Agency Con of the Week?

[wendigo100]

Fleety I take it you are working in the public sector

No, if he worked in the public sector he'd correct it to:

"This happens most usually, but not always, in circumstances where an agency, or an agent thereof, is restricted in the number of CVs that it, he or she is allowed to submit to the the employer under the terms and conditions existing between the agency and the employer at the time of submission."

On second thoughts, that seems a bit too short and comprehendible.

[Denny]

The worst con of all, the one that truly damages the client and the contractor, is the one where an agency says that he has put a contractor forward and clearly has no intention of doing so. this is usually pre-empted by a friendly call from the agent saying that "we will represent you at X client so dont allow yourself to be put forward by another agency".

The effect of this is that it "blocks" not only what may be some perfectly suitable contractor from getting a good job, but it also cynically preys on the trust and integrity of the contractor. Furthermore it gives the client a bad name for never giving feedback as well as depriving him of some very good contractors. This usually happens where an agency is restricted to the number of CVs that he can put forward.

I've often thought that this happens a lot too.

What I don't understand is the reasons why an employment business would resort to this: if a contractor's CV is the best for the role then surely they would put it forward if they've told the contractor they would. Are they being being bribed by more desparado contractors who offer financial inducements in a coffee shop somewhere to put their's forward instead? Or is it simply a question of 4 fab CV's only 3 allowed so they just stop the fourth from going via a rival EB and generating unnecessarily competition for their own represented candidates? If that is the case, then clearly the EB is not acting in the client's best interests.

Surely this can be circumvented by contractors insisting on written notification from the EB that the CV has been forwarded. That's what I do anyway. I also ask what the quality of candidates are they are 'forwarding besides mine' to ensure that they have roughly the same skills as me. I also make it clear that should that not be the case, should I find out, then that EB has no right to insist on representation rights should my CV go forward via a different EB. By that time I would have got the name of the client and the project / programme name too and so I could easily find the named hirer contact and find out what happened if I felt that my skills matched exactly but I hear nothing from the agency or mysteriously I don't get offered an interview. If it turned out they had not received my CV as I had expected, I would also explain why I had to ring them directly and complain about the EB and send the e-mail verification the EB sent originally sent me stating that my CV had been forwarded and should they still want to see me for interview I would go through an alternative EB.

In other words only the truth about all negotiation outcomes = EB representation. Lies = invalidity - tough if I now know the client name / project name and they want to represent me later should their original CVs they did send forward not amount to interviews for those candidates.

[sparklelard]

Honour and Money do not belong in the same purse.

Old Spannish Proverb


As a contractor I dont subscribe to this Agent knocking business.

If you can get your own gigs then bully for you , however as I have worked assignments in various countries Agents have been indispensable in securing contracts for me,as to the rate etc then that is down to your business acumen etc

Remember you can always say no if you dont like the deal and if you have your own contacts and can find assignments without an agency then by all means go ahead,use them.

Hope that helps.

It is easier to burn a house then build one.

Old Chinese Proverb

Confusious say "Man with hole in pocket feel cocky all day!"

He also say, "Man who goes to bed with itchy bum, wakes up with smelly finger"

[Cyber Controller]

Are they being being bribed by more desparado contractors who offer financial inducements in a coffee shop somewhere to put their's forward instead?

Mmmmm, could be!



The Cyber Controller in "I've done that and it worked a treat" mode.

[DodgyAgent]

Mmmmm, could be!



The Cyber Controller in "I've done that and it worked a treat" mode.

No they are not. They are simply locking out any competitor contractors who may be put forward by another agency after they have filled their quota. If you have two perfect CVs for a job and you put them forward and half an hour later three more appear with even better skills what do you do? We would tell them (if we were on a major PSL) that we have filled our quota, whereas other agents tell them that they will put them forward and dont. Because the contractors are trusting souls, when another agency calls them they simply tell them that they have already been put forward.

With these preffered supplier agreements no one knows who the line managers are, and even if you do the PSL rules are none of their business. if you contact HR direct, you simply wont be put through to whoever manages the desk, so going direct is really not an option unless you have contacts in the team anyway.

If you extend this trick by contacting every contractor as soon as the job comes through and giving them the job ref and description and then telling (say 50 of them) that they are being put forward, they have no way of knowing if the CV has actually been presented. Although we dont have any large PSL agreements ourselves I have learnt of this from some contractors and from some friends of mine who do work with big PSLs

[privateeye]

No they are not. They are simply locking out any competitor contractors who may be put forward by another agency after they have filled their quota.

The trick is further extended by those agents not on the PSL but who pretend to be to the contractor. They try and take the contractors away from those on the PSL and then submit loads of cv's themselves to make the PSL members look stupid.

[expat]

Or is it simply a question of 4 fab CV's only 3 allowed so they just stop the fourth from going via a rival EB and generating unnecessarily competition for their own represented candidates? If that is the case, then clearly the EB is not acting in the client's best interests.

Omigosh, d'ya think that happens?

[Denny]

Omigosh, d'ya think that happens?

No, of course not. We all know recruiters will do all they can to provide an honest and reliable service to candidates.

[wendigo100]

Agents are like most other trades. They vary from a few I'd trust completely, down to several others who aren't worth a w@nk (except that lady in Southampton - a very dodgy agent but definitely worth a

[Black Dalek]

Agents are like most other trades. They vary from a few I'd trust completely, down to several others who aren't worth a w@nk (except that lady in Southampton - a very dodgy agent but definitely worth a

AH-AH-AH-AH!!!! so you're either a bean flicker or a man