Yawn.... this bench is bl00dy uncomfortable

[DodgyAgent]

It's not unreasonable for an agent to ask whether you have other things in the pipeline which may stop them placing you - ultimately that would be inconvenient to them, the client and anyone else being considered.

Agents are always going to ask who the role is with - because knowledge is power in this job, however, you don't have to / shouldn't tell them - Just do what we do - put it in a way which is not obvious - "I have an interview for a SA role in London with an engineering company" - Simples.

Personally I need to know what could get in the way - and if you tell me the client because of the way I ask the question, It's just a bonus really....

Of course you want information the more the better. You particularly want information that may give you more business opportunities-which you conveniently don't admit to. You don't "need to know" - you want to know which is different. You may need to know an availability date because this is a specific requirement from the client (assuming there is one). The fact that the candidate is up for other jobs is a factor - which can be a healthy sign, but you dont need to know this and you certainly dont need to know the name of other companies that he is in the frame for.

[DodgyAgent]

I bet. Indeed, I'm sure 90% of your conversations with "leeches" (who do all of the marketing, Business Development, and cold calling for you, at no cost to you, take the massive financial risks, pay you weekly, and only ever charge the people you work for, despite the fact that finding you an assignment benefits you more than the client) went like that.....

I hope your attitude gives you splinters.

If a contractor is able to see through the fishing and is prepared to challenge these agents then it is likely that they will also perform like this when working. In my view a client would prefer to take on a contractor who stands up and doesnt accept bullsh*t rather than take on a tame individual who rolls over all the time.

[Wanderer]

In which case my response is simple....

"Given that you're not capable of generating any leads, I'm not going to talk to you because I don't actually have any real jobs to offer you. Thanks for your time, I'm going to try the next name on my phishing list."

Goodbye.

Fixed that for you...

I know you are one of the better agents and that's the way agents do business but I'm sorry - I'm not going to tell agents where I'm interviewing because they will just go and try to get their own people in there in competition with me. I'm not even going to give you a clue because you'll just try to guess it.

I know boo can be a bit abrasive but I agree. I just give a polite "no" with a plausible explanation when asked if I've got any interviews lined up. If the agent is phishing then they will want to move on to the next call, if they have a real job then they are going to want to talk about it.

That said, if I've got a genuine lead that won't impact my business then I'll happily pass it on to agents that I trust.

[The Agents View]

If a contractor is able to see through the fishing and is prepared to challenge these agents then it is likely that they will also perform like this when working. In my view a client would prefer to take on a contractor who stands up and doesnt accept bullsh*t rather than take on a tame individual who rolls over all the time.

See we do agree on various bits of the above.

There's a difference between fishing, and knowing enough to manage the process effectively.

What I need to know:

Location compared to home
Rate
Feasible?

Things I don't need to know but will try to extract:

Role
Client company (or at least industry)
Contact (although I often wouldn't want to ask this directly - I'll sometimes use a spoof name, but given that I work in a niche area, I can usually use a real name if I know the client!)

The whole purpose of this though, is forecasting. I have to continuously let my superiors know which opportunities will close, and which ones won't. If I know I'm up against a role that has 10% more money, but is 400 miles further away from home, I'd suggest it's a good chance that the contractor will accept if offered. If it's 10% less money, and 400 miles further away, then I know it's unlikely.

I also want to understand what drives the contractor to make that call - if it's all about the turnover, then I want to understand that for the same reason. If it's all about the work, the client, the location etc, then if I have those elements in my job, I can not only use it as a forecast, but a sales tool to help influence the decision.

I completely agree - fishing is part of this job sometimes, but ultimately, the only people who ever give this information, are the ones who are least likely to get the job - I'd much rather spend time fulfilling my clients requirements, than fishing for further business, but I think that depends on your situation at the time - lets be honest, LinkedIn should have fairly heavily replaced the name gathering/fishing type approach!

[Murder1]

LinkedIn should have fairly heavily replaced the name gathering/fishing type approach!

Only if people are stupid enough to allow a contact to view all the other contacts.

[The Agents View]

Only if people are stupid enough to allow a contact to view all the other contacts.

Well if everyone stopped everyone seeing connections, LinkedIn would stop working completely.......

That said, mine are switched off, because I'm connected to a number of Ex-Colleagues, and I haven't had time to go through and delete them all......

[Murder1]

Well if everyone stopped everyone seeing connections, LinkedIn would stop working completely.......

That said, mine are switched off, because I'm connected to a number of Ex-Colleagues, and I haven't had time to go through and delete them all......

Hardly. I could still send linkedin requests to people I know, and they could still send requests to me. What it would stop is people harvesting all the connections from every link they have to increase the number of connections they have - it's not bl00dy Facebook.

[The Agents View]

Hardly. I could still send linkedin requests to people I know, and they could still send requests to me. What it would stop is people harvesting all the connections from every link they have to increase the number of connections they have - it's not bl00dy Facebook.

Errr....No....It's a business NETWORKING site......

[Boo]

[QUOTE=The Agents View;1294970]

• Leech: "Are you currently being put forward for any other roles ?"
• Contractor: "No."
• Leech: "Given that you're not capable of having a proper discussion, you are not capable of performing at interview stage. Thanks for your time, but I'm not interested in pursuing this for you."

I see that passed you by but I doubt many contractors missed it...

..."leeches"... take the massive financial risks

Leeches are "the massive financial risk" for most contractors. Whether it's preposterous contract terms, or going bust, or imposing unnecessary intermediaries, or simply pocketing the clients' money and declining to pay. Most contractors' risk is the leech, not the client.

And that long list of unnecessary, invented makework you supplied only shows that the clients' reasons for using agencies are dubious at best and unseemly at worst : they have to do all of the agencies' work all over again when they get the CVs from the leech in any case.

I hope your attitude gives you splinters.

Every penny you have earned is derivated from contractors who do the only useful portion of the work that the client pays for. Everything else is overhead form leech to umbrella to HR person.

So think on that as you pick splinters from your *rse whilst mulling over the likely destination of the current boom in social networks like LinkedIn.

Boo

[Boo]

Only if people are stupid enough to allow a contact to view all the other contacts.

If your contacts don't contain agents then there is no problem with that...

Boo