Nosy agencies

AlecEiffel

Hi all,

Currently job hunting and on occasion have agencies contact me after they've seen my CV online. Sometimes they ask where I've applied to for jobs and where I've had interviews (both the actual employer and the agency used). Some have said it's so they don't approach the same company but I'm not really comfortable giving this information out as I wonder if they'll contact people asking about me, or even if they're just using me to see who else is recruiting! Anyone else had this and how do you approach it?

bookgirl_2

If you give them the benefit of the doubt, you might think that they want to see if you are interested in places similar to their clients.

I suspect they are tracking down leads for themselves tho!

Art_Vandelay_2

I've had this, many times in the past.

I've also known 2 people who have worked for recruitment agencies for several years and the agencies all tend to operate with the same tactics.

With almost 99.99% certainty, I (personally) believe that they are not doing it to be friendly. They are trying to manipulate or get information out of you for their own uses.

If they really say they want to be helpful, tell them to get you a job stat!!

AlecEiffel

So long as it's not just me thinking this way then!!

I'll try to tread the fine line between being open and cagey!

Thanks for your replies.

dacouch

If you tell them what companies have interviewed you, they then know of an employer who are recruiting and gives them a chance of entering their own clients and earning commission.

It's the M.O they use to find potential customers

CCFC_80

NEVER EVER tell recruitment agents jobs that you have recently applied for and especially interviews that you have pending. Their primary aim is that they will want to put up their candidates against you for that job you may have sourced yourself so reducing your chances of getting the job. I wouldn't trust most recruitments agents as far as you could throw them.

BillyB

Ive never had that happen despite having cv uploaded to a few different sites! Ive had an agency phone me recently - I missed it both times. They operate miles away and have looked up vacancies locally and there are none. Makes me wonder what they want to speak to me for, the message asks me to call them back.. Im a bit wary of agencies anyway!

AP007

Never tell company or agency who you have

1 - applied to
2 - interviewed with

Just say a you have had a few interviews and that's all

an9i77

I just say 'I've been asked to keep that confidential, sorry' if they ask me where else I am interviewing. If you say you've not got any other interviews, they may think you are not a good candidate, so I always say I have (if that is the case) but that I can't tell them where. They all know the rules of the game and will just know that you've sussed out what they're up to. Also if they do get a role which they want to keep other agencies from finding out about, they will know that you're good at keeping it quiet and may go to you before others.

duckandcover

Just to further add to this....during the summer of 2011 I was working at one of the largest well-known recruitment companies (doing admin support basically), and these "leads" that the consultants get from the candidates/jobseekers they meet with or speak to over the phone are pretty much what they base their whole business on! These leads allowed them to work their way into a potential client much more easily than just by cold-calling. As soon as one of the consultants got off the phone to a candidate or out from an interview with them, they'd immediately call up the company which was recruiting to try and get it on the action, and they would usually try and place a candidate (a different one) in the job there and then. Part of my role was to make anonymous versions of CV's on the system so that they could send these to the client before they even asked the candidate if they were interested!

This is the same reason that they'd call candidates for a 'catch-up' every so often, even if they had nothing to offer them - purely to get the leads.

CCFC_80

duckandcover wrote: »

Just to further add to this....during the summer of 2011 I was working at one of the largest well-known recruitment companies (doing admin support basically), and these "leads" that the consultants get from the candidates/jobseekers they meet with or speak to over the phone are pretty much what they base their whole business on! These leads allowed them to work their way into a potential client much more easily than just by cold-calling. As soon as one of the consultants got off the phone to a candidate or out from an interview with them, they'd immediately call up the company which was recruiting to try and get it on the action, and they would usually try and place a candidate (a different one) in the job there and then. Part of my role was to make anonymous versions of CV's on the system so that they could send these to the client before they even asked the candidate if they were interested!

This is the same reason that they'd call candidates for a 'catch-up' every so often, even if they had nothing to offer them - purely to get the leads.

Thats very interesting and confirms my worst suspicions about the morality of recruitment consultants with the bit I have highlighted. So basically as soon as I say that I have an interview at company XXX, they will immediately be on the phone to that company wanting to put their candidates forward for the role against me..

As I mentioned in my previous post, NEVER EVER TELL RECRUITMENT AGENTS INTERVIEWS YOU HAVE PENDING (sorry to shout). You will have nothing to gain from this and potentially your next job to lose.