Why agency dont bother to reply

[kaiser78]

Out of interest, does every contractor here reply to every e-mail an agent sends them about a role?

Like when you receive emails for Biztalk developer or Sharepoint technical architect roles and your skillset is project management ?

[northernladuk]

Like when you receive emails for Biztalk developer or Sharepoint technical architect roles and your skillset is project management ?

He has a very good point. I bet the CVs he gets are as unsuitable for the roles as the random stuff we get sent..

[Andy Hallett]

I am not a contractor yet, but I call them up on the number they provide at the bottom of the email and speak to them about the role. I prefer hearing their voice when they lie...

It may surprise you but there are a lot of good agents out there. There are of course a sizebale band of individuals who let the the industry down, they are the ones that make the news here. My advice would be to maintain a healthy skepticism but don't close you mind to people who will be ok and straight.

[kaiser78]

It may surprise you but there are a lot of good agents out there. There are of course a sizebale band of individuals who let the the industry down, they are the ones that make the news here. My advice would be to maintain a healthy skepticism but don't close you mind to people who will be ok and straight.

I must admit the agency I am with are very good and would even recommend them, a rarity however in my past experience and from what you read.

[SAPABAPLeeds]

It may surprise you but there are a lot of good agents out there. There are of course a sizebale band of individuals who let the the industry down, they are the ones that make the news here. My advice would be to maintain a healthy skepticism but don't close you mind to people who will be ok and straight.

Absolutely, I do agree with you. Which was the reason why I was only referring to "some" all the while

[Andy Hallett]

Like when you receive emails for Biztalk developer or Sharepoint technical architect roles and your skillset is project management ?

Yep, that's poor. Exactly the same as when we get someone doing desktop support apply for a CIO role. Doesn't excuse it, but it's two way.

Recruitment firms need to learn from some of the E-commerce giants like Amazon and Ebay on customer preferencing, eg making the electronic communications more relevant and targeted. It is important from both a service and efficiency point of view for us.

[kaiser78]

He has a very good point. I bet the CVs he gets are as unsuitable for the roles as the random stuff we get sent..

There's getting it wrongly mis-matching and there's getting it wildy wrongly mis-matching ! (not the best english !)

[Pogle]

If I send off my CV, I always follow up with a call, however at the moment I'm getting calls from agents before the role is advertised... which is nice

[BolshieBastard]

I have applied for couple of jobs in jobserve and the agents dont even bother to reply back. I don't understand why did they even publish it!

It is because whatever agents who post on here will tell you, that 90% of the jobs that appear on jobswerve the agents have already contacted the 3 candidates they intend to submit for the role. The advert on JS is just a cv trawling exercise to garner new potential leads.

If you think Im wrong, try this. When an agent does contact you about a role and confirms you as a suitable candidate, keep a watch of jobswerve. In a couple of days time, you see the job they contacted you about being advertised for the first time! QED.

They dont need to respond to these applications as they'd just engage in discussions with irate contractors.

[BolshieBastard]

Yep, that's poor. Exactly the same as when we get someone doing desktop support apply for a CIO role. Doesn't excuse it, but it's two way.

I do this when the market is quiet to get my cv in agent's faces. They'll usually contact me then I can get the name of the agent who actually deals with my specialism. Besides there are plenty of people who have had to take a role outside of their specialism when the market is tight.

Recruitment firms need to learn from some of the E-commerce giants like Amazon and Ebay on customer preferencing, eg making the electronic communications more relevant and targeted. It is important from both a service and efficiency point of view for us.

Well, all I can say is agencies are pretty slow at adopting this approach. How long have we had email, texting etc yet the main way of communication seems to be the scatter gun! I have truely lost count of the number of times I have said to agencies contract only (only to be bombarded with permie roles) or jobs that arent my skillset (only to be bombarded with roles that are everything but my skillset!).