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

**TestMangler** · 20 September 2010, 14:58

Three years, eh ? They should be bending over backwards for someone with your experience. You should email them and get them ******* told

PS - You are clearly a poor quality sockie

**The Agents View** · 20 September 2010, 15:09

Originally posted by TestMangler View Post

Three years, eh ? They should be bending over backwards for someone with your experience. You should email them and get them ******* told

PS - You are clearly a poor quality sockie

^^ WHS

3 Years is not a significant enough amount of experience to automatically warrant a call - if you've been out for a while doing your masters as well, then you'll have a big gap in your CV.

The contract market is for people with significant experience - It's like flat pack furniture - buy two bedside cabinets, and watch as you kill the cat, drink 10 cups of coffee, argue with the wife, swear and scream until something vaguely resembling a bedside cabinet comes out. Then do the second one. Goes together beautifully doesn't it?

On a contract/Interim basis, this is what clients are looking for - someone who can come along, hit the ground running, and just do it, because they've done it before and made their mistakes in permie land.

With 3 years experience, you might have completed 2 projects? I would suggest you're looking at another 5 -6 years before you have a skill set which you can market as a contract specialist.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

**MrMark** · 20 September 2010, 15:10

Originally posted by neebz View Post

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.

I know they don't have time and all but I just want to know how do they then work? What stops them from putting me in line for the interview? Is this because of competition? I started using reed.co.uk, which is pretty popular and also shows total number of applications per ad. I applied for positions where I was the only one who applied and I ticked all the boxes in the description and still they went AWOL.

Can anyone tell me how to tackle the situation?

You have to appreciate that a typical (luckily not all?) agent has very little way to judge your IT expertise, otherwise he'd be in IT themselves? So they have filtering techniques. For example, in your case you've been out of work a while. To the agent this means you lost your marbles/went to prison/punched your last boss, and so your application is rejected.
Plus: A certain number of the "vacancies" don't exist anyway and are just fishing exercises.

I could be wrong though...

**TestMangler** · 20 September 2010, 15:11

And TAV's post is unusual in itself. Agents don't bother calling with bad news

**chef** · 20 September 2010, 15:13

What TestMangler was trying to say is that 3 years experience isn't really that much in the contracting world. Yes, obviously everyone needs to start somewhere, however, in the current market there are a lot of people just as equally qualified, also willing to work remotely and also willing to work for low rates BUT also have 10+ years experience. This is a key thing, simply because they know the ropes of how contracting goes on, they know they are there to be professional and not have to worry about will this newbie first timer bitch by the water cooler like all the permies. So, for this reason, agents will ask if they can use your cv to represent you and then put you up against someone who is equally qualified in all ways but has more experience. That way the client gets the requisite 3 CV's they've asked for, the agent looks good as they match what the client wanted in terms of experience and rate and there is one obvious person who the agent is leaning towards in that this guy has 13+years experience and has previously worked for a competitor or even better client co themselves and so would fit in perfectly.

When the jobs pick up and the old timers get positioned then that's the best time to look for your first contract. When there's a shortage of jobs and no shortage of seasoned contractors that's not a good time.

HTH and good luck

**TestMangler** · 20 September 2010, 15:21

Originally posted by chef View Post

What TestMangler was trying to say is that 3 years experience isn't really that much in the contracting world. Yes, obviously everyone needs to start somewhere, however, in the current market there are a lot of people just as equally qualified, also willing to work remotely and also willing to work for low rates BUT also have 10+ years experience. This is a key thing, simply because they know the ropes of how contracting goes on, they know they are there to be professional and not have to worry about will this newbie first timer bitch by the water cooler like all the permies. So, for this reason, agents will ask if they can use your cv to represent you and then put you up against someone who is equally qualified in all ways but has more experience. That way the client gets the requisite 3 CV's they've asked for, the agent looks good as they match what the client wanted in terms of experience and rate and there is one obvious person who the agent is leaning towards in that this guy has 13+years experience and has previously worked for a competitor or even better client co themselves and so would fit in perfectly.

When the jobs pick up and the old timers get positioned then that's the best time to look for your first contract. When there's a shortage of jobs and no shortage of seasoned contractors that's not a good time.

HTH and good luck

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say

**neebz** · 20 September 2010, 15:29

But the job descriptions always say specifically they want a 2-3 year old guy. This way they can get someone for less (about £200/day). That's what I am aiming for as well. And I didn't get lost during my studies, It was only part-time.

And I think I know when the agent is faking it with an ad. I mean if he sits down and discusses every single technical skill mentioned in the job description and then also comes up with some technical questions (which the clients asked him to ask I guess) then I really doubt that it's a fake client.

How often does this happen that the client is not exactly proactive ? Is it possible that companies just ask recruiters to find a guy as they 'might' need him sometime soon and then never go back to the recruiter ?

**neebz** · 20 September 2010, 15:34

Originally posted by The Agents View View Post

^^ WHS

With 3 years experience, you might have completed 2 projects? I would suggest you're looking at another 5 -6 years before you have a skill set which you can market as a contract specialist.

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.

**thunderlizard** · 20 September 2010, 16:04

Originally posted by neebz View Post

How often does this happen that the client is not exactly proactive ? Is it possible that companies just ask recruiters to find a guy as they 'might' need him sometime soon and then never go back to the recruiter ?

Often the client hasn't even asked. If recruiters half suspect a client might need somebody, they'll put out an advert and get some CVs to send to the client speculatively.
If you go the agency route, you'll get commoditised much more often because they have their own processes and inbuilt assumptions that they force suppliers through. If you find your own clients you don't have to deal with all that.

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