauda & then Guiam Wainwright telling me I would have to delete all my info on Total Jobs and that in order for them not to retain my details they would have to talk to Total Jobs to see if they could do that. I did say under the data protection act they had to abide to my wishes to which the replky again was 'if you come up in our searches we would have your info' . They could not understand me telling them not to hold the details which they had already and if they were to contact me after they did a search then I would just tell them I was not interested. I then went on to block their email address and then sent it all on to Total Jobs.

I think they are scammers as all of their jobs seem word for word like others I see I have seen on the net and going from having no website and being a new company according to TJ they seem to have a hell of a lof of jobs for a new company!

thanks for that info but all should be aware if you are going to apply for anything via them as it even says on their website they a funding companies in Africa. Maybe all above board but seems very odd indeed.

LadyMissA

Here is a very off one

Advert on Total Jobs

http://www.totaljobs.com/JobSearch/JobDetails.aspx?JobId=52719387&Keywords=&Market=1&Industry=18&Sort=2&LTxt=City&Radius=5&distance=0.0&precision=2

and then the same job advertised on the USA version of Reed

http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/assistant-finance-analyst/21097011#/jobs/usa?pagesize=50

that can not be a mistake, surely?

Evilm

As long as you haven't give them bank details then they can't really do much with the details they have. Stop worrying about it and stop dealing with them.

LadyMissA

Evilm wrote: »

As long as you haven't give them bank details then they can't really do much with the details they have. Stop worrying about it and stop dealing with them.

I would never be that stupid but they are taking the P*** and I am sure the jobs are not even real. Just all be warned.

CCFC_80

Going only very slightly off topic, I never give agencies my bank details for security reasons and will only do so if and when they get me work.

I get around this by giving them the genuine sort code for my bank account and a made up account number. If and when they got employment for me I would just request that my bank account details now need updating.

G_Wainwright

CCFC: You should never give an agency bank details except in the situation where you are temping for them, have been working at the particular client and know everything is secure having processed a time-sheet. You should never be asked to provide bank details during the recruitment process and I would be wary of any agency that does.

G_Wainwright

Hi everyone,

Just to follow up to the thread above which I thought I would share a bit more information on. By way of background, my name is Guiam Wainwright and am a Director at HR, you can check me online or email me on guiam.wainwright@hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk to verify.

There have been a couple of threads amongst this forum with LadyMissA - who I believe I have emailed with outside of this - being involved in many of them. I will clear up the salient points below.

Directors of Hallmark Group are some of our major shareholders and is the reason our UK offices are at the same location and we share a brand name.

To explain our model (and please check our website for further information - hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk we operate exactly the same way as any other agency in terms of how we relate to our clients and candidates and the process we follow. The difference is that due to our operations being centered out of East Africa (and we are a British company registered at companies house, feel free to check) we offer a significantly lower cost to use our services rather than competitors. To be clear: we recruit for British companies and we work with UK based candidates - however we handle the process from remote.

We do have a another company which works locally in East Africa - Hallmark Recruitment Kenya - which operates as expected.

This obviously benefits our clients, as they find the same candidates through us as by using a different agency, but by using us they simple end up paying less. We also only ever charge on success, so if we don't successfully fill a role, we don't charge.

The benefits to our candidates works in a similar way; because we charge less, companies that wouldn't normally use an agency for support are happy to use us. This means we can offer more roles to our candidates.

Questions have been raised elsewhere in this forum about us "supporting organisations in Africa", we donate a percentage of our profits to charitable organisations (which we closely vet to make sure they are effective and honest) to improve education (for the most part) in the region. There are links on our website under the "initiative" tab, which is soon going to be updated with our current drives and what we're doing.

If you have any further queries please don't hesitate to call us on the number listed on the site or email me directly on guiam.wainwright@hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk

Finally, in answer to the the slightly misleading statement that opened this thread; LadyMissA, at no point would we ever hold a candidates details if requested not to and I distinctly remember telling you so when we spoke. What led to clarification, if you remember, was the phrasing of your request which I would not want to state again in a public forum. If you would like me to re-cap that with you I am always at the other end of the phone or email.

Kind regards,

Gui

Mischa8

G_Wainwright wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Just to follow up to the thread above which I thought I would share a bit more information on. By way of background, my name is Guiam Wainwright and am a Director at HR, you can check me online or email me on guiam.wainwright@hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk to verify.

There have been a couple of threads amongst this forum with LadyMissA - who I believe I have emailed with outside of this - being involved in many of them. I will clear up the salient points below.

Directors of Hallmark Group are some of our major shareholders and is the reason our UK offices are at the same location and we share a brand name.

To explain our model (and please check our website for further information - hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk we operate exactly the same way as any other agency in terms of how we relate to our clients and candidates and the process we follow. The difference is that due to our operations being centered out of East Africa (and we are a British company registered at companies house, feel free to check) we offer a significantly lower cost to use our services rather than competitors. To be clear: we recruit for British companies and we work with UK based candidates - however we handle the process from remote.

We do have a another company which works locally in East Africa - Hallmark Recruitment Kenya - which operates as expected.

This obviously benefits our clients, as they find the same candidates through us as by using a different agency, but by using us they simple end up paying less. We also only ever charge on success, so if we don't successfully fill a role, we don't charge.

The benefits to our candidates works in a similar way; because we charge less, companies that wouldn't normally use an agency for support are happy to use us. This means we can offer more roles to our candidates.

Questions have been raised elsewhere in this forum about us "supporting organisations in Africa", we donate a percentage of our profits to charitable organisations (which we closely vet to make sure they are effective and honest) to improve education (for the most part) in the region. There are links on our website under the "initiative" tab, which is soon going to be updated with our current drives and what we're doing.

If you have any further queries please don't hesitate to call us on the number listed on the site or email me directly on guiam.wainwright@hallmarkrecruitment.co.uk

Finally, in answer to the the slightly misleading statement that opened this thread; LadyMissA, at no point would we ever hold a candidates details if requested not to and I distinctly remember telling you so when we spoke. What led to clarification, if you remember, was the phrasing of your request which I would not want to state again in a public forum. If you would like me to re-cap that with you I am always at the other end of the phone or email.

Kind regards,

Gui

Just to let you know - LadyMissA doesn't come here or post here anymore or if it is, under a new username.

And re the phrasing of her request, yes she can be a bit rude, was noted a few times here.:eek:

DCFC79

Rerported post number as no official signature to say they are here as a rep.