agency paranoia

[LondonManc]

I got a call this morning from Computer People about a job I applied for, I had the usual 5-10 minute conversation about the role and what I do etc. etc. We discussed rated etc.

Then, he did something which I've been experiencing a bit of lately, and wanted your thoughts on this - he wouldn't tell me who the company is. So, is this a new thing now, all potential work is with these top secret companies you don't get to know about until interview stage?

I get the impression they're paranoid you're going to go direct to the company rather than the supposed agreement they have in place with their "client"

Anyone else get annoyed by this and how do you go about dealing with them?

Easiest reply:
"Well, I'm not going to reveal this to anyone else am I? They'll just throw their own cvs at them and reduce my chances. Besides, I may not want to work for the company or my cv may already have been put forward."

Hopefully they read it as:
"Look, I know all pimps would sell their gran if they could, I'm not green enough to fall for giving up where my cv has gone. Just tell me who it is, send me a role-specific exclusivity email to reply to and get my cv over there."