First Recruitment Group

[fidot]

I'd question why your age is on the CV in the first place.

[squarepeg]

Well said. Recruiters are something only some have the luxury of avoiding. With regards to proper jobs, I was serving in the Royal Navy from 15 making a contribution from finishing training at 16. All relevant and I would class as a full SysAdmin role. No gap years or school for me unfortunately.

Asking the question is fine in my book as I had provided him with all the information he needed about prior experience. It was 3 emails asking if I'm sure my CV is right as they find it "hard to believe" it is correct.

Anyway, the main point of this is to be aware of these guys. I'ev kept arms length from certain companies due to threads on CUK. It was a rant and something that I found extraordinary seeing as over the past 12 contracts nothing like this has ever come up.

I had to deal with such behaviour in the past, too. I just refuse to work with such agents, just like I refuse to work with agents who want to treat me like private bitch or cannot speak clear, understandable English. I had one agent get in my face over the fact that I mentioned on my CV that I had been writing software ever since I got my ZX Spectrum. He shouted at me like a lunatic.

What you agent might have had in mind could be the most recent uninterrupted period of "commercial experience", which in their speak is "how long have you been working as a contractor for?" I learned that there is no point in arguing with those assholes and just say I've got "over 5 years of experience", even if I have closer to 10. I'm sure you have every reason to be proud of your accomplishments, but your CV is not an a file from the National Archives, it is a sales tool and you need to craft it that way. Not by making stuff up, but organising it in a way that will help the agent sell you.