I just need to get two references ...

[soro]

Unless there's a confirmed interview, date, time etc...with a line manager, then give them nothing.

I had recently a situation when agent asked me about
two references. I was stupid and I gave her the contacts.
She called the clients and was mostly interested in working
for them !! Then she sent me an email that the role is not longer available .

[northernrampage]

I've just had some fun on the phone with this.

Looks like the new graduates have started and are hunting for leads. Shame they don't know how to use a search engine.

Ah... I get it now. I've had a fair few calls in the last couple of weeks with agents saying "we just found your CV on our database". I know they store them but I naively thought the job market was picking-up as random people were calling me on the strength of a CV that had an 18mth gap on it.

There was me thinking I was special. I have some more learning to do.

[northernladuk]

There was me thinking I was special. I have some more learning to do.

Awww You are getting there, don't fret.

[theroyale]

G2 Recruitment

Right, I've just about had it with these people - they fish and fish and come up with nothing. Just had a call from one of their pimps, her SECOND question to me was "Who was your line manager at <last client>" !!! I didn't bite, at which she made an excuse about something else having come up and that she would call me later in the day.

This is about the fourth time this is happening with G2, this shall be the last time I bother with them, I'm cutting their call/sending their email to spam from now on.

<Right, vent done>

[Babbage]

Right, I've just about had it with these people - they fish and fish and come up with nothing. Just had a call from one of their pimps, her SECOND question to me was "Who was your line manager at <last client>" !!! I didn't bite, at which she made an excuse about something else having come up and that she would call me later in the day.

This is about the fourth time this is happening with G2, this shall be the last time I bother with them, I'm cutting their call/sending their email to spam from now on.

<Right, vent done>

I got so much rubbish from them I got myself delisted from their database.

[theroyale]

I got so much rubbish from them I got myself delisted from their database.

Can I do that over email or do I need to tell one of their lot when they call me next?

[Brussels Slumdog]

Name and Shame

Right, I've just about had it with these people - they fish and fish and come up with nothing. Just had a call from one of their pimps, her SECOND question to me was "Who was your line manager at <last client>" !!! I didn't bite, at which she made an excuse about something else having come up and that she would call me later in the day.

This is about the fourth time this is happening with G2, this shall be the last time I bother with them, I'm cutting their call/sending their email to spam from now on.

<Right, vent done>

Well done. its about time we named and shamed these agencies

[wogewwabbit]

My first post here, just want to share my experiences with recruiters/fishermen. Recently was looking for my first ever contract, and I was receiving 5-10 phone calls a day from recruiters. Whenever I was put forward to an interview, noone asked me for a reference. It shortly became obvious for me that serious recruiters are not asking for references upfront. It was sometimes very annoying, because some of these Tulips on the phone talked to me for about 15-20 minutes before getting to the point like "was you line manager John?" or just simply asking for contact details. Depending on my mood, sometimes I explained to them that I only give references to my potential employer, but not to someone who just called me from a hidden number. Sometimes I just hung up, or if I was in a good mood I said thank you for the call before hanging up.
It happened to me once that I told the guy, that "yes, my line manager was John Smith". I hope he believed me.

Seriously, noone can really think that it is possible to give out names of managers from a big international company, just like that. First of all, company policies forbid doing that, and they forbid the managers to give personal references. If some recruiter or a manager from another company calls your previous boss, your boss is obliged to pass that person on to HR. There are official ways of getting references, and that is through contacting HR. Now all my employers are in my CV, they can find the switchboard or reception number anywhere, and they can ask for HR. Or more preferably, they can send a letter by post. And I am sure they would get a reply.
The reason for this is that serious companies can't afford to give out personal opinions on ex-employees. If they paint a better picture of you than what you really are, they are risking some credibility, or if they tell someone that you were a bad workforce, they could be sued by the employee if s/he gets to know this. So even if you'd give out contact details of your previous manager, that would not serve the original purpose.
I think the best thing to answer for these questions is that "yes, you can get references, by contacting the HR department of XYZ company, you find the postal address on the website".

[wogewwabbit]

Other trick they try to do is adding you as a contact on linked-in. Unfortunatey even serious recruiters try to do that sometimes, who actually organised a real interview for you.
Another annoying technique is that on the first phone call they tell you about companies that would surely catch your interest. I've had one guy calling me a year ago, and although I was not actually looking for a job, I considered his call because he mentioned a position at BarCap and another opportunities at Goldmans. But I got very pissed off a month later, when he tried to send me to a Saturday afternoon "open assessment day" to a company I've never heard of.

[The Agents View]

[My first post here, just want to share my experiences with recruiters/fishermen. Recently was looking for my first ever contract, and I was receiving 5-10 phone calls a day from recruiters.

What were you doing? offering "favours" in return for calls?

Whenever I was put forward to an interview, noone asked me for a reference. It shortly became obvious for me that serious recruiters are not asking for references upfront.

A wild assumption - you need to get better at qualifying agents - if they can tell you, in depth, what the requirement is, the culture of the business, etc etc, then you need to realise that sometimes we really DO need references before submission. More to the point, sometimes you are in the "maybe" shortlist (even if you are the only person in the running) - From my personal standpoint, I don't put ANYONE across to a client that I'm not at least 95% confident about - sometimes that means getting a second opinion, from someone who has seen you in action.

It was sometimes very annoying, because some of these Tulips on the phone talked to me for about 15-20 minutes before getting to the point like "was you line manager John?" or just simply asking for contact details. Depending on my mood, sometimes I explained to them that I only give references to my potential employer, but not to someone who just called me from a hidden number.

Ever thought that they do business with the company and wondered whether you knew the line managers that they do? And if you do, then maybe they have a relationship where they can just double check things - I do it all the time if people have worked with line managers I have - wait until I'm due to call them anyway, and drop the person into conversation.

And another thing. If you were to provide references to your employer, you would be providing them to yourself. You're in Permie world by the sounds of it.

Seriously, noone can really think that it is possible to give out names of managers from a big international company, just like that. First of all, company policies forbid doing that, and they forbid the managers to give personal references. If some recruiter or a manager from another company calls your previous boss, your boss is obliged to pass that person on to HR. There are official ways of getting references, and that is through contacting HR.

What UTTER clap trap. Want to talk about international companies? In the last 3 months, I have taken references from Directors of:

Virgin Atlantic
easyJet
CapGemini
Capita
Unilever
Bupa
and Balfour Beatty.

Each and every one was a 20 minute conversation about the individual, and the information gleaned was used to sell the candidate to my end client. In addition, because of the way in which I'd checked out the people I was working with, I have now been asked to work with three of the above businesses - I don't care what anyone says - due dilligence saves time, effort and wasted money if it's done in the right way.

A HR reference tells you NOTHING other than employment dates, and to be honest, if you were a proper contractor, HR wouldn't even know you'd worked with the company.