Two Agencies, One position...up the creek?

[Swashbuckler]

Hi all,

A little reminder to people how scrupulous agencies can be.

Currently I work within a fairly niche sector as a Business Analyst. Its pretty easy for me to work out the market rates at present and tend to not price myself above or below the market.

The short of it is I applied for a position through Agency A and was told I was not successful in getting a 1st interview. This struck me as a little odd, more so than other rejections, given my background and experience.

Anyhow couple of days later Agency B contacted me with the same position. I said I would be interested.

Agency B said they spoke with the client and that he informed them that he had two copies of my CV so I told Agency B I would put in writing that I was happy for them to represent me.

Lo and behold got a 1st round interview through Agency B.

Interview went well and the client implied that there was a strong possibility of a 2nd interview.

This was when the S**t hit the fan.

Agency B gets back to me to say that the client is claiming that both agencies are claiming to represent me...even though agency A didn't get me an interview!

Got some bolshy employee of agency A saying I had agreed to them representing me exclusively...despite the fact that I had not signed any 'exclusivity agreement'.

He then spouted some legal bullspit saying that Agency A had a 28 day legal claim over me and that I could not talk with any other agencies. Again let me clarify they had not got me an interview.

To rub salt into the wound he started to make veiled threats to me saying that as he had previously placed the interviewer he had undue influence over him as to who should proceed to the 2nd round.

It would seem the interviewer got a b*llocking from agency A for letting my cv slip through.

The current upshot is that I told agency A to back off and that agency B is representing me.

However the role is currently on 'hold' despite the interviewer divulging to me that the project was running on time in the interview.

Philosphicaly speaking am resigned to the fact that I may have frozen myself out of the role and that it may have been in everyone's best interest to quietly put the situation to bed.

[malvolio]

Been there, done that. Told the equivalent of Agency A to bugger off, not very politely, before they wrecked it for all three parties.

Stick to your guns - the agency that arranged the interview is the one that gets your business.

[thunderlizard]

Tell both agencies it's for the client to decide. They will have a way of sorting out this kind of dispute. You approached agency B in good faith, in the knowledge that agency A's representation had ben unsuccessful. Maybe there was some sort of mix-up with CVs on somebody's desk, but that's for the client to resolve in the light of their contracts with both agencies.

[Mordac]

Might be worth checking the circumstances in which you were actually put forward by Agency A, to ascertain why the client rejected you in the first instance and called you in the second time. Were the rates "massaged" in some way?
Can you name the agencies? That might also give some insight as to how this "misunderstanding" occurred.

[BlasterBates]

Only if you explicitly agreed to be represented by Agency A is there any kind of legal agreement. Some agencies do ask for you to explicitly agree to be represented for that specific role. Legally it sounds like Agency A can´t do anything, but I think your problem is now with the client. Double representation does cause problems that usually lead to you being excluded from the contract. Usually the client is aware of the problem and will decline the CV from the second agency, especially if there are enough candidates to choose from.

I would look for another contract and don´t use Agency A in future.

[MarillionFan]

You mean unscrupulous

hth.

[Swashbuckler]

Might be worth checking the circumstances in which you were actually put forward by Agency A, to ascertain why the client rejected you in the first instance and called you in the second time. Were the rates "massaged" in some way?
Can you name the agencies? That might also give some insight as to how this "misunderstanding" occurred.

Funny enough Agency A put me in at a lower than expected rate, certainly lower than Agency B and lower than I agreed from memory.

The guy from Agency A had the nerve to say well I would be no better off if I did accept the higher rate from Agency B.

I can reveal that Agency A is known as PCR. Until I get official confirmation that the role has gone cold later this week I'll delay naming Agency B.

I felt quite strongly about the situation and rightly or wrongly I cancelled another interview that week that Agency A had set up despite them repeatedly attempting to contact me to change my mind.

Hopefully I'll be in a position not to have to rely on agencies until then they are right up their with estate agents IMHO.

[mcquiggd]

PCR... that name seems familier from when I was living in Norfolk... I vaguely remember lots of emails and phone calls from them, usually about jobs around East Anglia, but no real leads. I was bombarded with almost daily spam emails from them.

[Denny]

Whenever you are represented by an EB and the same EB says the role has gone cold or not offered an interview, always confirm in writing to the same agency that you withdraw your permission for them to represent you for the same position, should the situation change with another EB. A role that has gone cold has gone cold - therefore it doesn't exist. The representation issue no longer arises - at least for them if they are telling the truth. No EB can say this is not the case later on unless the interviewer changes their mind about interviewing the same contractor through the same EB.

A lot of the problems contractors have with EBs is that they fail to back up all their negotiations in writing throughout the process. This is a mistake. EBs use phone calls deliberately to escape accountability for saying what they say when it suits them. However, it does you no good whatsoever.

When are contractors going to learn to exert their own terms and conditions with EBs just as they do with contractors. Negotiation is a two way process, you know, and contractors who want to be business owner managers should be acting in a business-like way from the time they first pick up the phone to an EB, not act like a desparate wannabe pseudo employee willing to be pushed around until they are finally offered the role, if they're lucky.

Should something like this ever happen again, write to the client company and explain what Agency A's are like and what they did to hinder your chances of being considered - that they are less interested in ensuring their client gets the right candidate, instead they are only interested in pursuing their own selfish needs at the client's expense. Sooner or later the client will stop using them - if they have any sense, that is. If they don't then the end client is probably not worth contracting for in the first place.

Also, if you are being interviewed through an EB B after being represented by EB A leading to a abortive attempt to get an interview set up, explain to the client during questions that you have cleared it with EB B to be represented by EB B only not EB A. Chances are EB A will never find out because this prevents the client interviewer only saying they are interested in you with HR who, without such knowledge of the interview outcomes, are then bound to screw things up for you by informing EB A at a later stage about the mix up over CVs sparking the EB war - with only one casualty - you..

[Denny]

Hi all,

A little reminder to people how scrupulous agencies can be.

.

As if we need reminding???