Why don't the agents reply? I mean come on ... !

[The Agents View]

I have developed 1 large scale project and more 4 smaller scale projects. I think that's quite a lot. And I don't have a gap due to studies. It was part-time.

And I don't mind bad news as long as recruiters are interactive. Its frustrating because I know I can do much more what the job description says but I never get a chance to sit down for an interview & show my worth.

You and everybody else. I'm afraid we get hundreds of people like you come in to job ads every day. We just CAN'T reply to all of you.

To give you an idea, I have a PMO vacancy advertised at the moment - I have 212 applications for it. The only thing I can do is use a word search to come up with the most relevant people - I simply do not have time to go through 200 applications for that job.

Unfortunately you are a victim of the market. I suggest finding a solid perm job for a while to ride it out.

[northernladuk]

As has been said already the 3 years is going to count against you but couple that with the fact you now have a masters makes you look like you are over educated as well. The immediate thing they will think is over educated, under experienced person that thinks the world owes them a living and is going to cry about it constantly... Oh... hang on.... lemme re-read that first post ROFL.....

Get a permie job, get some experience, dumb down that Masters and take a dose or real life on the chin like we all do and graduates don't.

[thunderlizard]

To give you an idea, I have a PMO vacancy advertised at the moment - I have 212 applications for it. The only thing I can do is use a word search to come up with the most relevant people - I simply do not have time to go through 200 applications for that job.

Heck no. At 30 seconds to glance through each one, 212 applications would take almost 2 hours. Your client wouldn't expect you to put in 2 whole hours effort in exchange for 20% of somebody's rate for their entire contract, would they..?

[neebz]

I am not demanding much. I am asking for a lower rate (150-200) considering my experience. Don't make it sound otherwise. I feel so stupid. The very first recruiter contacted me and said can you come for an interview tomorrow and I went tomorrow is too early and the chance went away. Since then no recruiter has stepped up. My bad !

Ok now one last thing. Considering I can't even trust the job descriptions, the agents and the job sites, Can anyone tell me an actual salary expectation considering my 3 year experience in .NET Framework?

Can I expect somehting around 35k-40k per annum?

[SueEllen]

I am not demanding much. I am asking for a lower rate (150-200) considering my experience. Don't make it sound otherwise. I feel so stupid. The very first recruiter contacted me and said can you come for an interview tomorrow and I went tomorrow is too early and the chance went away. Since then no recruiter has stepped up. My bad !

You should be ready to interview within the hour if it's a phone interview.

80% the time the agents are not telling the truth, and the client even if you are prepared to interview in 24 hours isn't ready.

Then you will get some who say the client wants to interview you later today and the client phones you up within the hour.

Ok now one last thing. Considering I can't even trust the job descriptions, the agents and the job sites, Can anyone tell me an actual salary expectation considering my 3 year experience in .NET Framework?

Can I expect somehting around 35k-40k per annum?

Whatever you can get.

[AnthonyQuinn]

Hello,

I have more than 3 years of experiences of working in the IT industry. I took a break and did my Masters.

I opted for a contract based position. Now there are loads of contracts being offered across so many websites. And there are many where I just simply fit. II have th experience, technical skills and everything. Heck I told them I am even willing to relocate just to kick start my contractor life.

First of all the agents never reply/call back. Even if I call them they go through the whole resume and then they go in a sombre tone 'umm this looks all good for the job desc, ok I will forward it to the client and come back to you' ..and poof , they go away and no reply nothing.

Can anyone tell me how to tackle the situation?

if you had skills that they could sell they would. if no-one wants to buy TVs can you blame the agents selling them? you seem to think that since you are willing to work for someone they should also be willing to hire you.

[AnthonyQuinn]

Heck no. At 30 seconds to glance through each one, 212 applications would take almost 2 hours. Your client wouldn't expect you to put in 2 whole hours effort in exchange for 20% of somebody's rate for their entire contract, would they..?

NOBODY in their right mind will go through 212 applications. they will bring it down to below 20 using experience, skill etc.

[neebz]

if you had skills that they could sell they would. if no-one wants to buy TVs can you blame the agents selling them? you seem to think that since you are willing to work for someone they should also be willing to hire you.

I agree but I responded to job adverts. I wasn't speculatively throwing away my applications.

My reed.co.uk account says I applied to 40 adverts in the last 3 weeks. And knowing me, I only applied where I had experience in at least 90% of the skills required. And not a single one called me up for an interview. I don't know but if its really because of competition then how come those adverts showed an average of 8-10 applications. I am not complaining but it seems all too weird.

[neebz]

As has been said already the 3 years is going to count against you but couple that with the fact you now have a masters makes you look like you are over educated as well. The immediate thing they will think is over educated, under experienced person that thinks the world owes them a living and is going to cry about it constantly... Oh... hang on.... lemme re-read that first post ROFL.....

Get a permie job, get some experience, dumb down that Masters and take a dose or real life on the chin like we all do and graduates don't.

I never bragged about my Masters. And I never bragged about a higher rate. And I never bragged about deserving more than you.

My only gripe is that I respond to an advert which totally fits me in terms of required experience, skills etc. and I don't get any feedback from the agency.

[MrMark]

I agree but I responded to job adverts. I wasn't speculatively throwing away my applications.

My reed.co.uk account says I applied to 40 adverts in the last 3 weeks. And knowing me, I only applied where I had experience in at least 90% of the skills required. And not a single one called me up for an interview. I don't know but if its really because of competition then how come those adverts showed an average of 8-10 applications. I am not complaining but it seems all too weird.

Those "8-10 applications" only reflect the number of applications on that particular website (whether that number is in fact accurate is another matter). The job could well have been advertised in several places and have 150-300 applicants. I agree that it would be civil to have an automatic reply emailed out, stating that due to high number of applicants, if you don't receive a reply within x days then forget it - and I have seen this in operation for a few agencies. But, as I mentioned upthread, you have to realise that the IT capabilities of most agents are not going to be that high, otherwise they'd be in a different job? And as A.Quinn mentioned, it's a waste of time beating yourself up about not getting job offers via the agents - if there are no (or precious few) jobs then it just isn't going to happen.