Is it me, or agents getting more stupid???

[DodgyAgent]

It's you.

Agents have always been that thick. Haven't you read any of DA's posts?

[Fronttoback]

You lot make me laugh. Agents are the only "business people" many of you deal with apart from the odd tradesman in your home. This is how business works. It's not as methodical and binary as IT. There are fast moving sharks about.

The agent is a salesman. He's got to get as many of you on the books as possible. He must spend as little time as possible on each placement. If you are not high value you will get rinsed. Why do you expect good treatment? That's not efficient for him. He's wasting time and TIME IS MONEY.

Also, and this is key- he can treat you badly and it doesn't matter to the outcome. He has what you want. You'll be back. Or someone else will. He doesn't care if you are 10% better than the other guy. You all get more or less same rate and his %age means his business is in getting the numbers through. It's not like premiership football or CEO head hunting where one or two hires per year makes your book. He's a volume business.

[DodgyAgent]

You lot make me laugh. Agents are the only "business people" many of you deal with apart from the odd tradesman in your home. This is how business works. It's not as methodical and binary as IT. There are fast moving sharks about.

The agent is a salesman. He's got to get as many of you on the books as possible. He must spend as little time as possible on each placement. If you are not high value you will get rinsed. Why do you expect good treatment? That's not efficient for him. He's wasting time and TIME IS MONEY.

Also, and this is key- he can treat you badly and it doesn't matter to the outcome. He has what you want. You'll be back. Or someone else will. He doesn't care if you are 10% better than the other guy. You all get more or less same rate and his %age means his business is in getting the numbers through. It's not like premiership football or CEO head hunting where one or two hires per year makes your book. He's a volume business.

Were you trained by Dixons customer services in the 1980s?

[OwlHoot]

Were you trained by Dixons customer services in the 1980s?

A plumber near me must have had the same training.

Been blown out twice now, and no apology or even a quick call to say he couldn't make it!

Mind you, alarm bells should have rung louder as soon as he called me "buddy"!

It may sound a bit of an eccentric view, but I think there's something weird and slightly creepy when British people call one "buddy". Like "pal", it often seems like a sign of passive aggression at the very least and sometimes outright hostility, although "mate" isn't so bad.

[Agent]

This call doesn't sound too bad. If you're an experienced interviewer then you'll often ask the same question more than once, it's a proven method of screening our the BS'ers and to check how consistent your answers are. Have you ever done an IQ test or online aptitutde test? It's the same principal.

I'd also comment that when a recruiter calls and asks you to tell him about yourself and what you're working on it's not because they haven't read your CV, it's because they want to see how well you communicate your experience.

There's little point in working with a candidate who has a great CV but can't get any of his/her experience across in a concise manner, if the recruiter is worth their salt then this first call is essentially an interview (on behalf of their client), you wouldn't be surprised if a hiring manager called and asked about your experience (even tho it's on your CV)..

Just my 2p worth.

[Agent]

You lot make me laugh. Agents are the only "business people" many of you deal with apart from the odd tradesman in your home. This is how business works. It's not as methodical and binary as IT. There are fast moving sharks about.

The agent is a salesman. He's got to get as many of you on the books as possible. He must spend as little time as possible on each placement. If you are not high value you will get rinsed. Why do you expect good treatment? That's not efficient for him. He's wasting time and TIME IS MONEY.

Also, and this is key- he can treat you badly and it doesn't matter to the outcome. He has what you want. You'll be back. Or someone else will. He doesn't care if you are 10% better than the other guy. You all get more or less same rate and his %age means his business is in getting the numbers through. It's not like premiership football or CEO head hunting where one or two hires per year makes your book. He's a volume business.

THis isn't true of all recruiters, myself included. This is a very 1990s view, if you think you can treat candidates like crap in a candidate driven market then you're an idiot.

My guess is that your experience is more in the trades or very low level where you can just find another candidate in 5 minutes. When you're looking for extremely high demand skills then it's not the same, burn bridges with candidates at your peril..

[DodgyAgent]

This call doesn't sound too bad. If you're an experienced interviewer then you'll often ask the same question more than once, it's a proven method of screening our the BS'ers.

I'd also comment that when a recruiter calls and asks you to tell him about yourself and what you're working on it's not because they haven't read your CV, it's because they want to see how well you communicate your experience.

There's little point in working with a candidate who has a great CV but can't get any of his/her experience across in a concise manner, if the recruiter is worth their salt then this first call is essentially an interview (on behalf of their client), you wouldn't be surprised if a hiring manager called and asked about your experience (even tho it's on your CV)..

Just my 2p worth.

Since when were IT contractors employed for their communication skills? We even have retards that still believe that the UK should remain part of the EU

[OwlHoot]

I'd also comment that when a recruiter calls and asks you to tell him about yourself and what you're working on it's not because they haven't read your CV, it's because they want to see how well you communicate your experience.

and how patient the contractor is with apparently CV-ignoring idiots.

Also, the agent may have read a hundred CVs and is calling a shortlist one after another, so any particular CV may not be fresh in their mind.

[Fronttoback]

THis isn't true of all recruiters, myself included. This is a very 1990s view, if you think you can treat candidates like crap in a candidate driven market then you're an idiot.

My guess is that your experience is more in the trades or very low level where you can just find another candidate in 5 minutes. When you're looking for extremely high demand skills then it's not the same, burn bridges with candidates at your peril..

Look mate, I pay your mortgage. I know how you operate. Don't try your sales pitch here. You're wasting your time, and TIME IS MONEY.

[shaunbhoy]

Look mate, I pay your mortgage. I know how you operate. Don't try your sales pitch here. You're wasting your time, and TIME IS MONEY.

Whose feeble sockie is this?