Fake jobs

[Soled73]

I'm new to contracting. I've seen a number of post where people talk about fake jobs to aquire CVs

I don't understand - why would an agency want to wast time with CVs for jobs that dont exist?

[NickFitz]

Usually they will tell you that they need references before they can put you forward for the putative contract. You then tell them the details of the people who have been responsible for hiring you in the past, imagining that the agent will call them to establish your credentials.

In fact, the putative contract doesn't exist. The agent phones those people whose details you have provided in the hope of obtaining business from them for their future recruitment requirements, and you never hear from the agent again, because there was no contract.

When you do need a reference from those people for a real contract, they won't give you one, because they're so sick of taking phone calls from agents, all of whom have said you were responsible for telling them to call.

Always remember: if you give most agents a goose that lays golden eggs, they'll immediately call all the goose's previous owners asking if they want to buy a goose, at the same time as throttling the existing goose, throwing its body in the canal, and chucking its eggs in the bin. Strange business model, but that's what they do.

[pmeswani]

I'm new to contracting. I've seen a number of post where people talk about fake jobs to aquire CVs

I don't understand - why would an agency want to wast time with CVs for jobs that dont exist?

Because it is cheaper to post fake jobs to acquire CVs than to obtain CVs by paying for it. When a candidate post a CV on a Job Board, the Agency will see it.... if they want it without asking the candidates, they have to pay for it.

[malvolio]

It's more subtle than that. They get paid by putting people into jobs. If they have a vacancy, they want to be the ones to fill it, so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match. To increase the chances of that happening, you post non-existent roles to harvest CVs across a range of skill sets. But if you post a role on Jobserve, at least one of your rivals will know what the job is and may well poach it, using their own list of CVs. So the trick is to gather CVs without giving away the job you're trying to fill; which is also why most job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement.

Good, innit.

[greg_canada]

"so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match."

Have serious doubts about that ! Personally get a ton of emails that have no / zip / zero relevance to either the "profile" or even the itself Cv., i.e. they ( the agents ) have NOT read it or even categorized my skill set.

For example, at the most basic level, what part of "CONTRACT ONLY" do they not understand ?

"job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement" ECHO that !

[eliquant]

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it.

[TykeMerc]

"so they will go through their current list of candidates and look for a match."

Have serious doubts about that ! Personally get a ton of emails that have no / zip / zero relevance to either the "profile" or even the itself Cv., i.e. they ( the agents ) have NOT read it or even categorized my skill set.

For example, at the most basic level, what part of "CONTRACT ONLY" do they not understand ?

"job adverts bear little relationship to the actual requirement" ECHO that !

I get loads of those too, the simple fact is they don't read the CV's, they use document search systems and email bomb all the hits on a certain number of matches.

I just bin them.

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it!

Literally speaking yes, but who's going to check, for that matter how can they be sensibly checked?

[thunderlizard]

A certain agent of dodgy repute explained this really well a few weeks ago:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...cies-work.html

[expat]

Aren't fake jobs totally illegal now ?

I mean they can be a bit tardy about removing already filled jobs from Jobserve but that's about it.

To be irritatingly precise, we are not talking about jobs here, we're talking about contracts between businesses.

Note BTW Malvolio's fine response. The whole thing is about agents trying to gain an advantage in an overcrowded market (theirs), by means other than being better. Being visibly better is of course difficult when its hard to see what good you are in the first place.

[BrilloPad]

Is the number of fake jobs increasing? And will some agencies go to the wall?