Agency Problem

[rlynch91]

Hi

I am meant to be starting a contract tomorrow but an agency that also put my CV forward are kicking off and it looks possible the offer may be withdrawn.

I put my CV forward with agency A, few days later agency B contacts me and says am i interested in this contract (no name, just location) so i say yes. Agency B contact me and say that I had already applied but my CV was rejected but if I change it a bit it will be accepted with them. Did this and sent them an email saying I was happy to be represented by them. Agency A then contact me and say that it had not been rejected and that agency B are being a touch untruthful, so I go back with them and email other agency saying I wanted to be withdrawn.

Had interview and got job, agency B get wind of this and have kicked off threatening legal action and now the client is threatening to withdraw the offer. Where do I stand?

Cheers for any help.

[SuperZ]

Difficult. If you had been rejected why would your application be accepted again under agency B? That sounds dodgy to start with. If I had been told my application through a different agency had been rejected, I would want to find out this for myself first (and via the agency handling the application not via their competitor). So it is partly your fault foir not contacting agency A to find out more.

However, you have been offered the job. Seeing as agency A were the orginal handler of your application you should be employed by them and agency B can pee off.

Tell agency B what you think and tell agency A you want to be employed by them and get agency A to explain the situation from your point of view to the client.,

Wish we would all name and shame the agencies we have issues with so we can all bare the experiences in mind of others in the future.

Do be more careful in the future regarding being represented to a client.
I once received two CV`s for the same person via different agencies. I interviewed the person and put it to them and the look on their face told the story (they were aware of it)........needless to say I didn`t offer them the job even though they were a strong candidate through the rest of the interview. IT is a small world. I formed an opinion of them based on that experience and I later heard a story about the person and funnily enough they behaved in a contract position exactly how I expected - very glad I never employed them

[KevinS]

WHS..

And, in reality, unless you signed a contract with AgencyB, they don't have a legal leg to stand on.. They were dishonest to start with (saying your CV was rejected) and have lost out on this gig - tough luck, that's business..

Personally, I would call the client direct and explain what happened, and also let them know that you are definitely interested in the gig with AgencyA..

[rlynch91]

WHS..

And, in reality, unless you signed a contract with AgencyB, they don't have a legal leg to stand on.. They were dishonest to start with (saying your CV was rejected) and have lost out on this gig - tough luck, that's business..

Personally, I would call the client direct and explain what happened, and also let them know that you are definitely interested in the gig with AgencyA..

I did explain at the end of the interview what had happened and he accepted that and said he made a mistake in using two agencies instead of just stopping with agency A, so i thought all was well but apparently not. Job is being advertised again as its on cwjobs. Wonder if i could apply again through agency A!

[Turion]

Fix for this type of problem: Never believe a word any agent ever says to you.

[pzz76077]

Hi

I am meant to be starting a contract tomorrow but an agency that also put my CV forward are kicking off and it looks possible the offer may be withdrawn.

I put my CV forward with agency A, few days later agency B contacts me and says am i interested in this contract (no name, just location) so i say yes. Agency B contact me and say that I had already applied but my CV was rejected but if I change it a bit it will be accepted with them. Did this and sent them an email saying I was happy to be represented by them. Agency A then contact me and say that it had not been rejected and that agency B are being a touch untruthful, so I go back with them and email other agency saying I wanted to be withdrawn.

Had interview and got job, agency B get wind of this and have kicked off threatening legal action and now the client is threatening to withdraw the offer. Where do I stand?

Cheers for any help.

Did you or the client sign an exclusivity deal with agency B??
If no, would suggest that you call agent B and threaten them with legal action and damages if they dont back down NOW.
You gave them a chance, but agent A were successful in this instance.

PZZ

[rlynch91]

Did you or the client sign an exclusivity deal with agency B??
If no, would suggest that you call agent B and threaten them with legal action and damages if they dont back down NOW.
You gave them a chance, but agent A were successful in this instance.

PZZ

When they contacted me and said that my CV had been rejected and would I be happy to go with them I sent them an email giving them permission to represent me. When I heard that my CV had not been rejected i then emailed them again stating I did not want to be represented by them and to withdraw my CV.

[mace]

Shedding some light on recruitment

Difficult. If you had been rejected why would your application be accepted again under agency B? That sounds dodgy to start with. If I had been told my application through a different agency had been rejected, I would want to find out this for myself first (and via the agency handling the application not via their competitor). So it is partly your fault foir not contacting agency A to find out more.

However, you have been offered the job. Seeing as agency A were the orginal handler of your application you should be employed by them and agency B can pee off.

Tell agency B what you think and tell agency A you want to be employed by them and get agency A to explain the situation from your point of view to the client.,

Wish we would all name and shame the agencies we have issues with so we can all bare the experiences in mind of others in the future.

Do be more careful in the future regarding being represented to a client.
I once received two CV`s for the same person via different agencies. I interviewed the person and put it to them and the look on their face told the story (they were aware of it)........needless to say I didn`t offer them the job even though they were a strong candidate through the rest of the interview. IT is a small world. I formed an opinion of them based on that experience and I later heard a story about the person and funnily enough they behaved in a contract position exactly how I expected - very glad I never employed them

Nowadays, the larger agencies generally check to see if you've had your CV submitted before or not. However, smaller agencies are often wary about telling you who the client is for fear that the job will become common knowledge. There's not much honour in this industry. Candidates are fighting for jobs and agencies are fighting to place the best candidates. From a candidate's perspective if they don't have anything concrete quickly from a client they're unsure as to whether Agency A actually submitted their CV or just spun them a line. For example, as a hiring manager, I often saw agencies that I had not engaged advertising the job position online. I also received anonymised CVs from such agencies. Those candidates who submitted their CV to an agency that I hadn't engaged effectively would be getting nowhere with their application. If they behaved honourably then they'd tell agency B that their CV had already been submitted and would not have the opportunity of getting the job.

Agency A, in this case, is creating 2 advantages for themselves:-

1. They may well persuade the hiring manager to interview the candidate
2. If not, they are at least making life harder for a rival agency.

[thunderlizard]

Really, the client needs to sort this out. They are the ones who instructed two agencies to do the same job, and they will have the contracts with them. As Kevin says, you probably didn't make any formal agreements with either agency so there's not much you can do.
One thing you can do is write a concise truthful description of what happened from your point of view, send it to both agencies, and let them fight it out while the client watches from the sidelines.

[expat]

Do be more careful in the future regarding being represented to a client.

How does one do that, exactly? Ask every agent what the client is? And when they don't tell you?

And if they tell you that they are "presenting" you but actually they don't, for example in order to prevent you from spoiling it for the candidate they prefer to place? Going via 2 agencies will avoid that (which I have been a victim of).

I once received two CV`s for the same person via different agencies. I interviewed the person and put it to them and the look on their face told the story (they were aware of it)........needless to say I didn`t offer them the job even though they were a strong candidate ...

What is the problem with that? Aside from the fact that it is often not something the contractor can control (in this case as you say it was), if both client and contractor were prepared to go through either Agency A or Agency B, now that the client and the contractor like each other, they can choose mutually which agency they prefer. There is no problem in that, as long as no exclusivity agreements have been made.

It might be morally wrong for the contractor to be presented by Agency A only, then later choose to use Agency B instead (because Agency A has "done the work"), but if both agencies are involved, why is that a show-stopper?