Agency tricks again

[northernrampage]

I know there must be some people who are in the Contracting Market who can't drive..... but not many Shirley??

A few numpties just out of school/Uni.... a few "by choice"... a few because of Plod removing their ability....

I didn't learn "out of choice" in London when I was on a dire permie salary for years. When I did earn enough money, I didn't see the point.

Really regret not bothering as turned out when I went up north I'm not a good driver, failed 4 bloody times. And I want to travel abroad alone next year and want to hire a car.. got to get it. Agents tend to sound confused when I was I don't have it, so maybe it's uncommon as you say.

[The Agents View]

I don't think I was being touchy. Bearing in mind you guys earn your money on matching contractors to clients, you are hardly going to forget to contact a good match for a position are you? He who cares sins and all that?

As for my 'market research' comment - I couldn't think of a better explaination (or term) for agents asking me for my rate without giving any details of a role. Surely this is the 'how low will you go' game? You may feel differently and it would be interesting to get your take on it.

Ok.... So this is my time to make an admission. I make mistakes. I've forgotten candidates before, in fact, I've forgotten people who have subsequently gone on to get the job I'd spoken to them about. It's one of those things - there's so many plates spinning at the same time, that keeping track can be a bit of a challenge. Bear in mind I probably take 10-15 calls a day from people who are completely irrelevant to what I'm working on, and the fact that you can't control when these calls come in - trying to keep track of things is a nightmare - whether you're a great match or not....

So, sometimes, we also have what we would call resourcers. Their job, is to find CV's from various sources, have a very quick chat to establish their interest, get a rough idea of whether the very high level requirements are met (rate, ability to get to the location, and probably a couple of key words) - they then pass those details onto their consultants, senior or principal consultants. From there, the consultant will sit down and make sure that the resourcers is somewhere about right, then call a shortlist from their shortlist. The reality is that these are generally the people starting out in the industry - It's where I started, and I have a resourcer these days who does just this. The likelihood is that the resourcer thought you were right for the role, but the consultant disagreed.

Sorry for my touchiness, but I do object to people automatically thinking agencies are up to tricks, when they neither understand, or appreciate how much we live on the edge - we really don't have time for 95% of the BS you think we do.

[Wanderer]

I receive many useless calls, I think only for updating their databases. Any strategy to avoid these spam calls?

I always get a burner pre-pay SIM card for my mobile while I'm job hunting then dump it when I've got a job. I'm not giving people my real phone number or they will never stop ringing and annoying me. Likewise with email addresses, set one up for job hunting and then abandon it when I'm done.

[pmeswani]

I know there must be some people who are in the Contracting Market who can't drive..... but not many Shirley??

A few numpties just out of school/Uni.... a few "by choice"... a few because of Plod removing their ability....

In my social network if I ignore the "kids" (who are almost all taking lessons as soon as they are old enough) I think its got to be 99%+....

But WRT the original post - Its just a Pimp trawling and no you can't avoid them... but you can hang up!

I don't have a driving license. Don't need one. Wherever I work, I have access to good public Transport. I don't want a life restricted to running around the country getting myself ill and stressed.

[Congrgatio]

I don't have a driving license. Don't need one. Wherever I work, I have access to good public Transport. I don't want a life restricted to running around the country getting myself ill and stressed.

Not a car fan then?

[kaiser78]

Sorry for my touchiness, but I do object to people automatically thinking agencies are up to tricks, when they neither understand, or appreciate how much we live on the edge - we really don't have time for 95% of the BS you think we do.

Couldn't help but smile to myself. Sorry but any sympathies I have for agencies from the way I have been messed around in the past evapourated a long time ago...There may be some decent, hard-working and honest individuals amongst them, but certainly few and far between imho/experience.

[The Agents View]

Couldn't help but smile to myself. Sorry but any sympathies I have for agencies from the way I have been messed around in the past evapourated a long time ago...There may be some decent, hard-working and honest individuals amongst them, but certainly few and far between imho/experience.

Of course you feel hard done by, and I can't speak for everyone in my industry - all I know is how I play things, and to be honest, I'm probably less successful because I don't have that ruthless streak, but I do hope that over time, that investment in people pays itself off.

What I would say though, is do you really understand why you've been messed around? A couple of things to consider (this isn't meant to be confrontational - I want people to understand!)

a) If a client doesn't come back to us, then we can't come back to you - it's in our interests to get answers from clients - emails and calls simply shorten the amount of time we have to deal with these things!

b) If you are not right for a role which has clear instructions in an advert, We won't have time to call you.

c) Ad responses are the last resort - we get hundreds of the bloody things - calling everyone is just not practical - you are better off finding a specialist in what you do, and building a long term relationship with them.

d) Sometimes, we really do forget things - I've just realised I was meant to send an email yesterday with a job spec on it, which I haven't done yet. The guy is perfect for the role, I just completely forgot to send it.

e) You are one of probably 20 people I have in the running for jobs at any one time - checking to see whether I have feedback every day is not helpful - rest assured, if I know, I will call you

f) Having a negative call is very uncomfortable, therefore agents do tend to shy away from them. This is something I don't do - I think you need that feedback for the future, however I know of plenty who will just ignore calls and emails until the candidate gets bored.

g) Fake jobs? Jeeez, with everything going on above, how much time do you think we have to deal with these?


As I say, I don't want to be confrontational, and I'm sure your experience was not ideal, but I sometimes think contractors mistake "being messed around" for lack of patience on thier part. If we have offers and feedback for you, you are actually always on the top of our to-do list.

I really hope this gives you a bit of insight.

TAV

[SueEllen]

I always get a burner pre-pay SIM card for my mobile while I'm job hunting then dump it when I've got a job. I'm not giving people my real phone number or they will never stop ringing and annoying me. Likewise with email addresses, set one up for job hunting and then abandon it when I'm done.

If I did that I wouldn't have got some of the contracts I've worked and working on.

[pmeswani]

Not a car fan then?

Strange as it may seem... I love Top Gear.

[Marko]

Jeezus you lot - stop being so touchy! She probably got busy, and it slipped her mind. Whether or not you have a driving licence is completely irrelevant for most things - unless its a job with alot of travelling involved. Market research? You really think we've got time to do that? This is what marketing departments are for!

What is annoying is when they don't email you or send you the linkedin message that they said they would so you can't ring them back to see what is happening with a role.