Interview & reference requirement lies

[Not So Wise]

Now here's a question for you al to ponder...

If there were a register of contractors set up where in exchange for you providing ID check information, residency check information, the names of two real referees and an agreement only to go for roles that are properly relevant to your eskills and expereince, then you got a fast track to a job board where you got first sight of the roles by around 24 hours - would you go for that? The advantage to the agency being that they won't have to go through all that checking themselves and they get 20 CVs rather than (as in one recent role I went for) 500...

And let's assume all data protection angles are properly and fully covered off, of course.

Sounds like someone has a Plan B

While I would be interested few things come to mind

As Richard pointed out, the relevant exp. angle would not really work, most agents could not tell relevant exp. if it came up to them and kicked them in the ass.

Next, what do agents get out of it? In vast majority of cases the whole ref thing is just a con to get more leads. If you provide them the reference it's just basically giving them what they want and probably pissing off some business contact of the contractors due to the sales calls or if you don't provide them the reference contact then they don't get what they really want

If you could get a lot of agencies to sign up and accept just "3 References received and all good" then it would be well worth it to contractors , otherwise be just another pointless middleman and reference farm for agents

[dropcliffsnotbombs]

So: is this idiotic situation really how it works (she had trouble believeing it), or is it a fairy story put about by agencies to keep their control?

That's what I can't decide.

I know for my current role, which is for a client I had worked for before, I was supposedly put forward by one agency then didn't hear anything. Didn't particularly surprise me as is a large organisation that changes its mind with the wind. A couple of weeks later another agency phoned me saying they had a role I was a good match for with a client I had worked for before. Althought the agency didn't seem to have a detailed spec as there were multiple roles I agreed to being put forward for the role. Same client. So my CV was submitted by this agency and I was offered an interview within a day. Then was offered the role. I've since looked back at the spec of the job with the first agency and it was clearly the role I am now working in.

I now know that the agency I am working through is the main one on the PSL and don't believe the first agency has any relationship with the client so were probably just chancers.

[DS23]

i rarely get a contract without having the multiple agency multiple cv hassle.

usually because there are multiple entry points for the business being offered. the end client and the integrator are two obvious ones.

often there are multiple client entry points though especially when the clients are huge corporations; business h/o in one country, it president in another, pm office somewhere else again. and of course there will be a horde of agents fighting to place cv's in each route.

more often than not there are multiple integrators too. the work might be out to tender or maybe a current integrator is having trouble and is in danger of being replaced by another. as with the client many of these integrators are huge corporations and will have multiple entry points with a horde of agents fighting to place cv's through each route.

not easy getting one agent and one cv with that kind of mess.

[OwlHoot]

This is regularly discussed here. I used to swallow agents' twaddle about applying through only one agency. But since accidently finding out that an agent had lied about putting me forward, I'll go through two or three now without a qualm.

Why would an agent do that? a newbie might ask. To prevent you competing with another candidate they have put through, at a lower rate and therefore with a larger margin for themself.

Best of luck with the interview, RC. I was speaking to an agentess just now who agreed that clients were being sluggish about hiring decisions at the moment because there was a feeling the market was slow anyway and available contractors would likely stay that way for several weeks. So there was no hurry needed snapping them up, added to which of course hirers tend to be away on holiday at this time of year.

[malvolio]

Sounds like someone has a Plan B

While I would be interested few things come to mind

As Richard pointed out, the relevant exp. angle would not really work, most agents could not tell relevant exp. if it came up to them and kicked them in the ass.

Do it once, your registration is cancelled and you back to fighting with the cowboys and the Indians...

Next, what do agents get out of it? In vast majority of cases the whole ref thing is just a con to get more leads. If you provide them the reference it's just basically giving them what they want and probably pissing off some business contact of the contractors due to the sales calls or if you don't provide them the reference contact then they don't get what they really want

Not totally true. Even so , the bigger agencies are spending huge amounts of time verifing people's details that they could spend on better things (like sales generation). Apart from anything else, they don't need to know who the referees are, merely that they exist and have been checked

If you could get a lot of agencies to sign up and accept just "3 References received and all good" then it would be well worth it to contractors , otherwise be just another pointless middleman and reference farm for agents

I've got that side covered already...

[RichardCranium]

I have an interview. It's only a telephone interview but it's a start.

And I'm glad that's over.

Telephone interviews are tricksy.

[Zippy]

And I'm glad that's over.

Telephone interviews are tricksy.

How did it go? Bet you knocked em for six.

[Menelaus]

And I'm glad that's over.

Telephone interviews are tricksy.

Good work! When are you going in to see them?

[Zippy]

An excellent question, and I must admit I have often wondered the same thing myself. However, I've been on the other side of the desk and received a CV from an agency for a person I had already received from another....and the reason I kicked her into touch was because one or both agencies had rewritten her CV and there were striking differences.

Maybe that is the issue?

Had the CV's been the same I would have just told the second agency that I already had the CV, and to go away and find someone else. I really can't see what the problem is.

I wonder if this happened to me. Caught sight of my submitted CV from an agent once and apparently I was well versed in several content management systems (I had used one once - a bit - and hadn't claimed any extra expertise).

[RichardCranium]

How did it go? Bet you knocked em for six.

I tried and I can do no more than that.

Good work! When are you going in to see them?

I find out on Monday.