Ask the Agent

[sunflower]

Some interesting points. 1&2 happen, but are breaches of the Employment Agencies Regs. If you experience it report to the company's trade body for a speedy resolution or BIS if they are not affiliated.

Point 3 is basic sales. Agents will want to know what the are up against from your signature, and try to sell you against that role or get other candidates there. It's your company information, don't leak it.

Point 4. After a while I worked out that its as much about the personality, track record and peer feedback of a contractor as opposed to how many times they could mention the latest and greatest technology. Matching technical bits is the easy bit, the skill is matching hiring manager to contractor.

Point 5. 100% agree, as it happens better and more relevant alerting to opportunities is a current project I am working on. With the amount of e-mail out there we need to make sure our content is relevant and interesting. It's a bit commercially sensitive right now but I'll be asking for your thoughts when we pilot / launch!

Thanks Andy.

Point 2 - the false adverts for reference and cv harvesting - is a hard one. It's very difficult to spot when an advert is false. Contractors take time and effort to write a cover letter and may even match a cv to each particular project. It wastes hours of our time when the advert is false.
A good agency will enforce corporate policies to abide by the Employment Agencies Regs and similar standards in all of its offices worldwide so this does not happen.


Appreciate point 4 - personal and soft skills play an important role on a project in the matching process. Technical skills matching can be a challenge if you are not in the industry or new to technical recruiting. eg you would not ask an EAI specialist to make websites and do user interface design. This happens. Matching may get easier as the consultant gains more experience.

[7specialgems]

Placing false adverts to acquire cvs and references.

One 'George Eaton' of Evolution Recruitment, with his infamous Fulham/West London based Digital Role comes to mind

Took me longer than I should've to work it out. Getting shirty and insisting to speak to him was funny. "I'm sorry he's not in the office at the moment". "He never is, is he?"

[GB9]

"Placing false adverts to acquire cvs and references"

Pretty sure I applied for one this morning. Took over an hour of my time to get covering letter correct and tweak CV etc. However, if it is real it is exactly what I do and the loss of an hour is outweighed by the possibility of getting an ideal gig.

[Antman]

Covering letter? Do people still read those?

[Wanderer]

A good agency will enforce corporate policies to abide by the Employment Agencies Regs and similar standards in all of its offices worldwide so this does not happen.

That's their cover story. We all know that agents will go and do this all the time.

When they get caught the company just denies all knowledge of it and blames it on "one rogue agent".

Then they just go on their merry way doing the exact same thing....

[Andy Hallett]

Covering letter? Do people still read those?

Personally I didn't read them in any depth and tended to skim read. My advice would be too keep it punchy and just play back the advert. The same applies to a CV, the last 2-3 roles are relevant, everything else pretty superfluous IMHO.

There will be specialist recruiters in your technology or geography. In your shoes I would seek to build a relationship with them. If you are easy to contact, friendly and present in their thoughts, you are much more likely to get called first and / or submitted.

[fraymond]

I'm just not sure there is enough incentive to overcome the perverse incentives recruitment agents are under to make a living. The job market has been so bad many have left the professional and those left have been picking over the bones/linked in (lol) hoping an upturn comes along soon. Under those circumstances and having to make commission to feed your family, why would you stop fake job ads/asking for references and all the other things mentioned here?

[GB9]

Personally I didn't read them in any depth and tended to skim read. My advice would be too keep it punchy and just play back the advert. The same applies to a CV, the last 2-3 roles are relevant, everything else pretty superfluous IMHO.

Thanks for your replies so far.

The above is an interesting one. Applying for more senior roles (£700-£800/day) I have always attached some form of covering letter, in part to pull out key experience, but also to show due seriousness for the role. I suppose I had thought that at that level it was expected, although now I may not bother!

[LKK]

This is a good thread.

My question would be:
As a recruiter, do you think it make a difference if a candidate is active and calls to follow up on an online applicaiton that was submitted a couple of days ago? Would you really go back to their application and review it again?

I used to be quite proactive in chasing up.... I think most people are when they first start looking for work coming out of uni, are told to be proactive and show interest by making an enquiry/follow up call.

But in real life (and a few roles later), I know it doesn't really work. From experience, the recruiter will tell you they don't remember seeing your CV, the role has been filled, your call goes to voicemail and is never returned, etc etc.

[Andy Hallett]

Ask the Agent

Honestly, chase the agent. If they are as poorly organised as me they'll appreciate someone chasing them. I once had a guy that was so persistent I blocked a day out to sell him in around his local town just to get him under contract so he didn't phone me every day!

Develop relationships with the guys who work the desks that cover your skills. Don't get upset if they don't have anything for you, at some point they will - and you need to be first in their mind, reliable and stable!

The best contractor I ever worked with was one I never placed. Got several interviews for him but never anything that landed for him. He did however teach me about the industry I specialised in (3G telecoms). He introduced me to his managers and peers and I kept him updated with the market and helped him with his CV. Still swap the odd e-mail now.

Agents often get accused of being short term, contractors should also ask themselves are they themselves thinking long term?