Dodgy Agency Practices

[jonhoops]

I'm a kitten really.

And now an agent pretending to be a pussy.... what an eventful day its been!

[DodgyAgent]

A most recent experience with an Agent was a new lesson for me.

Agent: (Tuesday) can you attend an interview later in the week
Me: Yes, but can I have a spec for the role, so I know what I am going for.
Agent: (Wednesday) Can you make an interview - Thursday
Me: Yes, but can I have a spec...(Agent) ..er well there are several roles.
Late Wednesday evening about 8pm, the spec and interview details arrive; please read the spec and also look at these two web-sites (containing 80 page project documents).
Me: The interview is Thursday; I am up till midnight looking at the spec - deciding I am not a very good fit for the role; but would like to work on the project (one of the largest going).
Thursday 1am, still trying to understand the project, decide I am not the best fit for the role and send Agent a message saying, I do not think I am right person, need to consider, and at least prepare. 3.30 am I finaly manage to complete the research. Send e-mail to cancel the interview. It is a 300 mile round trip to the gig.

Thursday 11:00, the Agents rings to say; are you well set for the interview; I said no; did you not get my e-mail?; She said, someone at your level shouild be prepaired to go at a moments notice - prepaired or not; Somehow I did not agree.

Thursday 11:30; Agent Account Manager rings me up, kicks my arse and say's what are we going to do now?; I explained I recieved the spec at 8pm and was given no chance to prepair and was not convinced I was the right person for the role. I said I was quite happy to undertake a Client interview via the phone.

Thursday 12:00 Client rings up, say's well you are a bad boy for not turning up - but given your CV - we would still like to see you. I said well, if I was to turn up un-prepaired then I would be wasting your time and mine. The Client reschedules for the following week.

The following Thursday, at the expense of a £150 (overnight stay) I turn up for an interview for a role, that I perhaps could do, but in no way did my CV allude to that.

That was a week ago and of course I recieved zero feedback from the agent.

All I can say is thanks to Abraxas for wasting my time and money.

A Sole Supplier nightmare (BT - Abraxas) perhaps another to watch is (Alexander Mann - CapGemini).

Lessons learn't : only agree to go for an interview with a good spec or even no spec, but not one that does not match your CV.

Refuse any interview where there has been given insufficient time to prepare.

Interestingly the Abraxas web Contractor guide talks about the importance of interview preparation!!!!!

From now on, I will push for a telephone interview - first.

Such (bad) experiences can not only screw you with the Agent but with the Client as well, and as we all know, we Contractors are ten-a-penny and are easly burried as another one of their (Agent) cock-up's.

The Agent in my view has acted totaly un-professional and should be sacked!

Because there is no feedback loop or monitoring we people continue to be exploited, at the expense of our professional dignity.

What anoyed me most, was that I was focused on the needs of the Client, and the Agent appeared not only oblivious to me but the Client as well.

Whilst I agree that the treatment that you have been given seems to be bad, may I suggest that you toddle off and learn to spell

[mcquiggd]

It's funny how agents on here never have a proper riposte.. they just make obvious comments to people who have listed a number of legitimate criticisms against agencies they have encountered...

I guess it's tough to shrug off the day job attitude...

[jonhoops]

It's funny how agents on here never have a proper riposte.. they just make obvious comments to people who have listed a number of legitimate criticisms against agencies they have encountered...

I guess it's tough to shrug off the day job attitude...

Not at all - the treatment you have received is shocking. If the agent is not going to brief you/give you all the facts you need to do your best then he's never going to place anyone.
Agents such as this mystify me as without proper preparation his chances of placing someone are severly decreased. If he briefed the candidate properly (more than 10 hours before the interview), he might make a deal and make some money (which is what all agents are in it for.)

Guys like this make it less likely for us all to have a day job in the long run.

[luke warm]

Thursday 12:00 Client rings up, say's well you are a bad boy for not turning up - but given your CV - we would still like to see you. I said well, if I was to turn up un-prepaired then I would be wasting your time and mine. The Client reschedules for the following week.

Whole experience sounds very frustrating. At the point of that phone call couldn't you have got a phone interview or at least got more details off them as you are already speaking to the client?

[BMX]

The problems of getting agents to give you a proper spec of the contract seems to be common. Several times when I have talked to agents about what the contract is really about they tend to read the same lines that are in the initial ad over and over again. It's a surreal experience and I just want to scream: I CAN READ. If they think that you can't read the ad how are they planning to get you trough an interview witth the client?

I'm mainly contracting in Sweden and the agents are a fairly new thing over here. They have'nt yet come up with the "can you give me 2 references" but on the other hand they tend to want your answer for everycontract "today" or "this afternoon". My question then is who (that are any good at all) are sitting at home waiting and can start a contract "this afternoon"?

[andy]

Beware fellas , it seems that agents are desparate for reference farming. I am getting one call everyday for some fantastic contract paying 400 a day but the catch is provide 2 references. You could hear the frustration in their voice when you say i can not give reference without interview.
please suggest how to deal with these

[privateeye]

I always quote to an agent requesting references up front that they are in breach of law as no-one is permitted to take up references unless they have an offer in place - otherwise you can destroy there current job without having somewhere for them to go. If on the other hand the agent states it is their procedure to have references up front then I simply inform them that I will use another agency - there is no negotiation. It is easy to spot the same contract via another agent.

Under no circumstances will I give any info if the client/location/rate is not given. If the contract is real and my details match they will not risk losing commission.

Agency bad practice is rife. Probably the worst I've come across is an agent knowing that I had a telephone interview during a half-hour time slot kept on phoning me during this time with stupid questions. He wanted to prevent the client calling me and destroy my chances as I also had a good chance of landing a contract with his agency. Two can play at that game when I had an offer from the telephone interview I messed around with the agent who tried to destroy my chances - he was livid but I couldn't care less. Those agents who moan about bad contractors - I wonder if it is because they messed the contractors around or their reputation or the agency they work for has got around.

[jonhoops]

Quite possibily. I understand that the antics of recruiters in general lead contractors to the conclusion that we are all lying thieving scum. But we're really not.

If I mess with a contractor and play games, I expect him to do the same. In general, i don't have any problems with 99% of the contractors I deal with.
However, there are a few who for no reason will try and screw me. I've got real jobs with skill sets, rates and dates and in several cases clients crying out for contractors. I don't mess around with fake jobs, reference gathering etc, so why are people messing with me? I had a guy recently who was so intent with being difficult that I just didn't want to represent the guy, and spent ages finding a candidate that was friendly and decent. And the joy of placing this genuinely nice guy far outweighed any potential loss of commmission that I risked.

Perhaps agents and contractors could negotiate a truce? I'd sign....

Agency bad practice is rife. Probably the worst I've come across is an agent knowing that I had a telephone interview during a half-hour time slot kept on phoning me during this time with stupid questions. He wanted to prevent the client calling me and destroy my chances as I also had a good chance of landing a contract with his agency. Two can play at that game when I had an offer from the telephone interview I messed around with the agent who tried to destroy my chances - he was livid but I couldn't care less. Those agents who moan about bad contractors - I wonder if it is because they messed the contractors around or their reputation or the agency they work for has got around.

[Denny]

Beware fellas , it seems that agents are desparate for reference farming. I am getting one call everyday for some fantastic contract paying 400 a day but the catch is provide 2 references. You could hear the frustration in their voice when you say i can not give reference without interview.
please suggest how to deal with these

There is a way round this. Unfortunately, references are sometimes required up front to meet the agency standards requirements to ensure suitability before someone is put forward for a job. Luckily most agencies don't bother.

What I do, if an agent insists I provide references before putting me forward (very rare, but it does happen) is give them a written reference with only a mobile number on it and forbid them to contact that person until I've spoken to them and set up an interview time. I tell them this is their own personal policy too with me to ensure that their time isn't wasted talking to sales pushers with another agenda. I stay in control all the time. I tell them that if they do contact beforehand without my permission I would defnitely be notified of such a call because I know my referees very well and it would be in breach of their terms with me. If they insist on speaking beforehand to verify the letter details, I just tell them to get lost and will only grant permission once the gig is in the bag. A good written reference with reassurances that such a references wouldn't be forwarded unless it could be backed up with verbals when the time was right should be sufficient enough for any agent. On sending the letter, I then get them to send me a written confirmation (which is what I do with all roles now) stating that my CV HAS now been sent off to the client.

This normally satisfies a bona fide agent that actually does require refs but stops any lead poaching or timewasters who daren't upset a 'potential client' with sales pushing under the guise of reference gathering. The other thing you can do is to opt out at the earliest time so that the agency don't need to check refs beforehand, but I wouldn't recommend that.

I am a contractor, not an agent.