Agency requesting passport / references etc with no concrete job interview lined up !

[sbakoola]

An agency I've been working with have requested details of my passport, my limited company and references before I even have an interview lined up through them.

I've worked for hedge funds and investment banks for 6+ years now in London and I've never had any requests for this information before.

The agency is 'reasonably' established, around 6-7 years as I recall but of course it looks like a total scam for names of managers.

Its not the request for managers' names that I'm concerened about (which I will not give out as it could cause problems with them) but its more the details of my passport and my limited company that they want and I don't feel comfortable with this. They should know that I've worked for years in these financial institutions and there should be no problem getting in.

It could be that they genuinely require these items so that there is no time wasting i.e. make sure you are eligable to work in the U.K. and that you are using limited and not an off shore setup which investment companies will not allow but what are your thoughts on this ? it looks like an incredible waste of time to me.

I had these 'come along for a chat with your references and details' before years ago when I was more junior but and they 'were' scams for references and a waste of time but I dunno, I'm more senior now and they are STILL pulling this tulip.

Anyone out there had similar experiences recently with agencies ? are the agencies just piggy backing off the more strict 'rules and regulations' that have pervaded the City and financial institutions and using that as an excuse to scam you ?

[PM-Junkie]

An agency I've been working with have requested details of my passport, my limited company and references before I even have an interview lined up through them.

I've worked for hedge funds and investment banks for 6+ years now in London and I've never had any requests for this information before.

The agency is 'reasonably' established, around 6-7 years as I recall but of course it looks like a total scam for names of managers.

Its not the request for managers' names that I'm concerened about (which I will not give out as it could cause problems with them) but its more the details of my passport and my limited company that they want and I don't feel comfortable with this. They should know that I've worked for years in these financial institutions and there should be no problem getting in.

It could be that they genuinely require these items so that there is no time wasting i.e. make sure you are eligable to work in the U.K. and that you are using limited and not an off shore setup which investment companies will not allow but what are your thoughts on this ? it looks like an incredible waste of time to me.

I had these 'come along for a chat with your references and details' before years ago when I was more junior but and they 'were' scams for references and a waste of time but I dunno, I'm more senior now and they are STILL pulling this tulip.

Anyone out there had similar experiences recently with agencies ? are the agencies just piggy backing off the more strict 'rules and regulations' that have pervaded the City and financial institutions and using that as an excuse to scam you ?

....there's your clue.

Tell them to take a hike.

[sbakoola]

Thing is all this paper work they are requesting I mean seriously what the hell is this ? Limited company, passport, degree. It just doesn't fit with anything I've done before - only on job acceptance do I provide these.

[Old Greg]

An agency I've been working with have requested details of my passport, my limited company and references before I even have an interview lined up through them.

I've worked for hedge funds and investment banks for 6+ years now in London and I've never had any requests for this information before.

The agency is 'reasonably' established, around 6-7 years as I recall but of course it looks like a total scam for names of managers.

Its not the request for managers' names that I'm concerened about (which I will not give out as it could cause problems with them) but its more the details of my passport and my limited company that they want and I don't feel comfortable with this. They should know that I've worked for years in these financial institutions and there should be no problem getting in.

It could be that they genuinely require these items so that there is no time wasting i.e. make sure you are eligable to work in the U.K. and that you are using limited and not an off shore setup which investment companies will not allow but what are your thoughts on this ? it looks like an incredible waste of time to me.

I had these 'come along for a chat with your references and details' before years ago when I was more junior but and they 'were' scams for references and a waste of time but I dunno, I'm more senior now and they are STILL pulling this tulip.

Anyone out there had similar experiences recently with agencies ? are the agencies just piggy backing off the more strict 'rules and regulations' that have pervaded the City and financial institutions and using that as an excuse to scam you ?

The established wisdom on this board is not to plat along, but I am not so sure. There are times when I look at some chancer in a sh1tty agenct and politely decline, but I am also talking to a very well established and professional agency who say that their SLA as defined by their 'catalogue' contract with NHS organisations state that they must have passport Ltd details, VAT registration cert, references etc. before they can put a candidate forward. I've made a judgement call that it's worth going along with this but I may be wrong. I have dropped clearly into conversation that my referees have no involvement in hiring decisions and that the reason my last contract ended is because the client has no money.

I will report back. My advice would be to listen to the views on the board and then trust your instincts.

[Support Monkey]

Never ever ever ever ever in 20 years of Perm and contracts have i ever had to give any references, if any agency says they need them i just politely say thats no problem when i have been for the interview i will be happy to pass these to the end client

if your limited then the only reference will be from previous agencies saying what a great business relationship they had with your company and again only give them over when you have had the interview

even for banking why do they need to have references checked before they interview surely they do there own checks before they let you in the building or are they just taking the word of the agency that your a jolly nice fella who will not rob them blind

VAT and company details are public knowledge just let them have these and passport copy it and remove all the identifying numbers

[Not So Wise]

If they are following the agency regulations (the whole "opt in/out" thing), the theory is they should ask for all this before putting you forward to the client

The reality though is about 99% of the time it's just contact farming

Up to you to judge what it is in your case

[sbakoola]

On Friday they called me and asked for recent business and personal bank account statements at short notice, I stated that I wouldn't due to privacy issues and smelled a rat, how could an agency do credit checks on you ? there are established credit check agencies for that task which should get used only at the point of a conditional job offer.

Anyhow I turned up on Friday to see them with only my drivers license and they weren't happy ! they had nothing in the way of interviews, they skipped straight to reference scamming which I stated were conditional on a job interview/offer, they got shirty with me and then I wrapped up the meeting promptly.

Oh well, you live and learn, never again, at least I had only an hour to kill before I met up with the wife and drove her home.

The thing is ... if they're willing to scam you for references, what will their integrity be like when the chips are down and there's a copy of your bank statements / I.D. lying around their office ...???!?!?

[Boo]

An agency I've been working with have requested details of my passport, my limited company and references before I even have an interview lined up through them.

This is a difficult puzzle for you to solve, hey ?

Just say you'll forward the info later and then ignore them ffs. Lucky you didn't apply for a job as a road sweeper where the intellectual challenges might be outside your reach.

Boo

[Wanderer]

how could an agency do credit checks on you ? there are established credit check agencies for that task which should get used only at the point of a conditional job offer.

You should be doing a credit check on them! They are the ones who are going to be holding thousands of pounds of your money!!

Just say you'll forward the info later and then ignore them ffs.

That's what I do. If I sent my passport to every agency I applied to then I'd be internationally famous by now. You could also opt out of the Agency Regulations first (so they don't need to do these checks) then if you get offered a contract, tell them you are opting in again.

Not that 99% of Agencies really give a hoot about the regulations anyway, they just do what they want.

[Boo]

You could also opt out of the Agency Regulations first (so they don't need to do these checks) then if you get offered a contract, tell them you are opting in again.

Is your word completely worthless then ?

Boo