Best approach with Agents re: applying for roles?

[BlasterBates]

Personally, as a general rule, I never call an agency re: a role; if they are interested in your CV they will contact you.

...often about 10 seconds after you've hit the send button. Quite amazing how quick agents can be.

[SueEllen]

If you haven't heard anything in 24 hours, give up an move on. The job will have gone.

Not necessarily.

3 of my last 4 contracts took ages to materialise.

However it is a case of fire and forget as some clients and agencies start looking for people before a role is even signed off. Some of those roles never materialise, while others get signed of months later...........

[CheeseSlice]

Personally, as a general rule, I never call an agency re: a role; if they are interested in your CV they will contact you.

I think this comes down to the different ways our individual markets work.

My market works mostly like this and more often than not the roles never actually make it onto the boards. Although from reading this forum a lot of people have to chase roles on job boards to get hired, rather than be chased by the market. I guess it depends on the numbers of candidates and roles, market saturation, etc.

[Zippy]

It's a funny old game. This time last year I couldn't get the time of day out of the buggers. This year has been completely different and I haven't applied for any roles, just waited for the phone to ring. Got some short pieces of work with no interview and the current role with a five min phone interview.
I don't really know why things have been so different but maybe (just maybe) it's that decent agents with real jobs will actually seek out the right person.
I didn't change my cv much, btw.

[TheFaQQer]

Gig before this one, the agent rang me about my CV I'd sent.

I had no recollection of having sent my CV in, and looking at my email, I didn't send it in at all.

Got a year's work out of it, though

[SteelyDan]

Seems from what's ben said by responders that this is a bit of a mixed bag.

I was correct to some extent with my earlier suspicions. Today I was rejected for a BPR/Process role within Insurance. I have some, but limited, experience of this market place, despite years of BPR/Change experience.

I quizzed the Agent by email and he was kind enough to reply (so some credit there), and explained that he had indeed received c.100 applications, and chose 3 only who had extensive Insurance sector experience. The client had expressed a desire for Insurance experienced candidates, although this hadn't appeared in the advert.

I guess part of the problem is that clients from specific industry sectors don't recognise that there is great value to be had by hiring non-industry sector consultants, and thereby get a 'fresh look', as opposed to 'more of the same'.

To my mind BPR/Lean and Change consultancy fits across differing industries, but getting end clients to appreciate that is really difficult, especially when there is an Agent between them and the consultants.

[malvolio]

Seems from what's ben said by responders that this is a bit of a mixed bag.

I was correct to some extent with my earlier suspicions. Today I was rejected for a BPR/Process role within Insurance. I have some, but limited, experience of this market place, despite years of BPR/Change experience.

I quizzed the Agent by email and he was kind enough to reply (so some credit there), and explained that he had indeed received c.100 applications, and chose 3 only who had extensive Insurance sector experience. The client had expressed a desire for Insurance experienced candidates, although this hadn't appeared in the advert.

I guess part of the problem is that clients from specific industry sectors don't recognise that there is great value to be had by hiring non-industry sector consultants, and thereby get a 'fresh look', as opposed to 'more of the same'.

To my mind BPR/Lean and Change consultancy fits across differing industries, but getting end clients to appreciate that is really difficult, especially when there is an Agent between them and the consultants.

Tell me about it. I have 15 years senior freelance consultancy in all aspects of Service Management across a dozen market verticals. I've kept working but over the years I've decided I won't ever get work in Finance - despite having worked for four different banks - so have stopped even trying. I got shut out of public sector roles for lack of security clearance (but am currently working for the Welsh Government...). I've been rejected for airline, logistics and warehouse roles for lack of sector experience.

Oddly enough, when I get to interview, I usually get the gig...

Thing is, none of my considerable skills are industry specific and are fully transferable. Whether it's the agencies or the clients I have no idea, but all it says to me is that too many hirers really don't have the faintest idea what they're doing.

But if you're going to beat the system, you absolutely have to work on the CV and customise in detail for each role. If it's not a 100% match, it's going nowhere.