Top 15 Recruitment Agency tricks...!!

[WTFH]

Well, it is the third oldest profession...
Prostitute
Lawyer
Pimp

[Bee]

Looks like I got lot of time in this forum today. After talking to couple of agencies in the morning I thought its worth learning & sharing new tricks ( and some older ones as well) of Agencies. Here is my pick of Top 15 !!

Feel free to comment on them with your experience and how you handled them. Also add recent ones seen from more 'innovative' agencies. Thanks.

1. “Need two references”.
[Recent Status - Over used trick haven’t heard this recently].

2. "Who did you work for at Client X. Was it Tom"? "No", you say. "It was --".
[Recent Status - Not that popular now a days, still come across couple of times in a month]

3. They post jobs on job boards that don't exist to get themselves a number of extra CVs and more leads.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

4. They'll ask you "Tell us what companies that your CV has already been sent out to or had interviews so that we don't make the mistake of sending your CV there again ".
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

5. "What's your bottom line? What's the least that you would take to get a job? Obviously we will try to get as much as we can for you".
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

6. “What’s your current or last rate” – This also have same impact as “bottom line” question.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

7. They'll put a clause in your contract that they and the client company can terminate you with a month's (or a week's) notice, but that you have no notice period with them.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies, most of us either ignores or will not notice this]

8. If you get a job interview through them, they'll tell you that they'll call you back when they have any feedback. Will get call only if there is positive news!
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

9. When you don't get the job after interview or failed to progress after initial screening, they'll say they'll look for other jobs for you, but they won't.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

10. They tell you that if you introduce them to another contractor that they get a job for, they'll pay you 250 or 500 quid.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies, haven’t heard anyone got money..?]

11. Once they've got you a job, they may say that they weren't able to get you the rate that agreed earlier– that the client will only pay 5% or 10% less.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

12. When are you available? Agencies call contractors ever so often to find out when they are available. This is likely to be a dirty trick. They are more interested in when your job might become available in market than when you are available.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

13. Agency “managed services”. Client pays daily rate & you are salaried permanent employee of agency, rest goes to agency’s pocket....!
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

14. “Fixed term contract”. Client pays daily rate & you get fixed salary, rest goes to agency’s pocket..!
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

15. Agency “face to face Interviews”. Agency conducts screening interviews before client interview, just to get reference form filled.
[Recent Status - Still well used by agencies]

I'm so naive.

I'm depressed.

[northernladuk]

I'm so naive.

I'm depressed.

I thought you were leaving?

[Bee]

I thought you were leaving?

You look like a troll.

[SueEllen]

You look like a troll.

You're the sockie

[wogewwabbit]

Story 1 (1 month ago):
- I was (allegedly) put forward for a 100% fitting role, everything matches, commutable from where I am.
- No rate negotiation, accepted my last rate immediately
- The agent never asked me to confirm exclusive representation.
- The agent kept on calling me with "updates" for about 2 weeks (manager is abroad, other guy is sick, etc...)
- I never got invited. I think I was scammed, to make sure I do not apply for the role.

Story 2 (happening now):
- Last week I was (allegedly) put forward for a role, 100% fitting, everything matches, well, not exactly commutable but that's no issue
- No rate negotiation, accepted my last rate immediately
- The agent never asked me to confirm exclusive representation.
- I've just had a call from this agent, telling me that they like my CV, he will try to get an interview arranged asap, but one interviewer guy just "got the bug"...

I am starting to become really skeptical. Do you guys think it would be a good idea to ask the clientco directly, if they received my CV? Not interested in anything more, just if they have my CV. What consequences could it have if I ask them this question behind the back of the agent?

[northernladuk]

Both of those are 'it just happens' stories. Nothing new there at all. Might be genuine, might not be. It doesn't matter. What matters is you should have fired and forgot rather than holding on to them. There a 100 reasons you might not have got them but you should have already moved on after the first week.

If you can't handle a bit of this you are going to have a very torrid time contracting.

No you shouldn't contact the client. They'll have you down as a desperate trouble maker from the off which isn't the best first impression.

[wogewwabbit]

Both of those are 'it just happens' stories. Nothing new there at all. Might be genuine, might not be. It doesn't matter. What matters is you should have fired and forgot rather than holding on to them. There a 100 reasons you might not have got them but you should have already moved on after the first week.

If you can't handle a bit of this you are going to have a very torrid time contracting.

No you shouldn't contact the client. They'll have you down as a desperate trouble maker from the off which isn't the best first impression.

I agree with the first part, being desperate is a bad adviser. The reason why I'm like this is because my experience is not exactly the best selling combination, and these roles do match my expertise perfectly.

Usually I can handle this, I prefer going to interviews with the mindset "I don't give a crap if I live or die". But usually I find a contract in 2 weeks.

[northernladuk]

my experience is not exactly the best selling combination, and these roles do match my expertise perfectly.

What on earth does this mean?

[wogewwabbit]

What on earth does this mean?

I am not a specialist ASP.NET + HTML5 + CSS3 + JS/AngularJS developer, but rather a generalist sw engineer with too much stuff on the CV with 15+ years on the clock. Being a generalist is not the best expertise for a contractor. Most of the time I only utilize a small subset of what I know, those contracts are rare that need everything from my CV. And these contracts are like that.