No budget available, sorry!

[Fungus]

I've never heard of this before.

I recently had quite a few agents tell me my CV was wonderful, and I was on track for an interview, but I reckon they were softening me up. When you are flattered, you tend to relax, which means that can find out more about you compared to when you are on your guard.

I recently heard from someone that he often has an interview, is told he is what they are looking for, and then has to wait about 3 months before he can start. I don't know the cause and nor does he, but his appearance does not give the professional look. Contractors tend to wear ties and smart(ish) clothes to give the impression of being on the ball (at least to people who don't know their arse from their PC e.g. senior managers). So it might be that clients do checking, or maybe they try and find someone else and can't, so go with him. But this is mere speculation with no evidence.

Fungus

[Denny]

Hi there,

I have been circulating my CV for the last month and have applied for quite a few jobs. I have had 3 interviews so far, all with very good feedback: I get the feeling i do very well during the interview, the agent confirms this to me the next day after having talked to the client, saying that i am their number one preference etc etc and then (in all three cases) i got the same outcome. One day the agent calls and tells me that the client decided that there is no budget at the moment BUT they might have some money in 2-3 months etc etc. Thank you very much for your time blah blah blah...

Did you have many of this sort of excuse before? If they didn't have the money, why they were interviewing, in some cases with "Immediate start" notes? Or it might be the agent talking rubbish?

Also, has any of you managed to get the contact information of the client during an interview? How can one ask for this info nicely? I am concerned that i am misrepresented

Thanks

I would never allow a situation like this arise anymore. Before I am submitted for any contract 'opportunity' I always get the agency to confirm in writing to me that the contract is 'live' and budgeted for. Of course, they could still lie, but it's up to the agency to find this out in advance of advertising for a role. As far as I'm concerned agents can only advertise real jobs by law and 'real' jobs means they have been budgeted for and live already ready to hire an external contractor - they're not maybe might be roles. Therefore, if nothing materialises later on or, worse still, I end up going to interviews before the budget has been agreed and subsequently gets turned down and they don't hire at all within a reasonable timeframe or else they change the spec significantly to render me unsuitable or change the start date to make waiting uneconomic then I treat the whole scenario as if I was duped into attending an interview for a job that didn't really exist. This paves the way to charge the agency/client for wasted material losses and any significant preparation time. I did this successfully a month or so ago after I went for three interviews for a role that differed substantially from the original spec as the interviews progressed and ultimately required skills that I didn't have even though there was an initial telephone interview which could have cleared up my unsuitability from day one. In the end I charged a day's fees + travel based on the original daily rate agreed.

It's the only way to go. It's the equivalent of charging a call out charge if you're a plumber wasting time appearing on someone's doorstep and finding the owner out or discovering that they actually wanted a decorator.

It also acts as a potent disincentive for agencies to pre-empt assignments that haven't really materialised as yet and put out false adverts. Contractors have the right to assume that their relationship with clients is strong enough to receive accurate and reliable information. If the client lies to them or the agency doesn't come clear about the real status of the 'role' then you can also bet they won't treat the agency (or your application) seriously when they do get your CVs. It is unforgiveable for interviews to be set up at contractors' expense to travel to only to find out the role wasn't really live at that time. Do that too many times, then you spend out a fortune in interviews for a lot of pointless free consultations.

My first choice now is to always request a telephone interview for roles outside my home town and grill the interviewer on the accuracy of the job spec etc. before agreeing to attend a face-to-face.

In case you're not aware, if you go for government roles you can claim back travel expenses by filling out their reimbursement forms. Worth considering if you're traipsing up to some far flung destination at considerable expense even if the role is bona fide and you even get offered it.

[mcquiggd]

...

Have to say I would never travel far for an interview these days unless it was agreed it writing that i would be reimbursed, and I never wait more than a week after an interview before considering the role as 'gone cold'.

Telephone interviews are my preferred first contact as you often get to find out the job spec you were sent was totally inaccurate.

[Mailman]

I had a phone interview with Barclays last week...ended up the role being discussed was completely different to the role mentioned in the job description (actually looking for an applications manager and not a infrastructure manager! ).

So the phone interview took up 20 minutes of my time as opposed to the several hours if I had to travel in to meet the person to only then find out the job description was complete sh1t!

Mailman

[mcquiggd]

Barclays Capital by any chance? They seem to be busy at the moment....

[Denny]

Have to say I would never travel far for an interview these days unless it was agreed it writing that i would be reimbursed, and I never wait more than a week after an interview before considering the role as 'gone cold'.

Telephone interviews are my preferred first contact as you often get to find out the job spec you were sent was totally inaccurate.

Makes you wonder why organisations use agencies to matchmake suitable candidates if the spec isn't even accurate. How can the agency do their job with such poor guidance?

[jonhoops]

Job specs that are released nowdays were usually written a few years ago. Because all new ones have to be approved they use old ones to entice lots of CVs and then filter the response to find what they actually want. Recently a friend of mine went for an interview as a Support Analyst (Helpdesky almost) and ended up being offered a Business Analyst role.

[Denny]

Job specs that are released nowdays were usually written a few years ago. Because all new ones have to be approved they use old ones to entice lots of CVs and then filter the response to find what they actually want. Recently a friend of mine went for an interview as a Support Analyst (Helpdesky almost) and ended up being offered a Business Analyst role.

This is a flagrant abuse of the system. I send my CV to get the opportunities advertised not help HR refine their job specs or plug me for information during the interview. To do this means I am providing them a chargeable service not going for an interview.

Time this kind of thing was disallowed.

[jonhoops]

Yes, I agree, but it is done becuase they don't have time to write proper specs. No manager wants to interview you to "plug you" for information. They want to interview you so they can hire you. But generally they hire a contractor becuase they have too much work on, and they don't have time to spend writing a proper job spec and getting it approved.

By all means try to charge a hiring manager for your time when he interviews you, but i don't think you stand much chance.

This is a flagrant abuse of the system. I send my CV to get the opportunities advertised not help HR refine their job specs or plug me for information during the interview. To do this means I am providing them a chargeable service not going for an interview.

Time this kind of thing was disallowed.

[Denny]

Yes, I agree, but it is done becuase they don't have time to write proper specs. No manager wants to interview you to "plug you" for information. They want to interview you so they can hire you. But generally they hire a contractor becuase they have too much work on, and they don't have time to spend writing a proper job spec and getting it approved.

By all means try to charge a hiring manager for your time when he interviews you, but i don't think you stand much chance.

I did only a few weeks ago. I charged a day's rate plus travel costs and I got it.