Do agencies do this?

[glippiglop]

I've been having the same problems with agencies and worse this year. Another annoyance is that sites like JobServe are being heavily polluted by firms posting multiple times for the same role.

I think prospective clients have been avoiding the agencies in order to save cash. With there being many talented candidates in the pool, agencies are also no longer required in order to source good workers.

I'm now having better luck since I made an effort to go direct. LinkedIn is a good place to start, but grab a list of UK companies that you're interested in (the FTSE 250 is an easy place to start) and visit the career section on their websites. This will take more effort on your part, but at least it will keep you sane

[SueEllen]

I was set up for an interview as my current contract was coming to an end ( customer transitioned contractor positions to a body shop). I took a day off work and travelled to e other end of the country. After about 3 hours discussing my experience, the project requirements and generally being pumped for info and consultancy we got round to timescales and budgets. The customer admitted they didn't have exact timescales and hadn't even secured budget. It could be months before it kicked off and based on what I'd told them about license costs etc they would probably end up going for cheaper technologies like open source or Microsoft.

I'd essentially being sent int the customer on the off chance of being able to sell my self in. The customer were quite surprised I considered it an interview for a pending post.

Mugged ... live and learn.

Common trick not just by them but other agencies.

When you interview try and do it on the phone first unless it's local and won't cost you loads to get there.

When you are interviewing check a budget exists for the requirement.

Also don't p*ss the client off. In fact if possible get their contact details - I've applied for roles to find no budget exists only to see the role readvertised when the budget exists 6-12 months later and got it.